World-championship racing is returning to the ice at the Utah Olympic Oval.
On Friday, U.S. Speedskating announced that the International Skating Union (ISU) has awarded the 2020 World Single Distance Championships. The dates are provisionally slated for Feb. 13-16, 2020, at the Oval in Kearns.
The World Single Distance Championships are a four-day long-track speedskating event in which the best racers from around the world will be crowned as world champions in all of the Olympic distances.
"We are very honored to be hosting the 2020 World Championships in Salt Lake City," said Mike Plant, president of U.S. Speedskating in a release. "We are committed and dedicated to producing a fantastic championship that the ISU and the skaters will be proud of, and will appreciate and enjoy."
The Utah Olympic Oval will host the World Single Distance Championships for a third time since being built for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City. The championships were held in suburban Salt Lake City for the first time in 2001, a year before the Olympics descended on Utah.
"It is always exciting to have the opportunity to hold a world championships on your home turf, yet alone on our home ice," said Ted Morris, executive director of U.S. Speedskating in a release. "This event will allow us to showcase our sport to the rest of the United States and the world, and once again show the country why Utah is the state of sport."
Steve Griffin / The Salt Lake Tribune John-Henry Krueger celebrates his victory in the 1,000 short-track finals event at the final day of the 2017 U.S. Speedskating Championships at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns, Utah Sunday January 8, 2017. John-Henry Krueger won the event.
Winner Sjinkie Knegt of the Netherlands, front, skates during the men 1,500 meters final race at the World Cup short track speed skating championship in Dresden, eastern Germany, Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)