Hong Kong’s Arabella Ng was forced to endure another agonising wait to get her debut Olympic performance underway on Monday when a second attempt to get the alpine skiing underway at the Pyeongchang Olympics failed when the women’s giant slalom was postponed because of high winds, adding to the scheduling woes of race organisers.
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The race at the Yongpyong Alpine Centre was later moved to Thursday with an earlier start time to accommodate the men’s downhill at the Jeongseon venue.
The downhill, the first scheduled event of the programme, had also been moved to Thursday because of high winds at the Jeongseon mountain on Sunday.
Mikaela Shiffrin was disappointed at the postponement. Photo: Reuters
The event had been much anticipated as the first in American Mikaela Shiffrin’s bid for multiple gold medals in Pyeongchang.
“It’s a bummer that we’re not able to race today. But with the training block I’ve had, I’m prepared and feeling good,” she said.
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“I’ll use this time to continue to train and refocus on Wednesday’s slalom race. We have a great gym and space to eat and take plenty of naps, so I’ll use this time to recharge.”
The winds, which are gusting up to 39 knots (72 kilometres per hour), are forecast to continue through Tuesday, preventing the gondolas which get the skiers to the top of the mountain from running and threatening the safety of competitors.
Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova is among the athletes to have been affected by the lengthy delays. Photo: AP
