Coronavirus and the World Championships

NaVi · Feb 25, 2020

What is currently being done to mitigate the risk of the virus spreading at the World Championships(including the Junior one)?

The Chinese national team seems to have a quarantine of their own according to this comment: https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/s...0-Team-China&p=2576066&viewfull=1#post2576066

And their new ladies entry for Junior Worlds lives in the US: http://www.isuresults.com/events/cat03109438.htm http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00107213.htm

But has the ISU refunded ticket's that were bought by the Chinese?

And there has been community transmission in Japan, South Korea, and Italy. It would be nice if refunds were at least offered to everyone from those countries as a means to reduce the chances. There is a "sunk cost" issue where people will go even if they think it's a bad idea if they've spent so much already on it.

And the athletes form Japan, South Korea, and Italy really ought to be training in a way that they're easily monitored. For those who train in those countries they should preferably all at the same rink with limited outside contact.

And is the ISU and Skate Canada working with the local health authorities in Montreal and Canada?

MaHa75 · Feb 25, 2020

Thanks for taking this topic! I believe that junior world will take place but if the situation geting worse then it is questionable with senior world. It so unfair to atlhetes if they need to be cancel. I hope everything will go ok. But i know that italian athelets will arrive to Estonia jw earlier than planned...just to be sure!

Edwin · Feb 25, 2020

Certain parts in the north of Italy are also under lock down and quarantine, right? Which is where a lot of ITA figure skating is practiced.

It is certainly disconcerting, and both Canada public health authorities (Surgeon General?) and ISU should take precautions, or at least make their position clear, including on refunds of pre-purchased tickets.

Those large Japanese fan groups of mostly middle aged to elderly people are most vulnerable for either an infection or fear of getting infected?? Their travel agents must be quite uncomfortable now, with all this uncertainty.

macy · Feb 25, 2020

i also just read an NBC article stating they have 3 months to decide whether it's safe to hold the olympics this summer too.

sailormoon · Feb 25, 2020

Those large Japanese fan groups of mostly middle aged to elderly people are most vulnerable for either an infection or fear of getting infected?? Their travel agents must be quite uncomfortable now, with all this uncertainty.

The World Junior Championships will take place in Tallinn, Estonia. I don't expect a large turnout of fans in Estonia and the arena would be half empty, which makes the risk of infection low. But probably hundreds of Asian fans have already booked their tickets to go to Montreal in Canada. The World Senior Championships could be held without spectators to protect the athletes. In the worst case scenario, Canada could impose travel restrictions on some athletes and fans from specific countries.

NaVi · Feb 25, 2020

A US soldier to got the virus in South Korea: https://www.usfk.mil/Media/News/Article/2094200/usfk-service-member-confirmed-with-covid-19/

TBH, South Korea worries me slightly more than China. We're 3 weeks away from Worlds... if quick action is taken this week then there's time to recoup the costs by reselling tickets. I think it would be prudent to refund tickets to all Chinese and South Koreans immediately... and perhaps Italians and Japanese too.

I also read that the average age of those that died in China has been something around 70. It really hits harder as age increases which is something to think about considerin figure skating's fan base tends to be older: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-age-sex-demographics/

drivingmissdaisy · Feb 25, 2020

The event could be postponed and/or moved. It was moved in 2011 after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. I'd much prefer that happen than risk exposing this very dangerous virus to athletes and fans from all over the world.

NaVi · Feb 25, 2020

drivingmissdaisy said:
The event could be postponed and/or moved. It was moved in 2011 after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. I'd much prefer that happen than risk exposing this very dangerous virus to athletes and fans from all over the world.

There's no reason to postpone or move it though. Montreal is not a hotspot of the virus. The problem is not Montreal but China/South Korea/Japan/Italy(and it's probably slowly spreading in Europe but there's no proven community transmission in any other country yet).

Worlds is a week or two earlier than typical(which I actually prefer) and it might have been better were a week or two later if they were to bar people from affected countries from attended and try to recoup the costs by reselling tickets.

Shani · Feb 26, 2020

There is no reason to postpone but the ISU should make every effort to get those countries affected have their athletes quarantined now and moved to a training facility so that they can compete at worlds. Also, ISU may need to revisit their competition qualifications and come up with an alternate plan on rankings etc. Lets say Chinese pairs cannot compete for travel resrictions, why should they lose out on Grand Prix and Olympic spots because of it? Same for Italy and South Korea.

Skater Boy · Feb 26, 2020

MaHa75 said:
Thanks for taking this topic! I believe that junior world will take place but if the situation geting worse then it is questionable with senior world. It so unfair to atlhetes if they need to be cancel. I hope everything will go ok. But i know that italian athelets will arrive to Estonia jw earlier than planned...just to be sure!

I think it is "too late" really to do much. If they quarantine them for 14 days they will miss the championships. With Italy the concern is mainly in Northern Italy.

vla13 · Feb 26, 2020

According to the China Team thread, Sui/Han, Peng/Jin, and Boyang are already in Canada, so they should be fine to compete. And that the rest of the team is training in a secure location?

I've seen Chinese fans already selling their tickets for Worlds due to expecting their flights to still be cancelled.

Someone posted on twitter that they contacted Skate Canada about coronavirus precautions: https://twitter.com/yuzuufruit/status/1228635190802747393?s=19

Skater Boy · Feb 26, 2020

drivingmissdaisy said:
The event could be postponed and/or moved. It was moved in 2011 after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. I'd much prefer that happen than risk exposing this very dangerous virus to athletes and fans from all over the world.

