Figure skaters know they won't be traveling to quake-ravaged Japan next week for the world championships.
But what's going to happen in the weeks after that?
The International Skating Union left open the possibility that worlds might still be held before the end of the season when it stopped short of canceling the competition in its official statement Monday.
Several U.S. coaches and skaters said they hoped the ISU can to find a venue in another country to host the event in the coming weeks.
Friday's earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan's northeastern coast and triggered emergencies at nuclear power plants. The championships were scheduled to begin Monday at Yoyogi National Gymnasium near Tokyo. That event was to be followed by the season-ending ISU World Team Trophy April 14-17 at Yokohama. Both have been indefinitely postponed, according to the ISU.
"As far as I know, they're weighing all their options, looking at different venues and seeing if that (moving worlds) is possible," said Jason Dungjen, who with his wife, Yuka Sato, coaches U.S. ladies champion Alissa Czisny at the Detroit Skating Club.
Igor Shpilband, who coaches five world-bound ice dance teams with Marina Zoueva at the Arctic Figure Skating Club in Canton, said: "It's really not the time right now in Japan for this type of event, and it's really not safe to go there. The ISU is doing the right thing. I hope they get a different venue soon. It doesn't matter where; we're ready to go. But we need those answers soon."
Last month marked the 50th anniversary of the 1961 plane crash that killed the U.S. world team that was en route to Prague for the world championships. That was the last time the world championships were cancelled.
World-team members who train at the Detroit SC and at the Arctic FSC practiced as usual Monday, the coaches said.
"We're continuing training as if worlds will be held in a few weeks," Czisny said. "I'm just saddened by all of this going on."
The ISU gave no time line when a final decision on worlds will be made.
Contact Jo-Ann Barnas: 313-222-2037 or jbarnas@freepress.com .
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