The Wormser Kunstradsport Cup is one of the few artistic cycling competitions that took place this fall. Our editorial team asked the 2nd ICWW chairman and 1st chairman of the VfH Worms, Stefan Born, for a field report:
During the shutdown in spring, the double event Wormser Cup / Turnier der Jugend had been moved to October 10th + 11th, 2020, one week before the Elite DM; so we were already in schedule of the UCI and the BDR for indoor
competitions. In summer, the VfH Worms’ board decided that only the Wormser Cup in autumn was going to take place. In this unusual constellation, we did not want to ask our team of organizers to take part in two competitions in one weekend.
Our event concept was a complete success. The most important news in this context is that none of the participants in the Wormser Cup were infected with Covid19 during this competition. We were able to put our contact list aside
unused. In the run-up to the event, all participants had to submit their contact data using an Excel list. The coaches of each club confirmed in writing that they had received the completed DOSB questionnaires of their athletes and coaches and that they had arrived at the competition without symptoms. Upon arrival, wristbands were issued at the central VfH office for the previously registered participants. The wristbands were color-coded according to
commissioner/employee and athlete/coach. Without wristbands no access to the hall. In this way, the VfH took control of the entry admission at two entrances. At the time of the Wormser Cup, according to the valid Corona state regulation in Rhineland-Palatinate, up to 250 participants were allowed to enter an event in halls. We decided to work voluntarily with a maximum of 150 people. We were concerned with sufficient distances and the practical test that it is possible to manage competition with only a few participants. We could have further reduced this number if we had asked the participants of Block 1 to leave the hall after the first event block. We had this variant with the different colored wristbands in the calculation. In the end, the participants from both event blocks were allowed to attend the complete Wormser Cup. Because of delays and early departure, it was easy to keep an eye that our contact list never exceeds the 150 guests limit at any time.
My special thanks go to all the participants who, without exception, took part. There was no misbehavior regarding the use of the mask. “It was unusual to move around the hall with a mask on all the time, but we were glad to be able to
drive a competition again,” a VfH athlete said accordingly. The “workplace” for the courts at the Wormser Cup was also unusual. The chief commissioners sat at a reasonable distance from the announcing and writing commissaries. Writers and announcers were separated by Plexiglas panels and could therefore evaluate without masks. Separate “boxes” were set up in the bikes storage to accommodate the bikes separately according to each club. Spectators were not allowed in the hall to keep the maximum number of people. Instead, we offered a live stream from all three riding areas, which was a little jerky here and there. The usual Wormser Cup program booklet was not available in paper form this time but as a digital document. The award ceremony took place without personal congratulations. The cups were placed on the podium in advance. Places three to one were called up one after the other, took their respective cup, had the opportunity to take a souvenir photo on the podium, and then positioned themselves next to each podium to maintain the necessary distance. All participants received their evaluation sheets and digital certificates
by e-mail after the competition.
For the weekend 17th + 18th April 2021 we are preparing for Wormser Kunstradsport plus Turnier der Jugend. We assume that even then a Corona according concept is needed. We want to optimize the digitalization of the competitions until then. With the Wormser Cup 2020, we have proven that under Corona conditions artistic cycling competitions are possible indoors. At no time during the event did we have more than 150 participants in the hall. If we had separated the participants according to event blocks, the concept would have worked with less than 100 participants. In my opinion, this sets the course for 2021, even in smaller halls than the Worms BIZ.
Stefan Born
