Run one of the men’s giant slalom took place in heavy snowfall and extremely borderline conditions (from 6.45 a.m.: the second run in the live ticker). The Chinese Meteorological Institute had issued a winter storm warning for Sunday and announced intense snowfall for the northern part of the huge country, including the Beijing region. What appears to be the first snowfall in a long time had already started in Zhangjiakou on Saturday and intensified on Sunday, spreading to Yanqing and even Beijing. Temperatures dropped to as low as minus 16 degrees.
In the run-up to the Games, critics had mocked the fact that natural snowfall hardly ever occurs in the Olympic region around Beijing. All snow sports disciplines are therefore run on artificial snow. Beijing is the first city ever to have hosted the Summer and Winter Games.
The “blue” blizzard warning is the lowest level of China’s four-part severe weather alert scale. Up to four centimeters of snow in some areas were included in the forecast. People should refrain from non-essential outdoor activities, it said. In Yanqing, significantly more had gathered by noon.
Bright sunshine on Monday
At Genting Snow Park, 180 kilometers north of Beijing, heavy wind and snowfall caused poor visibility and ultimately an early postponement of the slopestyle qualifier to Monday. “It wouldn’t have stood a chance,” Austria’s head coach Martin Premstaller welcomed the cancellation. In the men’s giant slalom, only 54 of the 89 starters made it into the classification because of the adverse and dangerous conditions.
Of course, the bobsledders in Yanqing had significantly fewer problems. The snowfall played no role on the almost completely covered track. The rain was only a bit unpleasant at the start area, said Austria’s Kathrin Beierl during the first two runs in the monobob.
Bright sunshine is announced for Monday – “Winter Wonderland” guaranteed.
Source: Nachrichten
