Strong Winds on Matterhorn Mountain Force Another Cancellation of Women's World Cup Downhill Race

Alpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Ski World Cup - Women's Downhill - Cervinia, Italy - November 18, 2023 A stop sign is pictured infront of Matterhorn mountain as the race is cancelled REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger
Alpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Ski World Cup - Women's Downhill - Cervinia, Italy - November 18, 2023 A stop sign is pictured infront of Matterhorn mountain as the race is cancelled REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger
TT

Strong Winds on Matterhorn Mountain Force Another Cancellation of Women's World Cup Downhill Race

Alpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Ski World Cup - Women's Downhill - Cervinia, Italy - November 18, 2023 A stop sign is pictured infront of Matterhorn mountain as the race is cancelled REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger
Alpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Ski World Cup - Women's Downhill - Cervinia, Italy - November 18, 2023 A stop sign is pictured infront of Matterhorn mountain as the race is cancelled REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

Persistent strong winds on the Matterhorn mountain wiped out another women’s World Cup downhill Sunday, a day after gusts forced the cancellation of the first speed race of the season.
Organizers delayed the start time twice but called off the event as conditions failed to improve.
The International Ski and Snowboard Federation said the race jury and local organizers canceled the downhill “due to strong wind gusts” making a fair and safe race impossible.
Saturday’s race was postponed and then canceled as the ski lifts could not be operated in the early morning and the winds made conditions too dangerous for a race.
It was not immediately clear if or when the races would be rescheduled.

The wind had already reduced training opportunities during the week, with only one of three scheduled sessions taking place on Thursday.
The downhills were the first women’s races to be canceled this season, after a giant slalom in Austria and two slaloms in Finland took place as scheduled.
Defending overall champion Mikaela Shiffrin, who won a slalom in Levi a week ago for her 89th career World Cup win, leads the standings.



‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
TT

‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)

The Paris Olympics look likely to get off to a soggy start.

Meteo-France, the French weather service, is predicting “flooding rains” Friday evening when the opening ceremony is set to unroll along the Seine River. But the show is set to go on as planned, starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT/7:30 p.m. CEST and should last more than three hours.

Already in the late afternoon, skies were gray with intermittent drizzle. There was a silver lining, though, with temperatures expected to stay relatively warm throughout the evening.

Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 6,800 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River for 6 kilometers (3.7 miles). Though 10,700 athletes are expected to compete at these Olympics, hundreds of soccer players are based outside Paris, surfers are in Tahiti and many have yet to arrive for their events in the second week, organizers said Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including 320,000 paying and invited ticket-holders, are expected to line the Seine’s banks as athletes are paraded along the river on boats.