Heerenveen, the Dutch city, has replaced Beijing, China as the host of the 2021 World Speed Skating Championships, while the 2021 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships has been moved from Rotterdam to Dordrecht, the International Skating Union has announced.

The ISU said it was forced to find a new venue for next year’s championships after a decision was made by Beijing 2022 organisers, the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee to replace Olympic and Paralympic test events with an “adapted sports testing programme” due to the coronavirus pandemic earlier this month. 

As a result, Heerenveen will now stage the World Speed Skating Championships from 11 to 14 February.

The World Short Track Speed Skating Championships, meanwhile, have moved from Rotterdam to Dordrecht and will start a week earlier than its originally scheduled 12 to 14 March calendar slot.

The ISU said the change of venue and dates would “allow teams, in particular teams from overseas to move from the preceding ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating events, scheduled on 19 to 21 February and 26 and 28 February 2021 in Germany, directly to the World Championships.”

Heerenveen is a regular host of major speed skating competitions and has also been selected by the ISU to host two World Cup events, as well as the European Speed Skating Championships, in 2021 as part of the governing body’s ‘hub concept’.

The European Championships are scheduled to run from 16 to 17 January, while the two Speed Skating World Cups are set to run from 22 and 24 January and 29 to 31 January.

Two Speed Skating World Cups, one scheduled for Changchung, China on 17 to 18 February and one in Heerenveen on 6 to 7 March, have been cancelled as a result.

Sportcal