Olympics
Yesterday, real snow in Beijing put the winter into the Winter Olympics as up to six inches fell on the mountains and Olympic area. The games are famous for being the first Winter Olympics on 100% artificial snow.
Ironically, the snowfall brought chaos to the schedule as fresh snow and poor visibility caused the cancellation of several events.
Light snow started Saturday, but by Sunday it was dumping. Beijing usually averages about 2″ annual snowfall ALL winter.
The men’s giant slalom was postponed while course workers cleared the snow, and the skiers complained of poor visibility during the race.
A second women’s downhill training run scheduled for Sunday was canceled.
The men’s cross-country relay ski race was postponed while workers used leaf blowers to clear the tracks.
Wind and snow postponed the qualifying round for women’s snowboard slopestyle, and the men’s slopestyle qualification was switched from Monday to Tuesday, with the final now set for Wednesday.
