BEIJING (AP) — The Latest on the Beijing Winter Olympics:
The Olympic skiing slopestyle qualifying event at the Beijing Olympics has been postponed due to high wind, snow and low visibility.
With the flags of different countries whipping in the wind at Genting Snow Park, the organizers made the decision to postpone the qualifying round. They did not immediately announce a plan for rescheduling. The final is currently set for Monday.
Eileen Gu, who lives in the United States and represents China, will be going for a second gold medal. She won big air last Tuesday.
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Standout Eileen Gu and the rest of the slopestyle skiers at the Beijing Olympics will have to wait a little bit longer to start qualifying with the competition delayed by weather.
The wind was blowing and the snow falling at Genting Snow Park. The diminishing visibility made performing tricks off the jumps difficult as well. The competition is delayed at least two hours.
Gu, who was born in the U.S. and is competing for China, is trying to win her second gold medal at the Beijing Games. She’s already won big air, which was held in Beijing.
The second women’s downhill training run for American Mikaela Shiffrin, Italian Sofia Goggia and other Alpine skiers has been canceled because of snowfall.
The men’s giant slalom race is still supposed to take place Sunday Beijing time.
A downhill has faster speeds than the giant slalom and so is more dangerous to ski when visibility is poor
Snow began falling Saturday at the Yanqing Alpine Skiing Center during the first women’s downhill practice session and continued into Sunday morning.
There is another downhill training scheduled for Monday ahead of Tuesday’s race.
Russian figure skating superstar Kamila Valieva was at a practice session Sunday, hours before the Court of Arbitration for Sport was scheduled to meet to decide whether she’ll be allowed to compete.
The meeting of CAS is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Sunday and a decision is expected sometime Monday, less than 24 hours before Valieva is scheduled to skate in the women’s short program at the Beijing Games.
Valieva has been allowed to practice since Monday, when a drug test she took in December was flagged for traces of a banned heart medication. That was the same day Valieva helped Russia win the team gold medal with a dynamic free skate in which she became the first woman to land a quad lutz in Olympic competition.
The practices have become increasingly uncomfortable, though, as Valieva continues to prepare with dozens of reporters and camera crews watching her every move. She briefly broke down in tears during her Friday session.
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