Curling world championships for men and mixed doubles were canceled due to the coronavirus on Saturday, leaving one Winter Olympic sport world championship remaining this season.
“It’s with great regret and disappointment that it has not been possible to run all of our flagship World Curling Championships in 2020,” World Curling Federation President Kate Caithness said, according to a press release announcing the mixed doubles cancellation, three hours after the men’s worlds announcement. “But, it’s vitally important to remember that we are not alone in doing so, with fellow sporting bodies around the globe also having to make these difficult decisions. Ultimately our first priority is always the health and well-being of our athletes, officials, fans and staff.”
Men’s worlds were scheduled for March 28-April 5 in Glasgow. Mixed doubles, which made its Olympic debut in PyeongChang, were scheduled for April 18-25 in British Columbia. Women’s worlds, originally scheduled to start Saturday in British Columbia, were canceled Thursday.
All of the other world championships scheduled to start in March were previously canceled or postponed: figure skating, women’s hockey and short track speed skating.
The U.S. women’s team that was entered for worlds included PyeongChang Olympians Tabitha Peterson, Becca Hamilton and Aileen Geving.
PyeongChang Olympic champions John Shuster, Matt Hamilton and John Landsteiner were on the U.S. team entered for men’s worlds. Peterson and PyeongChang Olympic alternate Joe Polo were the U.S.’ mixed doubles team.
The last remaining Winter Olympic sport world championship is the men’s hockey tournament scheduled for May 8-24 in Switzerland.
The International Ice Hockey Federation Council planned a conference call on Tuesday to discuss the status of men’s worlds.
Other Winter Olympic sports held world championships in February -- biathlon, bobsled, skeleton, luge and speed skating.
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