The Int'l Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation said on Monday that Germany's Königssee will host the 2017 Bobsleigh & Skeleton World Championships after "they were taken away from Russia's Sochi following the country's doping scandal," according to Karolos Grohmann of REUTERS. Germany was picked "due to its location, suitable for all the athletes who will be racing in Europe at the time," organizers' experience and track availability at "such short notice," the IBSF said. The event was taken away from Sochi last week "following the publication of the second part of the McLaren Report into Russian doping which revealed an institutional conspiracy to conceal positive tests" (REUTERS, 12/19). The BBC reported Russia said that it "might seek compensation after being stripped of the event." Latvia "became the first nation" to say it would boycott Sochi while South Korea, host of the 2018 Winter Olympics, and skeleton athletes from the U.S. "had also been considering withdrawing." The event takes place from Feb. 13-26 (BBC, 12/19).
