Officials not upbeat over downhill sked

WHISTLER, British Columbia – The men’s downhill race slated to open Alpine skiing at the Olympics on Saturday is at high risk of being postponed.

“Right now we need the temperature to go down. If it remains the same I can say for sure there will be no downhill tomorrow,” race director Guenter Hujara said Friday.

The race is scheduled to start at 11:45 a.m. local time (1945 GMT) and the forecast at that time is for the temperature to top 6 degrees Celsius (43 Fahrenheit) and the wind to be at more than 50 kph (30 mph) with a mix of rain, snow, sleet and fog at the course’s midpoint.

“We know that we have accurate weather forecasting for what lies ahead and we’ll take the necessary steps to see what we can safely call racing out there,” said Peter Bosinger, the Vancouver organizing committee’s sport manager for Alpine skiing.

The forecast is similar to the warm weather that prompted both men’s and women’s downhill training sessions to be canceled Friday.

Rain pelted the bottom portion of the Dave Murray downhill virtually all day, prompting rapid deterioration of the course into a slushy mess.         (AP)