The International Canoe Federation has announced the cancellation of the 2021 Canoe Sprint Pan-American Olympic qualifiers in Curitiba, Brazil, because of ongoing concerns about the spread of Covid-19 on participation health and welfare.
The decision was based on the advice of COPAC (Pan American Canoe Federation) that the event be cancelled.
The ICF is now in discussions with the International Olympic Committee about the allocation of the 14 quota places for the Tokyo Olympics that were to be determined in Curitiba.
The increased COVID cases in the region had prompted the local authorities to impose tougher restrictions, which meant COPAC could not hold the event safely for the benefit of athletes and their teams and ensure a fair and equal opportunity for all athletes to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo later this year.
COPAC considered postponement of the event but the local health authorities were unable to guarantee the safety of the canoeing athletes, hence a full cancellation of the event has been confirmed.
The Pan-American championships were scheduled to be held between April 8-11. The ICF will activate its contingency plan to allocate the quotas based on previous event results, in consultation and with the final approval of the International Olympic Committee executive committee.
All other continental Olympic qualifiers, including the Pan-American canoe slalom championships in Rio at the end of April, are still scheduled to go ahead, but are constantly under review by the ICF.
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