CHONGQING, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Cup of China ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020 ended at the Chongqing Huaxi Culture and Sports Center with a wonderful Gala on Sunday.
As the first international event held in China since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Cup of China marked a bright start for winter sports' most important season before Beijing 2022.
"The Cup of China will provide experience for us to hold international events in China under the pandemic and to further promote winter sports," said Ni Huizhong, vice president of the Chinese Olympic Committee and director of China's Winter Sports Management Center.
The Cup of China, the second event of the ISU Grand Prix series and the first ISU event in China this season, has been scaled down, and no spectators were allowed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The competition was limited to domestic athletes because of travel restrictions.
"No spectators is a challenge for the skaters," said Shen Xue, president of the Chinese Figure Skating Association on Sunday. "It was a hard decision for us but ultimately we had to make it this way for the safety of our athletes."
The pandemic has forced Olympic qualifiers in China, and other major internation competitions, to be delayed or canceled, but the staging of the ISU event is a sign that things are returning to normal.
The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league restarted in June and marked the restart point of China's professional sports after the COVID-19 outbreak.
Besides profession sports, national championships for many sports, like swimming, taekwondo, weightlifting, track and field, and so on, were already held in China under severe anti-virus measures.
Mass sports have also been under way. The Wuxi Marathon, which kicked off on Nov. 1, attracting 22,000 runners, became the most attended marathon in China since the COVID-19 outbreak.
Chinese figure skating team head coach Zhao Hongbo expected more competition to be held this season.
"Our skaters need competitions," he said. "They took the Cup of China as a precious chance to test their training. I hope more ice and snow events will be held this season, especially the world championships in Sweden next year, which will decide the berth for the Beijing 2022 Games."
Shen said the Figure Skating National Championships is in consideration, but the date has not yet been decided. Enditem
