Month: September 2020

(Xinhua)11:07, September 02, 2020

BEIJING, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) — The first four speed skating World Cup and first two stops for short track speed skating for the 2020/21 season have all been cancelled, according to the official website of the International Skating Union (ISU).

The ISU also said in the announcement on Monday that it is yet to be decided if the short track speed skating World Cup in Beijing, which also serves as the test event for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, will be held as scheduled.

The event, originally scheduled for December 18-20, 2020, together with another World Cup in Seoul, South Korea a week prior to it, are the only two high-level ISU competitions for the sport that could possibly be held this year, after the world skating governing body cancelled events in Montreal and Laval, Canada planned for November due to COVID-19 concerns.

A decision on the holding the Beijing and Seoul competitions remains pending further consultations with all stakeholders, according to ISU.

The first four speed skating World Cup for the 2020/21 season, in Tomaszow-Mazowiecki (Poland), Stavanger (Norway), Salt Lake City (USA) and Calgary (Canada), were also cancelled due to the pandemic, with the ISU considering a bubble plan in the Netherlands as an alternative.

Based on a basic proposal endorsed by the organizing ISU Members of the initially allocated ISU World Cup Speed Skating Competitions of the season 2020/21, the Council decided to proceed with a specific evaluation of a Hub Concept in the Netherlands as an alternative to hosting the above-mentioned ISU World Cups, read an announcement by the ISU, adding that a decision will be made after full consultation with all stakeholders.

(Xinhua)13:39, September 02, 2020

BEIJING, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) — As the International Broadcasting Center (IBC) and Main Press Center (MPC) for the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, the China National Convention Center Phase II has completed its main steel structure engineering 76 days ahead of schedule, the construction unit confirmed on Tuesday.

The construction scale of Phase II is 1.5 times of that of Phase I, with a total construction area of 780,000 square meters, but the construction period has been reduced by one year.

The underground part of the second phase was finished in November last year and the construction of the steel structure above ground was interrupted by the outbreak of this years COVID-19 pandemic.

The construction unit was quick to adjust its construction plan and coordinate with the raw material suppliers outside Beijing in a bid to speed up the schedule when construction resumed.

The MPC and IBC will be delivered to BOCOG in July 2021.

(Xinhua)10:11, September 05, 2020

NANJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) — World Indoor Championship bronze medalist Huang Changzhou twice equaled his personal best as well as the world leading mark of the year to win the mens long jump title at the 2020 Chinese Athletics Street Tour Nanjing meeting here on Friday.

Competing under a four-round format, the 26-year-old Huang achieved 8.28 meters from his first attempt and bowed out with another 8.28m in the fourth and last round to level with the world leading mark of the year set by Lester Alcides Lescay Gay of Cuba in February.

It is my first on-site competition of the year and I felt very excited. I have not thought too much about the result, said Huang, whose winning mark also equaled his career best set three years ago when winning the gold medal at the Chinese National Games in Tianjin.

The pandemic really has affected us tremendously. But I have not wasted my time. Instead, I kept improving my techniques. I was ready for this competition, he added.

National teammate Zhang Yaoguang finished second at 8.23m, followed by Asian Games champion Wang Jianan at 8.08m.

The womens long jump event saw teenager Qin Huiling better her PB by three times to land the victory at 6.37m. Zeng Rui also renewed her life-time best to win the womens triple jump title at 14.10m, while Fang Yaoqing won the mens triple jump at 16.88m.

(Xinhua)10:29, September 05, 2020

MADRID, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) — Lionel Messi confirmed on Friday that he would stay at FC Barcelona this season to see out his four-year contract signed in 2017.

The 33-year-old confirmed his U-turn in an interview with Goal.com, which comes 11 days after he rocked the footballing world by informing Barcelona that he wanted to leave the club he first joined 20 years ago.

Although Messi will remain at the Camp Nou until he can leave as a free agent, fans are worried at the interview in which he explained how he felt in recent months.

I didnt feel happy this last year at the club, explained Messi.

I have been [wanting to leave] all year. I thought the team needed younger players and I thought my epoch at Barcelona had ended. It was a complicated year. I suffered a lot in training, in games and in the dressing room. Everything was very difficult and there came a moment when I decided to look for new objectives.

I wanted to go, and I was in my right to do so, because my contract said I was free. I wanted to go because I was thinking about being happy in my last years in football, he commented.

The striker argued that a clause in his contract, which is due to expire in June 2021, allowed him to leave on a free transfer at the end of the 2019/20 season and that he wanted to take up the option.

Barcelona, who have been supported by the Spanish football league (La Liga), took a different viewpoint, insisting that if he wanted to join a different club he would have to pay the 700 million euro release clause in his contract.

Under that clause, Messi could leave the club for free if he requested to do so by June 10, the nominal end of the season. But the 2019/20 La Liga season extended beyond that date due to the COVID-19 pandemic, complicating matters.

Barca is not willing to give up on Messi, especially not for free.

Messis father Jorge flew into Barcelona on Wednesday to meet with Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, but that meeting failed to see the two parties move closer to an agreement, raising the possibility of a court case – something Messi insisted he wanted to avoid.

It really hurt me that people could think I would be able to go to court against Barcelona for my own benefit. I would never do something like that, commented the striker.

However, he was very critical of Bartomeu, accusing him of not keeping his word and also criticizing the direction of the club in recent years.

The truth is that for a while there has not been a project and there hasnt been anything. They have tried a juggling act and to paper over the cracks as things have happened, said Messi, who repeated his love for the club and insisted on his commitment in his final year at the Camp Nou.