ISU

Today, April 6, 2020, the International Skating Union (ISU) proudly celebrates the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace for the third consecutive year. Sport, peace and unity is more important than ever in these times of crisis. This year, the ISU Athletes Commission, who represents the views of the athletes and makes their voices heard within the ISU, conveys the message of commitment to Sport for Development and Peace.

If you thought you had no more Skating to watch, think again! The ISU is offering streams of all the 2018 and 2019 ISU World Championships across all disciplines.

There is no doubting the identity of the current world-leading female Short Track Speed Skater. Suzanne Schulting has been in sparkling form since grabbing 1000m gold at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games but the Dutchwoman took her level to new heights in 2019/20.

The Liu brothers – Shaolin Sandor and Shaoang – have changed the face of winter sport in their homeland. Hungary is a powerhouse in summer sports such as canoeing, fencing and swimming but, until the Lius came along, had never won a winter Olympic gold medal.

The Republic of Korea’s Hwang Dae Heon came into 2019/20 red hot. Having finished second overall at the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2019 in Sofia, Bulgaria, and without Champion Lim Hyo Jun, also of Korea, in the field, he was expected to rule the roost – and at the start of the season, he did just that.

Kim Boutin had thought about walking away from Short Track Speed Skating at the end of the 2018/19 season. She wasn’t particularly enjoying herself in a sport that had dominated her life from the age of six. “I told my coach I needed something new, to have more fun, and see if I still enjoyed Short Track Speed Skating,” the Canadian said.

As a result of the recent United States’ travel ban of 26 European countries and the state of New York’s restrictions on gatherings over concerns of the spread of the COVID-19 virus, U.S. Figure Skating and the International Skating Union (ISU) are unable to organize the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships® 2020. The event was scheduled to take place April 3-4, 2020, in Lake Placid, New York, United States.

With the uncertainty surrounding the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Skate Canada and the International Skating Union (ISU), were informed today by the Government of Quebec that they have decided to cancel the ISU World Figure Skating Championships® 2020. The event was scheduled to take place from March 16-22, 2020 in Montreal at Centre Bell.

At the time of publishing this statement, the ISU has not been informed of any specific decision from the Quebec Health Ministry in regard to the ISU World Figure Skating Championships scheduled to be held in Montreal on March 16-22, 2020.

As per the ISU Statement of March 2, the ISU, in consultation with the competent local authorities and the organizing ISU Members, is continuing to closely monitor the coronavirus developments and their impact on the upcoming ISU Events that at this time remain scheduled as planned

On February 26, 2020 the ISU announced that the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2020 cannot be staged as originally foreseen on March 13-15, 2020 since, in light of the situation in South Korea, the competent authorities of the city of Seoul have closed the Mokdong Ice Rink and ordered the cancellation of all planned competitions.

The ISU stands by all those who have been affected and threatened by this situation and wishes success to all those fighting to overcome the crisis, with the expectation and hope that the situation will be restored to normal as quickly as possible.

The ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series came to an end in Dordrecht (NED) this weekend. Here are the recap videos if ever you missed it. 

Take a look at the best pictures of the ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Final that took place this weekend in Dordrecht, the Netherlands. 

There was another trio of individual gold medals for the Rep. Koreans on the final day of competition at the ISU World Cup Short Track Speedskating in Dordrecht on Sunday. While they repeated their previous day’s hat-trick, world 500m champion Lara van Ruijven(NED) won in her specialty and also grabbed gold with the Dutch team in the ladies’ relay to the delight of the home crowd. Only a photo finish prevented the Netherlands team repeating the success in the men’s event, where they were pipped on the line by Canada.