Shiffrin on hold as strong wind delays GS

Race rescheduled for Thursday

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea, Feb 12, (AFP): America’s Mikaela Shiffrin will have to wait until Wednesday to kick off her bid for multiple Olympic medals after the opening women’s giant slalom was postponed Monday because of strong winds.

It was rescheduled for Thursday, with course, where the women’s giant slalom would have been held, was for another bitterly cold day on Monday, with temperatures of -16 degrees Celsius (3.2 Fahrenheit). That will be accompanied by winds gusting at up to 18m peer second, lending a truly glacial chill. Bad weather also delayed the women’s slopestyle final on Monday.

“The weather forecast is not great in terms of wind,” Atle Skaardal, chief race director for women’s FIS races, admitted Sunday as he ran through initial planning for the giant slalom.

At the Jeongseon course used for speed events, the winds were so strong that the gondola used to take racers and officials up the mountain could not run for safety reasons.

The women are also reliant on a gondola, the 3.7km-long Rainbow lift.

The opening giant slalom was to be followed by Shiffrin’s slalom title defence on Wednesday and the super-G on Saturday, with the downhill, combined and team events to come in the second week of competition.

The 22-year-old Shiffrin could realistically target four of five medals at the Games, but will face stiff opposition from the likes of France’s Tessa Worley, the reigning world giant slalom champion.

“I’m a little surprised,” Worley said of the postponement.

“They told us that the Olympic giant slalom was going to be held. I was really stoked for it.

“No matter how windy it was outside, I was ready.”

Worley, who was also crowned world

Shiffrin

GS champion in 2013, added: “The decision has been quickly taken. We’ll just get back to the Olympic village as quickly as possible.”

Romain Velez, head coach of the French women’s team, said snow conditions were “very good”.

“But there’s an enormous amount of wind. It was dangerous because it was moving the gates around. “It was a wise decision,” Velez said. “We were expecting to experience a tough day. Finally they decided quite early on to postpone it.

“We’ll take our foot off the pedal and head off straight away to prepare to come back when the race is rescheduled.” France’s three-time former Olympian Luc Alphand, whose daughter Estelle was to race the giant for Sweden, was on the piste for television, adding: “On the ground this morning we were pitching right over. It was almost impossible. Sabrina Zollinger (11), of Switzerland, checks Shoko Ono (27), of Japan, during the first period of the preliminary round of the women’s hockey game at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea on Feb 12. (AP) Asian rivals Japan on Wednesday to conclude preliminary round play in the Olympic tournament. Japan fell in a 3-1 loss to Switzerland earlier on Monday, and both teams are 0-2 in Olympic play.

Switzerland’s Florence Schelling put on a defensive show to tie the Olympic record for most wins by a goaltender.

Even if she insists she didn’t know she was that close to the mark set by Canada’s Kim St Pierre.

Schelling made 37 saves Monday for her eighth career victory in the Winter Games, helping Switzerland smother Japan’s quest for its first Olympic victory in women’s hockey with a 3-1 win.

“I didn’t know about that,” Schelling said, laughing. “It’s great, but I’m not here to break any records. I’m here to be with the Swiss team and make history with the Swiss team.”

Schelling tied St Pierre’s Olympic mark for most shutouts with her fourth in Switzerland’s opening 8-0 win over the combined Korea team on Saturday night. Schelling came in trailing St Pierre and also Russia’s Irina Gashennikova and Noora Raty of Finland, both tied with seven wins all-time. Raty and the Finns lost their opener to the United States with Canada up next.

Now Schelling has a chance for more Wednesday when Switzerland, the 2014 bronze medalist, plays Sweden to wrap up the preliminary round. Sweden routed Korea 8-0 later Monday despite the North Korean cheerleaders and fans trying to urge the historic combined women’s team of North and South Koreans to an improbable victory in only their second Olympic game. The Korean team will play Japan on Wednesday.