This is where we discuss figure skating and skating related items. How did you favourite skaters perform, and so on? However we never speculate on the private lives of skaters, like who might be going out with whom, because that is poison and is not tolerated here. A good guideline is that if it's not publicly announced, in the papers etc. then it's probably best to leave it alone. Is it a gray area? Then write to me and ask.
No one knows yet what the 2020-2021 skating season will look like. The ISU awarded 2021 Worlds to Stockholm and recently it was announced that all event tickets will go on sale in August. A message was added to indicate that, although tickets are non-refundable, if the event should be cancelled due to the viral pandemic, refunds would be given.
Given the current situation in Sweden and restrictions in place with respect to international travel, one has to wonder what will happen. Here are a couple of quotes from an article in today's New York Times:
Ever since the coronavirus emerged in Europe, Sweden has captured international attention by conducting an unorthodox, open-air experiment. It has allowed the world to examine what happens in a pandemic when a government allows life to carry on largely unhindered.
This is what has happened: Not only have thousands more people died than in neighboring countries that imposed lockdowns, but Sweden’s economy has fared little better.
“They literally gained nothing,” said Jacob F. Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. “It’s a self-inflicted wound, and they have no economic gains.”
Per million people, Sweden has suffered 40 percent more deaths than the United States, 12 times more than Norway, seven times more than Finland and six times more than Denmark.
There are still plans to hold Worlds in Stockholm but, as announced today, the sale of all-event tickets has been delayed awaiting the latest information about physical/social distancing from the Swedish government:
Apparently the ticket prices are considered very high, perhaps partly due to the reduced number of in-person attendees that will be possible.
