Intense snowfall disrupted Winter Olympic competition schedules in Livigno, Italy on Tuesday, forcing officials to call off the women’s snowboard slopestyle medal competition and postpone qualifying rounds for freestyle skiing aerials.
Event organizers kept the aerials competition on standby while monitoring weather conditions to determine if snowfall would subside enough to start competition later in the day. Crews worked with shovels attempting to clear the steep launching ramp that competitors would use at the Livigno Aerials and Moguls Park, where temperatures remained at a frigid -6 degrees Celsius.
At another venue across the city, officials made the decision to cancel Tuesday afternoon’s women’s slopestyle event at the Livigno Snow Park, announcing plans to reschedule the competition for a later date.
New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott enters as the top contender for the slopestyle championship after topping the qualifying rounds. The defending Olympic champion and current world titleholder faces strong competition from Japan’s Murase Kokomo among others.
Female aerials athletes managed to finish their practice sessions moments before organizers announced the postponement of their qualifying event.
The men’s aerials qualifying rounds remain on the schedule for later Tuesday.
The aerials discipline involves skiers propelling themselves from a jump to execute aerial maneuvers before touching down.
Among the women’s medal favorites are China’s Xu Mengtao, who won gold in the previous Olympics, and Belarus native Hanna Huskova, who is participating under neutral athlete status.
