19 - 25 February
Virtus is a global governing body overseeing elite sports for athletes with an intellectual impairment. From Tuesday Reims in France opens the 2024 Virtus World & European Indoor Athletics Championships. We then cross the English Channel and head to Gosforth near Newcastle upon Tyne to begin the World Professional Pool Championship. The new bodyboarding season opens with the biggest event on the calendar. The IBC World Bodyboard Championship features in Morocco's Agadir.
One of the major Mind Sports, experts of Go compete in the 22nd World Students GO OZA Championship in Tokyo from Wednesday. Dressage and Show Jumping are the events at the next FEI World Cup in Sweden's Gothenburg. Para Snowboarders head to Germany's Snowpark Grasgehren where snowboard cross is the discipline at the FIS Para Snowboard World Cup. Every year Hayward in Wisconsin becomes an important date on the Worldloppet Ski Marathon calendar. Four races feature in the week with the Birke Open Track Skate 50km FT and Birkie Open Track Classic 53km CT on Wednesday.
The small island of Enoshima in Japan will become the centre point for all BMX experts from Thursday at the start of the UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup. Park and Flatland are the disciplines. Normally a popular tourist spot, Tagatay in the Philippines entertains fans at the World Skate Downhill Skateboarding and Street Luge World Championships. There are two FIE Senior Fencing World Cup competitions. Cairo hosts women and men, while the men are in Germany's Heidenheim. We also have two speed skating competitions. The International Skating Union presents the World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Poland's Gdańsk, while the best students gather in Norway's Hamar to compete in the FISU World University Championships Speed Skating. Ski Cross is the main event in Austria's Reiteralm at the next FIS Freestyle World Cup. Another popular tourist spot for hiking and climbing, Val Martello in Italy showcases the best senior ski mountaineers in the International Ski Mountaineering Federation World Cup. The first ski jumping event of the week heads to Germany's Oberstdorf where the men compete in an FIS Flying Hill HS235 World Cup. The biggest event in the skeleton and bobsleigh season heads to Winterberg, also in Germany. Thursday begins with the IBSF Skeleton World Championships. We remain in Germany for an Olympic Games Qualifying event. The best gymnasts compete in Cottbus in the FIG Apparatus World Cup. We then cross the Atlantic where Eagle River in Wisconsin hosts the 23rd Vintage World Championship Snowmobile Races.
Superbike fans have been waiting for the next season to begin. We are finally here with Round 1 of the FIM Superbike World Championship at Australia's Philip Island. There are two International Association of Ultrarunners gold-label races. Taipei City hosts the Taipei Ultramarathon on Friday. Tumbling and trampoline are the disciplines in Azerbaijan's Baku at the next FIG Gymnastics World Cup, which is also an Olympic Qualifying event. With the main event now completed in Doha, the city resumes with aquatic sports as the masters gather for their World Aquatics Championships. The same applies also to the sport of biathlon. Now it's the turn of the juniors in Estonia's Otepää as they compete in the IBU Youth Junior World Championships. We remain in Estonia for three ski orienteering competitions in Haanja. These are the World Cup Final, the U23 World Championships, and the World Master Championships. Sarajevo hosts Division III, Group B at the next IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. This year Prague has been selected as the venue for the World Rowing Indoor Championships. World Triathlon presents the Winter Championships in Italy's Sestriere, beginning first with Duathlon. Aix-en-Provence near Marseille in France opens the 18th CMAS Finswimming World Cup Tour with Round 1. The Margara Surf & Marine in Puerto Rico's Arecibo brings some of the world's best surfers together at the ISA World Surfing Games. Our next stop of the HSBC Svns Series, the revamped World Rugby Sevens Series, is Vancouver.
The World Triathlon Cup Tour begins in Napier, New Zealand, on Saturday. Australia and Spain host the major World Sailing events this week. The OK Dinghy World Championship features in Brisbane, while Palma de Majorca hosts the 470 World Championship. Brisbane is also the location of round 3 and 4 of the UCI BMX Racing World Cup. The masters are in action in Melbourne at the Australian Football Masters 9s. After the Dakar Rally, the next major endurance test is the FIA/FIM Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. Latvia's Sigulda becomes the home of the next EBERSPÄCHER Luge World Cup and Sprint World Cup over the weekend. It is a very busy weekend for ski marathon experts. The Worldloppet Ski Federation presents gold-label races in Finland's Lahti, and two further races in Hayward. Parallel Giant Slalom is the event in Poland's Krynica at the next FIS Snowboard World Cup. The women are in Austria's Hinzenbach to compete in the second FIS Ski Jumping World Cup of the week. Sestriere hosts the second World Triathlon competition with the Winter Championships. We remain in Italy as the best women's alpine skiers compete in Val di Fassa in the next FIS Super G World Cup. Women's Monobob and 2-man Bobsleigh join Winterberg in the IBSF World Championships. Maine's Lost Valley is the location for the final round of the ATSX Ice Cross World Championship. The second snowmobile race of the week and again at Eagle River, is the World Series of Snowmobile Racing. Round 7 of the SuperMotocross World Championship takes us to the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. California's Palisades Tahoe brings Saturday to a close where the men compete in the FIS Giant Slalom and Slalom World Cup.
Sunday opens in Dhaka with the 3rd World Military Championship Archery. Lahti presents their second Worldloppet Ski Marathon, with Sweden's Mora the seventh of the week. South Africa's Gqeberha is the second venue for ultra marathon runners with the Runified 50km.
For more information, purchase tickets, and to plan your trip, visit UCOLOURS Premier Events.
Until next time, have a great week of sport.