At 4 a.m. German time, the men’s Olympic downhill race in China was to begin. But there will be no more races on Sunday. The live ticker.
Update from February 6, 7:03 a.m.: “It’s an absolutely good decision. It’s still extremely windy. From the point of view of safety and also fairness, it was the right decision,” commented the men’s national coach Christian Schwaiger on the cancellation. The wind gusts were in the range of 50, 60 kilometers per hour.
The German alpine quartet Romed Baumann, Andreas Sander, Josef Ferstl and Dominik Schwaiger will start their fight for the medals later than planned. “Better no race than an unfair race,” said Baumann. The drivers were prepared for such a scenario. The wind had already led to delays and cancellations during the training days.
Update from February 6, 6:35 a.m.: Around 7.30 a.m. German time, it is said to be clear when the departure will start on Monday.
Men’s Olympic downhill canceled: New date already fixed?
Update from February 6, 6:03 a.m.: There is a decision – and the ski fans shouldn’t like it at all. This Sunday’s departure has been cancelled! The race is scheduled to start on Monday instead, but the exact time is not yet clear. The downhill skiers may have to run between the two women’s giant slalom runs, then probably between 4 and 5 a.m. on Monday, February 7th.
Update from February 6, 5:03 a.m.: Now it’s fixed: No start at 6 a.m.! The race will start at 7 a.m. at the earliest. If it is still not possible to ski, the men’s downhill will be held on Monday.
Update from February 6, 4:58 a.m.: New information from China! At 6 a.m. German time, a decision is said to be made as to whether the race will be postponed by another hour – i.e. 7 a.m. If it is still not possible to drive, the race will apparently be postponed to tomorrow! So it remains exciting on this Sunday morning – but of course we would have wished for a sporting excitement.
Update from February 6, 4:12 p.m.: Now it’s official: The descent will not start at 5 a.m. German time either! The wind on the Olympic mountain Xiaohaituo continues to shake up the program. Because of the strong gusts over the artificial snow band in Yanqing, the men’s downhill will not start before 1:00 p.m. (6:00 a.m. CET). The jury announced this.
At 12:00 p.m. (5:00 a.m. CET), a decision is to be made as to whether the two-hour shift is sufficient. Even then, the race will not be completely unaffected by the wind. “It’s a difficult mountain, it’s never windless here,” said race director Markus Waldner.
Update from February 6, 04:05: “Starting now would be an absolute no-go,” said FIS race director Markus Waldner a few minutes ago. At 12:00 p.m. Chinese time (5:00 a.m. in Germany) they want to decide when the men’s downhill can start here today – the start may even be postponed by another hour. Then the ski aces would only fall down the slope at 6 a.m. German time.
Update from February 6, 03:59: The start of the men’s Olympic downhill has been postponed due to strong gusts of wind. The race at the Olympic Winter Games in China, which was scheduled for 11:00 a.m. (4:00 a.m. CET), was initially postponed by one hour by the race jury, as the World Ski Association Fis announced on Sunday. The wind had already led to delays and cancellations during the training days.
Update from February 5, 6:01 p.m.: Vice world champion Andreas Sander gets the fourth and last German starting ticket for the Olympic downhill in Beijing. The 32-year-old is preferred to Simon Jocher (25). This was announced by head coach Christian Schwaiger after the cancellation of the final training session for the race on Sunday (11:00 a.m. OZ/4:00 a.m. CET) due to the wind.
Actually, the duel between Sander and Jocher should have decided the fourth starter alongside Romed Baumann, Josef Ferstl and Dominik Schwaiger. Head coach Schwaiger found it “a shame” that “Mother Nature” prevented this duel, but called the decision in favor of Sander “very clear”. In addition to the training on Saturday, the decisive factors were the world rankings and the World Cup standings in the supreme discipline.
Sander’s relief after the last few difficult weeks was “very great”. He is confident for Sunday: “The fact that I was beaten in the last race doesn’t mean that I can’t compete for medals – I trust myself to do that.”
However, wind is also expected in the medal fight, there is a risk of a lottery. In addition, some athletes were annoyed that the third test run was canceled after three drivers, including top favorite Aleksander Aamodt Kilde from Norway and two-time Olympic champion Matthias Mayer (Austria). The others were only allowed to inspect the slope – a disadvantage.
Downhill of the ski men in the live ticker: Olympic surprise even before the start
First report from February 4, 11:07 a.m.: Yanqing – It is undisputedly one of the great highlights of these Olympic Games: The descent of the alpine ski men! Only shortly after the season highlights in Kitzbühel, the aces are chasing down the slope again at crazy speed. This time on a Chinese track, about which there is so much before the start of the Winter Games had been discussed.
The big surprise before the race: The downhillers are absolutely thrilled! “It has everything that a modern downhill needs,” said world champion Vincent Kriechmayr from Austria after the first training session on Thursday. “A flat section, jumps, banked curves, hanging curves. There is always something to do. You can never rest.”
Men’s Olympic downhill in the live ticker: highlight on Sunday morning
Also the Swiss Beat Feuz, who with his victory at the World Cup on the legendary strip almost two weeks ago a perfect one Olympia– had celebrated the dress rehearsal thinks the route is “very nice”. The Austrian Matthias Mayer, who won Olympic gold in the downhill in 2014 and in the Super-G in 2018, called it “casual”.
Until now, the ski racers had only known the brand new slope on Xiaohaituo Mountain in Yanqing from videos and pictures or the view from the gondola. After the enthusiasm about the first impression, worry lines soon followed, because: The wind caused big problems for the drivers in the sessions, the second practice session on Friday even had to be postponed by an hour. No problem for Romed Baumann – the DSV driver delivered the best German time and finished eighth overall.
Departure today in the live ticker: Olympic surprise for the DSV aces?
His teammate Josef Ferstl was 16th. Dominik Schwaiger, Andreas Sander and Simon Jocher were 32nd, 34th and 36th. The fastest of the day was Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who is one of the top favorites for the gold medal. What happens on Sunday? We accompany that ski-Highlight in the live ticker. It starts at 4 a.m. German time! (akl/dpa)