Amid growing concern at the spread of a new virus outbreak in China, international sports have been postponed and Olympic qualifying tournaments taken elsewhere.
The international ski federation on Wednesday cancelled the first World Cup races scheduled for testing the mountain venue for alpine skiing at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
A men’s downhill had been scheduled for February 15 at Yanqing to start a two-race weekend.
“Due to the outbreak and continuing spread of the Novel Coronavirus, FIS, the Chinese Ski Association and its Yanqing Local Organising Committee, have jointly decided to cancel,” the races, FIS said in a statement.
The federation said it would advise later if the downhill and super-G races were to be rescheduled.
That followed a decision by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to postpone Pro League games in China, and qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics scheduled in February in soccer, basketball and boxing being moved outside of China.
The Chinese women’s field hockey team was due to host Belgium for two games on February 8-9 in Changzhou.
Those were postponed on Tuesday by the FIH citing “current uncertainties around the outbreak of the coronavirus in China”.
The Lausanne, Switzerland-based governing body said it was “following the recommendations of the World Health Organization,” ahead of future matches.
China is scheduled to host Australia for two games on March 14-15.
The biggest upcoming event in China is the Formula One Grand Prix in Shanghai on April 19, which draws large crowds for the race and for practice and qualifying.
Also under threat is the March 13-15 indoor track and field world championships in Nanjing.
Olympic qualifying events scheduled in China in February to help decide entries for the Tokyo Games have also been affected.
Women’s soccer and women’s basketball games were moved to Australia and Serbia.
The soccer games had already previously moved from Wuhan, at the center of the outbreak, to Nanjing. Boxing tournaments for the Asia and Oceania regions will be held in Jordan in March.
More than 100 deaths in China have been recorded because of the disease, including the first in Beijing.
More than 4500 cases reported in China include almost 1000 people in serious condition.