ISU adds Four Continents Championships to 2019-20 speed skating schedule
The International Skating Union (ISU) released the schedule for the 2019-20 speed skating season. Besides the usual events, a new tournament called "ISU Four Continents Speed Skating Championships" has been added onto the calendar.
Speed skaters will meet each other at the first leg of ISU World Cup Speed Skating in Minsk, Belarus between November 15 and 17. The second leg of the World Cup will happen in the same month between November 22 and 24, in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland.
November will also feature two legs of the ISU Junior World Cup Speed Skating, which also works as the qualifiers for the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics. The two competitions will happen respectively in Bjugn, Norway on November 16 and 17, and Enschede, Netherlands on November 23 and 24.
Another two legs of the World Cup will be held in December. The first one will be in Nagano Prefecture, Japan between December 13 and 15 while the second one will happen in Nursultan, Kazakhstan between December 16 and 18.
Maki Tsuji, Konami Soga and Yuka Abe of Japan compete during the Women's Team Sprint on Day 3 of the ISU World Cup Speed Skating at Tomakomai Highland Sports Center, November 25, 2018. /VCG Photo
As the season enters 2020, the first major event will be the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland between January 9 and 20. During the same period of time, or specifically from January 10 and 12, the ISU European Speed Skating Championships will be held in Heerenveen, Netherlands.
Then between January 31 and February 2, the newly added ISU Four Continents Speed Skating Championships will take place in Salt Lake City in the U.S. Like the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, this one is offered to the speed skaters as an opportunity for extra competition.
February will be a busy month for speed skaters. Besides the Four Continents Championships, there will also be the Calgary leg of the World Cup (February 7 and 8), the ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships in Salt Lake City (from February 13 to 16), and the Combined ISU World Allround & World Sprint Speed Skating Championships in Hamar, Norway (between February 28 and March 1).
On March 7 and 8, the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Final will take place in Heerenveen, Netherlands.
The ISU also shared a part of the 2021 and 2022 schedule. From February 25 to 28, 2021, the ISU World Speed Skating Championships will happen in Beijing, China, one year earlier than the 2022 Winter Olympics in the Chinese capital.