The 2021 World Luge Championships in Whistler, British Columbia have been cancelled due to coronavirus. According to the Canadian Press, the major reason for the cancellation is because of Canada’s 14-day quarantine policy for people entering the country.
Coronavirus continues to be a major problem in Canada. There are presently 129, 923 cases of coronavirus in Canada, and 9135 deaths. Even though there have been 115, 050 recovered cases, there are still 5,738 active cases.
British Columbia has done better than the populated provinces of Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec. However, the British Columbia government needs to be praised for their stronger policies during the coronavirus outbreak. They put in stricter measures for the National Hockey League to follow when negotiating Vancouver as a host site for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That is the major reason why the NHL elected to go with Edmonton and Toronto instead. Ironically, it is the Vancouver Canucks that are the last Canadian team left in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The World Luge Championships have been held in Canada four times before. Calgary was the host site for 1990, 1993, and 2001. Whistler was the host in 2013. Calgary was initially to be the host of the 2021 World Luge Championships but got moved to Whistler when they had to shutdown their bobsled and luge track at Canada Olympic Park. The 2023 World Luge Championship will take place in Oberhof, Germany.
Canada meanwhile is in a state of transition with their national luge program. Canada did not earn a medal on the World Cup circuit in 2019-20 after Canada won a silver medal in the team relay and Alex Gough of Calgary won a bronze medal in women’s luge.
