Some morning snowfall led to an announcement from the World Cup Committee that a downhill men’s ski race scheduled for today, January 8th, has been called off due to high winds.
The “2022 winter olympics downhill” is a race that was canceled due to high winds. The event will be rescheduled for the following year.
Due to heavy winds, the men’s downhill competition at the Beijing Olympics was postponed a day on Sunday, adding to participants’ anxiety over a high-speed rush down an icy, unknown terrain.
After several postponements to Sunday’s scheduled start and a meeting at the base of the mountain with leaders of the local organizing committee, the F.I.S., the world governing body of skiing, and the Olympic Broadcasting System, organizers announced that the race will take place at noon on Monday, between the first and second heats of the women’s giant slalom.
The opening run of the giant slalom was brought forward from 10:15 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. local time to accommodate the adjustment. At noon, the men’s downhill will take place, followed by the women’s giant slalom final at 2:30 p.m. The giant slalom and downhill are held on separate slopes and with different skiers, but organizers — particularly broadcasters — decided not to have two such high-profile events at the same time.
Two of the top American downhill medal contenders agreed with the decision.
“It’s a disappointment,” one of them, Bryce Bennett, said, “but it’s a relief that they’re trying to have a fair race.”
During Sunday’s delays, Bennett and his American partner Ryan Cochran-Siegle went freeskiing in the vicinity.
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“On race day, we want the greatest ski racer to be able to win,” Cochran-Siegle said. “Hopefully, there will be a better opportunity than today.”
Olympic Alpine races are often contested on well-known courses, and when a new, unknown route is chosen, there are typically test events and training opportunities on the course for a year or more prior to the Olympics.
However, due to the coronavirus epidemic, the downhill course on Xiaohaituo Mountain, a remote suburb of Beijing, has been unable to perform test events for the previous two winters. A few days ago, racers got their first opportunity to assess and train on the course — or the racecourses for any of the nine other Alpine events. Because the location generally gets just a few inches of natural snow, the surface under racers’ skis will be something unusual for an Olympic competition: it will be totally composed of artificial snow.
On Thursday, roughly a third of the racers did not complete all of the gates in the first of three planned downhill training runs. Racers were starting to comprehend the undulating terrain, which includes multiple blind humps and will see racers achieve speeds of up to 90 miles per hour, during the second training run on Friday. However, heavy winds, which are frequent in the region and add another perilous aspect to a sport that demands racers to fly as far as 60 yards in the air off a series of jumps, forced the cancellation of the third and final training run on Saturday.
Many racers and coaches were angry by the elimination of the third training chance since most competitors utilize their last practice run on the course as a trial run for tactics and the line (the route between the gates). However, race organizers declared the strong gusts hazardous on Saturday, warning that they might be a recurrent and unexpected weather condition for Alpine races at the venue.
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who leads the World Cup downhill standings this season, had the quickest training run on Friday and was one of three racers who earned an additional training run on Saturday. He will be opposed by Austrians Matthias Mayer and Vincent Kriechmayr, who won the event in 2014, and two Swiss racers, Beat Feuz and Marco Odermatt, who is the World Cup overall leader this season. Dominik Paris of Italy is another competitor with a great downhill racing background.
Bennett, Cochran-Siegle, and Travis Ganong are the top American contenders. Since Bode Miller’s bronze medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, no American has won a medal in the event.
The “men’s downhill vs women’s downhill” is a topic that has recently been brought up. The “Downhill Men’s Skiing Race Canceled Because of High Winds” article discusses the cancellation of this race due to high winds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the mens downhill delayed?
A: It has not been announced.
Was Olympic downhill postponed?
A: The Olympic downhill was postponed because of a high avalanche risk.
Where is the skiing for the Beijing Olympics?
A:
Beijing was the host of the 2008 Summer Olympics, and China is sort of a melting pot. It has been said that some athletes will be participating in skiing events while others choose to participate in different sports at other locations.
Related Tags
- different types of downhill ski races
- downhill ski racing
- xiaohaituo alpine skiing field
- winter olympics 2022 super g
- downhill skiing speed record
