High winds put men’s downhill under threat

pyeongchang — Race officials are considering alternative plans in case forecast high winds force the postponement of Sunday’s men’s downhill but the option of moving the race forward by a day has already been rebuffed by Olympic officials.

International ski federation (FIS) Chief Race Director Markus Waldner said winds in excess of 30 knots (55.6 kph) would close the gondola that transports the skiers to the top of the mountain for the opening race of the 2018 Olympics.

That would force the postponement of the race at the Jeongseon Alpine Centre but a proposal to move it forward to Saturday, when more clement weather is forecast, had been rejected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

“We are looking ahead because we are facing challenging conditions from Sunday,” Waldner told the daily briefing of the Alpine skiing team captains on Thursday.

“We discussed moving the race forward to Saturday with the IOC but for many, many reasons, this is not an option. This is an IOC decision, we can only offer them a technical solution from a sporting position but they have made their decision.”

The men’s downhill, the opening race of the 2018 Olympics, is the blue riband event in Alpine skiing and would remain a “priority” within the rescheduling if the weather forecast was born out, Waldner added.

Given the unpredictability of the weather in the mountains, races are regularly postponed during World Cup and Olympic competition.

The Alpine skiing at the 1998 Games in Nagano was heavily disrupted by heavy snow and rain and the men’s downhill was rescheduled three times.

The schedule for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics was similarly impacted by poor course conditions and bad weather at Whistler with the men’s downhill postponed by two days. —