Olympics: Men's downhill postponed because of high winds

The blue riband men's downhill, the opening event of the Olympic alpine skiing programme in Pyeongchang, was postponed Sunday because of high winds.

"Due to the strong wind and unfavourable forecast for today, the men's downhill is postponed to another date," the International Ski Federation (FIS) announced.

"The jury will make a plan for the next days and we will inform as soon as possible," FIS said, adding that the downhill training for the men's combined event scheduled for Monday had also been cancelled.

The downhill could be rescheduled for either Wednesday or Thursday, according to organisers.

It is not the first time weather conditions have played havoc with alpine skiing at the Olympics.

Four years ago in Sochi, the latter part of the programme was rescheduled because of poor weather while the downhill in Vancouver in 2010 was put back two days because of strong wind, heavy snow and rain.

The downhill at the 1998 Nagano Games was rescheduled on three occasions, also because of heavy snow and rain.

US alpine skiing head coach Sasha Rearick

said the deicison came as no surprise.

"We kind of expected this downhill to be postponed due to wind, but at the same time the guys were charged up and ready to go," he said in a statement.

"Now the key is to take that energy and harness it, stay relaxed, and then be able to ramp back up."

Just prior to the postponement, FIS said the "hill is closed to everyone", meaning that the gondola that transports athletes, their backroom staff, timing and course officials up to the Jeongseon slope would not be running.

Luckily for the male racers, they managed to get three downhill training sessions under their belts, racing the third in similarly gloomy weather forecasts that eased at the last minute.

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

The 11 medal events in Pyeongchang are run over 17 days, with racers having to have completed at least one downhill training run in order to be able to compete in the downhill proper.

The scheduling allows FIS to be able to tinker with the line-up, often bringing forward more technical events like slalom and giant slalom which can at a push be raced in heavy snow for instance.