Although not as competitively significant as a World Cup, the oval’s season-ending events draw international competitors as well as several members of the Canadian team.

A pair of domestic Canada Cup short-track and long-track events will go ahead March 13 and March 19, respectively.

«To compete, Canadian athletes and their coaches/support staff should be free from any illness symptoms for a minimum of 14 days and have not travelled through countries on the UCalgary restricted list, which currently includes China, Hong Kong, Japan, Iran, Italy, South Korea and Singapore,» the oval said in a statement Friday.

COVID-19 has cancelled and impacted dozens of sporting events around the world.

World Cup skiing finals cancelled

Furthermore, Mikaela Shiffrin’s chances of extending her three-year reign as overall champion took another hit when the alpine skiing World Cup Finals in Italy were cancelled on Friday because of the virus outbreak.

Shiffrin already lost her lead in the standings because of a month-long absence following the death of her father.

The Italian Winter Sports Federation was hoping to host the finals, scheduled for March 18-22 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, without spectators. But during an emergency International Ski Federation (FIS) board meeting on Friday, every nation besides Italy voted to cancel the event, the Italian federation said.

«It’s with great disappointment that I accept this decision,» Italian federation president Flavio Roda said. «Every member of the board made their decision based on limitations that their respective governments have imposed in relation to the virus.»

Rules against moving

World Cup rules prevent the finals from being moved to another location.

«This was an extremely difficult decision for us to make, but ultimately welfare and health of the athletes, teams and everyone associated with the World Cup as well as the general public must be our top priority,» FIS president Gian Franco Kasper said. «We must respect this very serious situation. We look forward to recognizing the winning athletes at a later date when we can properly celebrate their accomplishments.»

The cancellation leaves only two weekends of racing left for the men, with Alexis Pinturault leading the overall standings, 26 points ahead of Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, and 107 points ahead of Henrik Kristoffersen.

The title will be decided by speed races in Kvitfjell, Norway, this weekend, and tech races in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, next weekend.

The cancellation of the finals means Beat Feuz of Switzerland clinched the downhill title for a third straight year. He leads Thomas Dressen of Germany by 194 points.

Shiffrin among favourites in Sweden

If she races, Shiffrin will be among the favourites in the three races in Are beginning next Thursday: A parallel slalom, giant slalom and slalom.

The American skier announced in a video posted on Instagram that she was flying to Scandinavia this week.

«I have no promises if I’ll actually be able to race,» Shiffrin said in a six-minute video message that addressed the emotions about her father, Jeff, who died on Feb. 2.

Shiffrin said she trained a little but with difficulty.

Also in contention for the women’s title is Petra Vlhova. She is 189 points behind Brignone, who is attempting to become the first Italian woman to win the large crystal globe.

Olympic beach volleyball hopefuls scrambling

Olympic beach volleyball hopefuls Emily Stockman and Kelley Larsen thought they’d have plenty of chances to play themselves into the Tokyo Games during a two-year qualification period that ends with the international tour finale in June.

Since the spread of coronavirus, though, three events in China and Singapore have been postponed until after the Summer Games or cancelled outright, and the five-star World Tour Finals are in Italy, another focus of the outbreak. With four months before the cutoff, teams that need points to catch up in the standings are finding fewer opportunities to earn them.

«It’s definitely not ideal,» Stockman said this week while preparing to head to a less lucrative three-star event in Australia as planned. «It’s definitely adding some pressure for Kelley and I to perform at every single tournament that we are attending now. We’re also trying not to stress out about it. We’re still training like nothing’s going on so that when tournaments do happen, we are ready.»

Most beach volleyball teams qualify for the Summer Games by earning points on the international tour, with the five-star majors the most valuable. Each country is limited to two teams in each gender, so the third-best teams from the top countries like Brazil and the U.S. are frequently eliminated even if their point totals placed them among the top 16 teams in the world.