World Junior Championship, a showcase for hockey’s top prospects, is canceled.

The World Junior Championship, an annual showcase of the next generation of hockey stars, which was already underway in Canada, was canceled on Wednesday as the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus continued to wreak havoc on the sports world.

The International Ice Hockey Federation, the sport’s global governing body, said it was scrapping the tournament after a player on the Russian national team tested positive for the virus, which would have necessitated the cancellation of the third game in two days, between Russia and Slovakia on Wednesday.

Two previous games — between Switzerland and the United States and between Finland and the Czech Republic — had already been canceled because of positive cases.

The cancellation was an ominous sign for sports leagues, including the N.H.L. and the N.B.A., which have been struggling to maintain schedules amid a steep surge in cases driven by the convergence of the Omicron and Delta variants.

On Tuesday, U.S.A. Hockey said the final two games of the women’s national team’s