No fans allowed at Canada’s figure skating championships due to COVID-19 concerns

By: The Canadian Press Posted: Last Modified:

Advertisement

Advertise with us

OTTAWA - Canada's figure skating championships will have no fans in attendance as the national sports organization adapts to surging COVID-19 numbers.

Read this article for free:


By clicking the button above, an account will be created and you will begin to receive some of our recommended newsletters. You may opt out of any newsletter by visiting your Email and Communication Preferences page or by clicking "unsubscribe" at the bottom of any email.

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $1.44 a week*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*Billed as $5.77 plus GST every four weeks. After 52 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/12/2021 (1750 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA – Canada’s figure skating championships will have no fans in attendance as the national sports organization adapts to surging COVID-19 numbers.

Skate Canada said on Thursday all purchased tickets for the event at Ottawa’s TD Place Arena for Jan. 6-13 will be refunded. This change aligns with the Ontario government’s decision to limit attendance at sporting and other event venues.

“The health and safety of all participants in the championships is of paramount importance. We understand this is disappointing for our fans and stakeholders,” said Skate Canada president Karen Butcher and CEO Debra Armstrong in a joint statement.

Alicia Pineault competes during the senior women's short program at the 2020 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in Mississauga, Ont., on Friday, Jan. 17, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Alicia Pineault competes during the senior women's short program at the 2020 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in Mississauga, Ont., on Friday, Jan. 17, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

“However, our priority is to preserve the competitions necessary for the selection of teams for the Olympic Winter Games and ISU Championship events.”

The governing body said that the senior event will go on as planned but that gala on Jan. 9 has been cancelled.

However, the junior event will have its schedule altered and the novice event has been postponed.

Media are no longer being allowed to attend in person and, instead, will conduct interviews virtually.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 30, 2021.

Related Articles

Ski Report Ski Report Ski Report Norwegian cross-country skier replaced due to COVID
FILE - Norway's Anne Kjersti Kalvaa competes during a women's cross country skiing freestyle 10 km pursuit competition at the FIS World Cup Ruka Nordic event in Kuusamo, Finland, on Nov. 29, 2020. Two members of Norway’s women’s cross-country team, Heidi Weng and Anne Kjersti Kalvaa, have tested positive for the coronavirus ahead of next month's Beijing Olympics. They contracted COVID-19 at a training camp in the Italian Alpine resort of Seiser Alm and are now isolating. (Emmi Korhonen/Lehtikuva via AP, File)
Canadian Reece Howden set to make Olympic debut
Reece Howden of Canada crosses the finish line to win the men's big final at the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup event in Idre, Sweden, Sunday Jan. 24, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/TT via AP, Pontus Lundahl
Canada's moguls king seeks another Olympic crown
Canada's Mikael Kingsbury celebrates after finishing a run in the finals of a World Cup freestyle moguls competition at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah, Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Rick Bowmer
All eyes will be on Shiffrin, unknown hill in Olympic Alpine Swiss skier Suter wins last downhill before Olympics
Austria's Cornelia Huetter competes during an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill training session in Garmish Partenkirchen, Germany, Friday, Jan. 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Marco Tacca)
How a Waterloo instructor helped launch Jamaica’s first Olympic alpine skier
- Supplied photo Waterloo resident Mike Schneider, who started as a competitive racer at the Chicopee Ski Club in Kitchener, is an instructor based out of the Caledon Ski Club.
Ski Report Ski Report

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Report Error Submit a Tip

Advertisement

Learn more about Winnipeg Free Press Advertising solutions

More Stories

Alicia Pineault competes during the senior women's short program at the 2020 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in Mississauga, Ont., on Friday, Jan. 17, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

No fans at Canada's figure skating championships

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

No fans at Canada's figure skating championships

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021

OTTAWA - Canada's figure skating championships will have no fans in attendance as the national sports organization adapts to surging COVID-19 numbers.

Skate Canada said on Thursday all purchased tickets for the event at Ottawa's TD Place Arena for Jan. 6-13 will be refunded. This change aligns with the Ontario government's decision to limit attendance at sporting and other event venues.

“The health and safety of all participants in the championships is of paramount importance. We understand this is disappointing for our fans and stakeholders," said Skate Canada president Karen Butcher and CEO Debra Armstrong in a joint statement.

"However, our priority is to preserve the competitions necessary for the selection of teams for the Olympic Winter Games and ISU Championship events.”

