The KNSB decided on Thursday evening to cancel the Invitation Cup, a three-day international short track tournament that was to be held in Heerenveen from Friday. The reason for this is a combination of factors, including two new positive corona tests.
The Dutch Xandra Velzeboer and a Polish rider, whose name has not been announced, have been infected with the corona virus. That became clear after a new test round among the short trackers.
Velzeboer was one of the five Dutch riders who had already gone into home quarantine on Wednesday, because teammate Dennis Visser had tested positive the day before. Sjinkie Knegt, Sven Roes and Bram Steenaart therefore also had to insulate themselves.
The reduced field of participants is one of the reasons for the cancellation of the Invitation Cup. “We exercise the greatest care, but we are dealing with a sum of factors,” says technical director Remy de Wit of the KNSB. “We have done everything we can to get this game off the ground.”
“All in all, we have decided to cancel the Invitation Cup now”, De Wit continues. “This is a huge disappointment from a sports point of view and it hurts all the people who have worked very hard on this.”
Knegt was already critical of holding a short track tournament
Knegt was already critical of the continuation of the Invitation Cup on Wednesday. According to the multiple world champion, it is irresponsible to bring foreign short trackers to the Netherlands after the tightening of the corona measures by the cabinet.
Normally you can earn starting tickets for World Cup competitions at the Invitation Cup, but the international skating union ISU has canceled those competitions due to the flaring corona virus. As a result, there would not be much at stake in Heerenveen this weekend.
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