- Title: ITALY: Heavy snow halted the men's super-G event at the Winter Olympics.
- Date: 18th February 2006
- Summary: STREET IN SESTRIERE, PEOPLE WALKING IN SNOW
- Embargoed: 5th March 2006 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Italy
- Country: Italy
- Topics: Weather,Sports
- Reuters ID: LVA7G7NNRFDAQTJZQVCSKG2HSPTN
- Story Text: Heavy snow fell on the Olympic slopes around Sestriere on Saturday (February 18), halting the mens Alpine skiing super-G contest because of poor visibility.
Officials said the race would start again from scratch at 1445 local time (1345 GMT). They had originally announced the restart for 1330 local time and again for 1430.
By 1400 local time, snow had stopped falling in Sestriere and workers were clearing the Kandahar Banchetta piste.
Earlier, steadily increasing snow had made conditions difficult for the skiers who did start the race and several teams, including the Austrians, protested to referee Guenter Hujara.
Frenchman Pierre-Emmanuel Dalcin was leading when officials called a halt, with the favourites still to start.
The later racers complained that visibility had become difficult as the snow increased and former champion Lasse Kjus, who lost the racing line and finished more than five seconds behind Dalcin, said conditions had been dangerous.
"When I was skiing the visibility was not good enough. It was so dark I could not see anything. It was really dangerous. I was just trying to stay alive all the way down," Kjus, who has won five medals at previous Olympics, told Reuters.
Organisers said the women's combined downhill, which was due to start at 1400 local time (1300 GMT) in nearby San Sicario, would be put back to 1530 local time to avoid a clash with the men's race. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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