Read
Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021

Don’t feel compelled to limit your romantic options

Maureen Scurfield 5 minute read Wednesday, May. 10, 2023

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: My love life is strange right now. I went from having no boyfriend to having two I’m seeing, and a third I’m talking to on the phone at night. He’s just sniffing around, but lots of fun!

I met the first two on chats, and had lunches and dinners with them, and I’ve even gone out to a movie with one. I’m not enamoured with either, but I’ve never had so many laughs!

The third guy is all about sex, and so far we’ve only interacted by phone. And (blush!) we’ve had a lot of phone sex. That guy is definitely single and is dying to meet me. Do I have to actually meet him? He keeps sending me his pictures and he’s a cutie, alright.

I think I like keeping it on the phone, but that might be insulting to tell him. What do you think about all this?

Free Press files An e-scooter user in Assiniboine Park.

Law will curb e-scooter enthusiasts

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Law will curb e-scooter enthusiasts

Editorial 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

For people concerned about safety on Manitoba’s sidewalks and roadways, the province’s announcement that new rules will be introduced next year regarding the use of e-scooters and other personal electric vehicles (PEVs) was no doubt met with an enthusiastic “It’s about time.”

As their popularity and their presence among pedestrians on sidewalks and/or motor vehicles on the road has increased steadily, so have reports of close calls or, even worse, collisions involving e-scooters or other PEVs — including electric skateboards, hoverboards and unicycles — being operated imprudently and at unsafe speeds.

Traffic laws urgently need to be updated to govern the use of these conveyances, which up until now have remained in a regulatory grey area that has allowed PEVs to operate largely without guidelines and outside conventional avenues of traffic-safety enforcement. Accordingly, updates regarding PEV use will be included in the Highway Traffic Act in 2027.

The new legislation will govern such areas as mandatory helmet use, age restrictions, where PEVs can lawfully operate and the maximum speed at which they can travel (25 km/h). The aim of the new law, according to the province’s website, is “to help keep Manitobans safe when sharing roads, paths, and other public spaces.”

Read
2:00 AM CDT
Hazel Borys photo Stephen Borys and Ernest Cholakis at Lake of the Woods.

The currency of trust

Stephen Borys 6 minute read Preview

The currency of trust

Stephen Borys 6 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

Over the course of three weeks last month, I saw three very different sides of Dr. Ernest Cholakis — philanthropist, distinguished alumnus and dental surgeon.

The last of these was the most personal. And painful.

A week after watching Ernest receive the University of Manitoba’s distinguished alumni award for lifetime achievement — an honour for which I was one of his nominators — I arrived at his clinic with a tooth that had cracked in half. The pain had become considerable and, although his schedule was full, he found a way to fit me in.

Ernest has been my dentist for more than a decade, although our relationship has extended well beyond dentistry into friendship and a shared involvement in the cultural and community life of Winnipeg. I thought I knew him reasonably well. But helping to prepare his nomination introduced me to aspects of his professional life I had never fully appreciated.

Read
2:00 AM CDT
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS Tevan Vigilance is still young but he is considered one of the older guys on the University of Manitoba Bisons basketball team.

Herd ushers in new era of men’s hoops with roster of newcomers

Joshua Frey-Sam 7 minute read Preview

Herd ushers in new era of men’s hoops with roster of newcomers

Joshua Frey-Sam 7 minute read Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026

The stage is new. The role, however, is a familiar one to Taven Vigilance.

For the first time since his days as a highly touted high school recruit at Oak Park, Vigilance will be asked to help drive the Manitoba Bisons offence this season.

An elevated role for the 6-7 guard, entering his third year comes as the Bisons turn the page to a new era of the men’s basketball program, having lost all five of its starters from a season ago.

Vigilance spent this summer honing his craft, knowing this opportunity was coming. He focused on his ability to dribble off a screen, in particular, which is a common demand of Bison ball-handlers who need to understand how to decisively read defenders off the pick.

Read
Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026
Evan Agostini / Invision Files The Wire star Dominic West is 57 today.

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read Preview

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

MOON ALERT: Avoid shopping (except food and gas) or important decisions for the rest of the day after 4:30 p.m. The moon is in Sagittarius.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

This is a wonderful day to expand your world by learning something exciting that broadens your view of life. You might enjoy a vacation or even feel like you’re on holiday. Activities with children, sporting events and the arts will delight.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Read
2:00 AM CDT