Adverse Weather Postpones Another Olympic Alpine Event

(ATR) For the third time in four days, an alpine skiing event had to be postponed at the PyeongChang Winter Games.

Blustery winds, lack of visibility and potentially unsafe racing conditions resulted in the ladies slalom being moved back to Friday, Feb. 16.

International Ski Federation (FIS) race officials postponed the ladies slalom at the Yongpyong Alpine Center at approximately 11:15 in the morning, just 15 minutes prior to a start time that had already been pushed back twice. The race was initially slated for 10:15.

The start of the ladies slalom on the Rainbow One trail is situated at only 1169 meters, but with winds expected to increase in the afternoon it never had a realistic chance of going off today.

Massimo Rinaldi, the sport director of alpine skiing for Italy, is not happy with the predicament that the sport and its racers now face.

"The weather forecast predicted wind at 80 km/h for today and the race could be canceled already yesterday evening," Rinaldi said. "The weather and the wind cannot be an excuse for the organizers after having prepared only one track for the fast races and one for the technical ones."

U.S. ladies head coach Paul Kristofic said the teams were consulted by the FIS throughout the delays and decision-making process.

"We have jury meetings and go through a first jury inspection early morning and through the connection coaches they ask our opinions on what we think, so they take that into consideration," Kristofic said.

While it is common for downhill and super-G races to either be cancelled or moved due to uncooperative weather, rarely does it happen to a World Cup slalom.

FIS organizers will now re-focus on staging the previously postponed giant slalom on Thursday.

"I think we can be optimistic for tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be better and this wind is supposed to settle down and this slope is in perfect condition so we have that going for us," Kristofic said.

The North Korean cheerleaders were in attendance, sitting in a near empty grandstand, merrily singing as members of the delegation waved two North Korean flags in the steady winds.

Kim Ryon Hyang, the lone North Korean female skier among the 22 athletes from the country was not on the slalom start list though two racers from South Korea were representing the combined team.

A fan from Colorado, who resides south of Seoul, was very disappointed with the outcome of the day. She said their busy event schedule will not allow them to return for Friday’s re-scheduled race.

"We already have hockey tickets scheduled for that day so it’s disappointing – I were really looking forward to seeing Mikaela Shiffrin," said Amy Elum.

However, Elum and her friends were amused to witness the presence of the North Korean cheerleaders and the large delegation.

"This is kind of historic, so we don’t count it as a total loss – we’re having a good time," she said, referring to the North Korean group, which exited the venue together in a long line.

Elum said they will return their tickets to get a refund.

Shiffrin, the current overall World Cup leader and Sochi 2014 slalom champion, was expected to begin her quest for multiple medals in PyeongChang. The Colorado ski phenom will now shift her focus back to the giant slalom, where she is a medal favorite. She finished fifth in the event at the Sochi Games.

Written by Brian Pinelliin PyeongChang

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