CALGARY—With the health and safety of the athletes and community as the top priority, the international governing body for skiing and snowboarding (FIS), in consultation with Freestyle Canada and Canada Snowboard, have decided not to continue with plans to host the 2021 World Championships proposed for Calgary, February 24 to March 14.
The decision was made after weighing the challenges associated with international travel and continued border closures, ongoing uncertainty, along with potential health risks around hosting an event of this magnitude while the COVID-19 pandemic continues to run its course globally.
“Over the past few weeks, our teams have had extensive meetings with all of our key stakeholders including FIS, along with our generous corporate and government partners at all levels. At the end of the day – after reviewing all facets of the event – we simply ran out of runway to make these World Championships a reality,” said Peter Judge, chief executive officer, Freestyle Canada.
“While we are gutted, the safety and health of our athletes, coaches, volunteers and staff is, and always will be, our top priority. COVID-19 continues to evolve globally, and we believe this decision is in the best interest of our broader sport community at this time.”
Freestyle Canada and Canada Snowboard planned to host the month-long series of international ski and snowboard competitions in a bubble concept at Winsport’s Canada Olympic Park. Significant effort had been made to address all public safety measures.
“We are grateful to the tremendous amount of preparation and work that has been invested by all of our partners, along with our staff and volunteers at both Canada Snowboard and Freestyle Canada, to bring the world’s best freestyle ski and snowboard athletes to Calgary,” said Dustin Heise, executive director, Canada Snowboard. “We were endeavoring to give our fans watching at home a much-needed respite from the current climate. But at this point – and as the situation continues to rapidly change – the right thing to do for our athletes and broader community, is to pause.
“While this is disappointing, we will now turn our focus to applying that work to bringing the world back to Canada next season in an effort to help our athletes fully prepare for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.”
Working with its corporate and government partners, Freestyle Canada and Canada Snowboard plan to bring a series of World Cup ski and snowboard events to Winsport’s Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, December 2021. The venue remains a key training ground for many of Canada’s best freestyle and snowboard athletes.
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