I suppose but where would you move it too? Isn't Canada pretty safe? I feel bad for the countries ift hye are restriced or can't compete but I do understand preccautins. Still you don't want it to be racial profiling. It is fine balancing between the safety of all and the right to compete.

khtmyzr · Feb 26, 2020

Short Track Speed Skating Championship in Seoul has been cancelled.
https://twitter.com/isu_speed/status/1232592244051329024?s=21

From the statement, I would assume the decision on any cancellation is most dependent on the local situation of the host country.

NaVi · Feb 26, 2020

TASS got a comment from Lakernik saying he's hopeful Chinese skaters will compete at the World Championships: https://tass.ru/sport/7841055

But Han Yan is out and no reason's been given yet: https://twitter.com/HanYanFanVan/status/1232626906710921218

Lakernik was probably specifically asked about China, but China isn't the only country they should be looking at.

4everchan · Feb 26, 2020

well.. i live in Montreal... and aside from one infected woman from Iran who had a stop over in Montreal, there is nothing about the virus here... I don't see why worlds should be canceled. Chinese authorities prepared their athletes for 4cc by imposing a quarantine on them, same with now as their stars are already in Canada. Koreans : i believe half the team doesn't train in Korea and would already be in North America... Same with Japanese... Italy, may or may not pose a problem if skaters are in the North... but when you look at the overall picture, right now, there is no reason to cancel the event. If the virus spreads very quickly in the next few days... maybe but now? Olympics : totally different ball game... in 3-4 month, the virus could be completely out of control.... but right now, the Canadian authorities are monitoring closely travelers and I don't think it will be a SARS2.0

GoneWithTheWind · Feb 26, 2020

4everchan said:
well.. i live in Montreal... and aside from one infected woman from Iran who had a stop over in Montreal, there is nothing about the virus here... I don't see why worlds should be canceled. Chinese authorities prepared their athletes for 4cc by imposing a quarantine on them, same with now as their stars are already in Canada. Koreans : i believe half the team doesn't train in Korea and would already be in North America... Same with Japanese... Italy, may or may not pose a problem if skaters are in the North... but when you look at the overall picture, right now, there is no reason to cancel the event. If the virus spreads very quickly in the next few days... maybe but now? Olympics : totally different ball game... in 3-4 month, the virus could be completely out of control.... but right now, the Canadian authorities are monitoring closely travelers and I don't think it will be a SARS2.0

In regards to Italy, I believe quite a few members of the Worlds team train in the North, mostly in Bergamo (Nicole and Matteo, Rebecca and Filippo, possibly Matteo Rizzo?) or Milan (Charlene and Marco). I hope the FISG (Italian Federation of Ice Sports) is monitoring the situation to make sure the skaters are able to train safely and compete at Worlds, and will take similar measures as the Chinese authorities, if necessary.

Beure · Feb 26, 2020

The risk to Worlds isn’t the presence of COVID-19 in Canada as such. It’s that you’re staging a global event where people from around the world are traveling to one place. The primary complications are twofold. 1) The difficulty of competitors from hotzones to actually get clearance to travel and participate. 2) The potential risks associated of congregating people from various corners of the world together potentially providing further opportunity for the virus to propagate.

I’m not sure what will happen. But people are jumpy. And various agencies and officials in the short term may pull the plug on such global events for fear of liability. Olympics are a ways off still. But right now there’s a lot of uncertainty and anxiety. So we should prepare ourselves for the possibility that FIG and/or governments may decide to call off Worlds. I doubt it will be moved or postponed. Montreal at the moment seems as safe as anywhere. So if it isn’t going to be there it won’t be anywhere.

lappo · Feb 26, 2020

If the situation gets worse, which I really hope won't, they could either postpone the world championship or have the competition behind closed door (like they are doing with our football events here in Northern Italy). Of course, in the second case they would need to refund all those who bought the tickets, therefore the first option is probably more feasible. All in all, let's hope the situation doesn't get worse.

MGstyle · Feb 26, 2020

GoneWithTheWind said:
In regards to Italy, I believe quite a few members of the Worlds team train in the North, mostly in Bergamo (Nicole and Matteo, Rebecca and Filippo, possibly Matteo Rizzo?) or Milan (Charlene and Marco). I hope the FISG (Italian Federation of Ice Sports) is monitoring the situation to make sure the skaters are able to train safely and compete at Worlds, and will take similar measures as the Chinese authorities, if necessary.

Both Bergamo and Milan are geographically very close to the epicentre of the outbreak, and Ice Lab in Bergamo has been suspending most of the activity for one week, likely to be prolonged if the problem continues. The athletes continue to train in the mostly isolated environment - Trentino, where Daniel Grassl trains, is relatively safe with just one random case confirmed so far.

moonvine · Feb 26, 2020

macy said:
i also just read an NBC article stating they have 3 months to decide whether it's safe to hold the olympics this summer too.

This is scary.

Coronavirus and the World Championships

NaVi

MaHa75

Edwin

СделаноВХрустальном!

macy

sailormoon

NaVi

drivingmissdaisy

NaVi

Shani

Skater Boy

vla13

Skater Boy

khtmyzr

NaVi

4everchan

GoneWithTheWind

Beure

lappo

MGstyle

Crawling around on the ice after chestnuts

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie

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