Heavy snowfall disrupts Olympic training and events in Livigno
While heavy snowfall made movement difficult, a slow day was in store for the antenna team, with a rest session followed by some Monopoly Go and Uno.
“Everyone is a little different. We generally like to do things as a team; we’re a very close, tight-knit team,” Flanagan said.
“We get together, we watch other athletes racing on TV, we watch the Aussies, sometimes we play cards a bit and sometimes that also means having some alone time, shutting ourselves off, doing what we need to do.”
Livigno wakes up to 13cm of fresh snow on Monday.
Olympic organizers avoided chaos and disruption by bringing up the men’s and women’s snowboard ski style qualifying event by one day; This event was the skiing event most affected by the conditions.
“Of all the Park & Pipe competitions, slopestyle is the most susceptible to speed issues due to the length and width of the course and the number of features on the course in question,” a spokesperson for the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) said.
“With the amount of snow we saw today, it would be nearly impossible to keep the course clear of fresh snow to provide athletes with safe and fair competition.”
Australian Ally Hickman will compete in ski style on Sunday.Credit: Getty Images
However, the women’s freeski big air final will go ahead as planned on Monday evening as conditions eased throughout the day.
“There will be a large group of maintenance workers on the field for tonight’s finals, clearing fresh snow from the runway, takeoff and landing,” an FIS spokesman said.
“With only one run, one takeoff and one landing, the big air course can be kept in a safe and fair condition throughout practice and finals in a way that slopestyle courses cannot.”
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It’s the same for the halfpipe; Training will continue Monday night for the women’s freeski halfpipe, which will be 16-year-old Australian and medal hopeful Indra Brown’s first Olympic training.
“Again, for the halfpipe this is a much more manageable playing field and one where slightly lower speeds do not pose a safety issue,” the FIS spokesman said.
“Although lower speeds will lead to less amplitude and lower standard movements for athletes, the conditions will be the same for everyone and athletes will adjust their training approach accordingly.”
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