Downhill postponed

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Fierce wind forced the Olympic men’s downhill to be postponed Sunday, moving the marquee race from its traditional place opening the Alpine program.

The first race on an 11-event Alpine schedule was shelved three hours before the start time at the Jeongseon hill, and organizers said the downhill would be moved to Thursday.

The severe conditions caused organizers to shuffle other parts of the 11-event Alpine skiing schedule. The men’s super-G, which had been scheduled for Thursday, was moved to Friday.

Racers risk being blown off a safe racing line when hitting speeds of about 75 mph.

On Monday, the women’s giant slalom with Mikaela Shiffrin will now be the first Alpine medal race. Ratings report: The Opening Ceremony on Friday night reached 27.8 million viewers on NBC, a number that inched up to 28.3 million when digital viewers are added. While that’s down from the 31.7 million who watched the opening in Sochi four years ago, it has to rate as positive news for the network.

The opening in Pyeongchang had 6 percent more viewers than the Summer Olympics ceremony in Rio de Janiero in 2016, and it was the most watched Friday night on television since Sochi’s first night four years ago. NBC’s viewership peaked at 31.5 million when the U.S. team entered the stadium in South Korea.