Precarious weather conditions at the Whistler Creekside drove juries to postpone the women’s giant slalom event Wednesday at the Vancouver Olympic Games.
Under a snowy Whistler, the first run was completed, although some problems came up during some races due to heavy fog and snow fall.
Austria’s Elisabeth Goergl finished the first and only run of the day with the best time at 1:15.12. Taina Barioz finished second 0.02 behind Goergl, while Kathrin Zettel was third, 0.16 behind the leader.
American Lindsey Vonn, one of the favorites to win a medal at this event, crashed and is out of competition. The tumble left her an injured finger. Another 17 athletes did not finished the run.
Julia Mancuso, also from United States, was sent on the Francis track while Vonn was being helped by the medical assistance. The officials left Mancuso to be yellow flagged so she had to ski the race again. Her second attempt was not good at all, taking her to the 18th position overall.
Three Austrians athletes finished in the top four positions, and starting the competition again would represent to lose the advantage and could give some chance to the American team, some commissioners allegedly argued.
The safety of the skiers is first and so the decision will be taken late Wednesday or Thursday morning. But the weather forecast does not look very promising with a wet and mild snow.