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High Wind Postpones Women’s Alpine Slalom in Pyeongchang

Strong winds buffeted the Rainbow course in Yongpyong, forcing organizers to delay the start of the Alpine Skiing Women’s Slalom then call it off altogether.
Strong winds buffeted the Rainbow course in Yongpyong, forcing organizers to delay the start of the Alpine Skiing Women’s Slalom then call it off altogether.

The alpine skiing program at the Winter Olympics in South Korea was thrown into chaos on Wednesday with the postponement of a third event, the women’s slalom, because of strong winds.

“Due to the current weather situation, today’s slalom is postponed to Friday,” the International Ski Federation (FIS) announced.

Strong winds buffeted the Rainbow course in Yongpyong, forcing organizers to delay the start then call it off altogether, AFP reported.

It means another delay for defending slalom champion Mikaela Shiffrin’s opening appearance in South Korea, the American star having seen the giant slalom postponed on Monday.

Iran’s female skier Forough Abbasi is also among the skiers competing in the slalom who should also wait till Friday.

Abbasi, 24, was one of the torchbearers before the start of Winter Olympics. She is one of the four skiers representing Iran in the Korea games.

 Another Cancellation

The blue riband downhill was also postponed Sunday because of high winds and an unfavorable weather forecast which saw the cancellation of Monday’s downhill training for the men’s combined event.

So far the only race to have gone ahead is the men’s combined on Tuesday, Austrian Marcel Hirscher winning his first Olympic gold on the Jeongseon course.

Given that skiing is an outdoor event, at the mercy of the elements, its Olympic program is always designed with contingencies at hand.

The 11 medal events are run over 17 days, the scheduling allowing FIS to be able to tinker with the line-up. That normally means bringing forward more technical events like slalom and giant slalom which can be raced in heavy snow and also often in wind.

The International Olympic Committee said it had faith in FIS, adding there was “plenty” of time left for the competition.

“If the wind continues to blow for the next 15 days then I guess it might be a problem,” said IOC spokesman Mark Adams.

There is no doubt, however, that FIS will be desperately hoping the winds that have been pummeling the South Korean venues soon dissipate.

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