Ski events cancelled at 2022 Beijing Olympic venues

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Ski events cancelled at 2022 Beijing Olympic venues

Published Friday, December 4, 2020 12:04PM EST

A skier wears a protective face mask to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 during the first day of the downhill ski season at Cypress Mountain in West Vancouver, B.C. Friday, November 13, 2020. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)

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OBERHOFEN, SWITZERLAND -- The International Ski Federation cancelled several events in China on Friday that were supposed to test the venues for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, including next year's snowboarding world championships.

FIS cited travel restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic, "including a current mandatory 14-day quarantine for all international visitors" in China.

"The travel situation is likely to remain complex for the coming months," FIS said.

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The cancelled events also include the freestyle skiing world championships, and World Cup races in skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping and Nordic combined.

FIS said it will look for replacement hosts, and added that all competition venues for the Olympics should be completed in the next few weeks.

Olympic venues could still be opened to international athletes to visit for training after this season, while Chinese national events will be staged to test courses.