Lahti’s laughing gull deaths were caused by bird flu. Juha metso, AOP
The organizers of the SC week held in Lahti at the beginning of August announced on Friday that the bird flu problem in the port of Lahti will cause changes to the games.
– We don’t want any kind of risk for the athletes, so the decision to move the water sports out of the port was very unanimous and clear, said the responsible producer of the SM week Päivi Harri.
With the changes, the marathon kayaking and open water swimming competitions will move from the harbor to Joutjärvi.
The SC water polo tournament will be left out of the SC week, and the SC beach taekwondo competition will be moved to the parking lot of the Lahti sports center.
– Beach water polo is more challenging in terms of conditions, and with such a short schedule we couldn’t find a competitive place for it, so unfortunately it has to be left out of the program of the WC week, Harri explained.
Bird flu is not easily transmitted to humans. The cause of death of the two laughing gulls that died in Lahti has been confirmed to be bird flu of the H5N1 type.
The championship week starts in Lahti next Thursday and ends on Sunday.
Organized since 2016, the purpose of the SM week is to bring together sports that are less known to the general public.
The range of sports includes, for example, pole dancing, kettlebell sports, molkky and arm wrestling.