The 2013 World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships in Sochi have been postponed by a week to leave more time for the athletes to recover from a stage of the World Cup, Russian officials said Thursday.

The championships, a key test of the 2014 Olympics speed skating facilities, will now be held March 21 to 24, the Russian Skating Union said in a website statement.

“It was done for the comfort of the athletes because earlier the timespan between the round of the World Cup and the World Championships was too small,” Alexey Kravtsov, head of the Russian Speed Skating Union, told RIA Novosti. “The athletes simply have to have a break to rest.”

Fabrice Prahim, a spokesman for the International Skating Union, confirmed that the 2013 World Championships had been moved "for calendar reasons". He said that the clashing World Cup event may be scheduled for February 7 to 10, but said he could not yet disclose definitive calendar information.

Kravstov also said that he was pushing to stage a World Cup round in the Russian city of Kolomna, near Moscow, in November 2013. This would be the first stage of the 2013-14 series.

“We’d like the start to happen in Kolomna, definitely. But nothing is clear about that question yet, because we’ll make the application at the end of February or in March, and they’ll be considered in June.”