World Cup events off to protect Olympic athletes from virus

OBERHOFEN, Switzerland (AP) — The last scheduled World Cup meeting in cross-country skiing before the Beijing Olympics has been canceled. The reason given was to protect athletes from the risk of COVID-19 infection in Slovenia. Planica was to host events from Jan. 21-23 in cross-country skiing and Nordic combined for men and women. The International Ski Federation says “the safety of stakeholders involved at those large-scale events could not be guaranteed” during the current acute state of the pandemic in Slovenia. Any athlete testing positive for COVID-19 so close to the Winter Games that open on Feb. 4 risks being denied entry to China.