2020 World Figure Skating Championships
The 2020 World Figure Skating Championships were scheduled to be held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from March 16–22, 2020. Figure skaters would have competed for the title of world champion in men's singles, ladies' singles, pairs, and ice dance. This would have been the first time that Montreal hosted the World Figure Skating Championships since 1932. The competition was supposed to determine the entry quotas for each federation at the 2021 World Championships.
The competition was cancelled on March 11 over concern about the COVID-19 pandemic, with the possibility of being held later in the year, but not within the current season. It was the second time the event had been cancelled for reasons other than a World War, after the 1961 World Championships were cancelled following the Sabena Flight 548 crash.
The competition was formally cancelled on April 16, after the ISU previously considered rescheduling to later within the year.
Reactions to 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak
After a spike in COVID-19 cases from the COVID-19 pandemic and the cancellation of the 2020 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships in Nova Scotia by the International Ice Hockey Federation, the International Skating Union was placed under intense pressure to make a public statement on the status of the 2020 World Figure Skating Championships, as the disease rapidly intensified across the world. The ISU had implemented prevention methods at its events since February 4, 2020 and required all attendees seeking accreditation to complete a questionnaire and temperature check.Skate Canada, the host federation, issued a statement on Friday, March 6, that all athletes will be screened for symptoms at the border, undergo health checks, and be required to fill out questionnaires throughout the competition. On Tuesday, March 10, media, officials, skaters, and coaches scheduled to attend the event received a lengthy Coronavirus Information Package from the ISU. All individuals attending the event will be required to undergo a temperature check upon arrival to the competition and must check-in under. The Quebec Health Ministry held a press conference the same day to discuss "all major events in the province...with input from the Public Health Agency of Canada." At the meeting, Quebec Minister of Health Danielle McCann indicated that cancellation was a possibility, but a final decision had not yet been reached, despite athletes being scheduled to arrive within the next few days.
At 3:30 PM EDT on Wednesday, March 11, the Quebec government and Quebec Health Ministry made the decision to cancel the World Championships. The ISU posted a statement agreeing with the decision, saying that the event could possibly be rescheduled for later in the year, but not before October 2020. It was unclear how the cancellation would affect the upcoming season and its subsequent Grand Prix assignments, which will begin before then.
On April 12, 2020, ISU Vice-President for Figure Skating, Alexander Lakernik, told media that the chances of rescheduling the championship were slim, due to the ongoing pandemic. The ISU confirmed a complete cancellation of the event, with no chance of postponement to a later date, on April 16.
ISU member nations' response
Prior to the cancellation announcement on March 11, the Polish Figure Skating Association asked its athletes on March 10 to make personal decisions by the next day, March 11, on whether or not to attend the event, following the Polish Minister of Sport's recommendation to avoid travel to foreign events.Skate Canada, the host federation, postponed several conference calls with its skaters from March 11 to March 13, while awaiting a decision by the local Quebec government on the status of the event.
Several prominent skaters, including two-time reigning men's World Champion Nathan Chen, and coaches Rafael Arutyunyan, Lee Barkell, Marie-France Dubreuil, and Brian Orser, expressed concerns over the possibility of rescheduling the competition to fall 2020, citing the disruption to their training schedules and the proximity to the 2021 edition of the event.