Federation Focus: Lake Placid Loses 2021 IBSF World Championships

(ATR) The International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF) moves the 2021 world championships from Lake Placid to Altenberg, Germany.

The decision, which IBSF President Ivo Ferriani described as "heartbreaking", is due to the travel restrictions currently in place to ensure the health and safety of all athletes during the coronavirus pandemic.

"The bulk of athletes competing in the championships are based in Europe, so our strategy was to have less time spent in quarantine," said IBSF secretary general Heike Groesswang.

The dates of the 2021 IBSF World Championships in Altenberg will be February 1-14. The German town hosted the 2020 edition.

Ferriani says the federation’s Executive Committee fully supports the application by Lake Placid to host the World Championships in 2025. The upstate New York village that has hosted two Winter Olympics will next turn its focus to the 2023 World University Games.

Team USA athletes will continue to prepare for the season in Lake Placid before heading to Europe for World Cup competitions and World Championships.

The pandemic has forced adjustments to all the race series on the calendar. The measures include the introduction of double races at many venues to limit the amount of travel. The latest schedule has Sigulda, Latvia and Innsbruck, Austria hosting double events during the 2020-21 World Cup season.

Preliminary List of Sports for 2023 European Games

Twenty-three sports make the initial list for the third edition of the European Gamesin Krakow-Małopolska, Poland.

The European Olympic Committees (EOC) hosted a Polish delegation including government and Olympic representatives at the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) headquarters in Rome last weekend.

The two sides agreed on a preliminary list of 23 sports for the Games, subject to final negotiations with each of the European and International sports federations. A key criteria for selection was whether the sports will use the European Games as their continental championships and/or offer qualification for Paris 2024.

The list includes:

• Archery

• Artistic swimming

• Badminton

• Basketball 3x3

• Beach handball

• Breaking

• Canoe

• slalom

• sprint

• Cycling

• mountain bike

• road

• Fencing

• Gymnastics

• Judo

• Karate

• Modern pentathlon

• Mountain running

• Rugby sevens

• Shooting

• Ski jumping (summer)

• Sport climbing

• Table tennis

• Triathlon

• Volleyball

• beach volleyball

• volleyball

• Weightlifting

• Wrestling

The proposal of summer ski jumping, which is very popular in Poland, is a novelty for the Games.

The Minsk 2019 program included 15 sports, with 10 of them providing qualification to Tokyo 2020.

Beijing 2022 Ski Jump Hills Near Completion

The International Ski Federation (FIS) says both of the ski jumping hills for the Beijing 2022 Olympics are to be completed by late October.

The federation says everything is going to plan and that currently the landing area is being covered with plastic mats.

Both hills are scheduled to be inspected by an FIS official on November 10-11. If they meet regulations, they will be certified for use in international competitions.

The first two Ski Jumping World Cup events in China are scheduled for February 13-14, 2021.

The stadium will hold 6000 spectators when completed with 2624 of those seated and the other 3376 standing.

FIS says the construction of the infrastructure around the venue is also on schedule.

Written by Gerard Farek

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