BBC announce enforced last-minute Winter Olympics change | Other | Sport
Hazel Irving announced the late schedule changes live on BBC One from inside their studio in Cortina (Image: BBC)
The BBC have announced that the men’s aerials qualifying and final, and the men’s freeski halfpipe qualifying runs, have been postponed due to heavy snow in Livigno. Aerials are now scheduled for tomorrow (Friday), but a new date and time for the halfpipe have not yet been set, with the Olympics saying they will be announced later on Thursday.
Hazel Irving shared the update with BBC viewers on BBC after crossing over from the Nordic Combined team sprint ski jump final, in which Germany gained 13-second time advantage. The presenter said: “So, the snow is coming down there [in Predazzo], but in the curling centre here in Cortina, things are looking a lot calmer and not a whiteout there, as it is all over the Alps.
“In fact, we’ve got some big problems in terms of some of the other events because in Livigno, the conditions are even worse, arguably, or even better depending on what you like, obviously. But there will be no half pipe qualification for the men in the skiing event there, and the men’s aerials are also off this morning.”
An earlier post on the BBC live blog said: “For those of you hoping to watch the men’s aerials qualifying and final and the men’s freeski halfpipe qualifying runs, which were due to take place on Thursday morning, we bring you bad news, they have been postponed because of the heavy snow that has hit Livigno. The aerials have been rescheduled for Friday, and when we know more about the halfpipe qualifying, we will let you know.”
The Olympics live blog also added: “It’s raining buckets in Milan, and dumping snow at the Livigno Snow Park, which means there are unfavourable weather conditions for men’s halfpipe qualifications. A new date and time will be announced later today. Check this space for further updates.”
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Heavy snow has fallen in LIvigno this week that is impacting several skiing and snowboarding events (Image: Getty)
Over on TNT Sports, their reporter in Livigno, Lutalo Muhammad, said: “All we know is that virtually everything’s been cancelled for now, and hopefully we can see some action later.” Buongiorno Milano host Orla Chennaoui added just before 9am: “As you reference, though, we don’t exactly know what’s going on.
“The men’s halfpipe qualifiers were due to begin pretty much now, but they have been delayed. Do we know how that knocks on anything with the following competition? We’ve been talking, of course, about Zoe Atkin’s big competition later today. So far, that’s on the schedule. Is that right?”
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Muhammad concurred, responding by saying: “Yes, so far, that’s on the schedule, but we’ll see later when we get confirmation. For now, all we’ve been told is postponed; we’ve not really been given any other updates apart from that.”
The women’s halfpipe qualifiers are due to start at 6:30pm. Team GB’s Atkin is the reigning world champion and also won superpipe gold at the Winter X Games last month.
