FIS cancels men's Giant Slalom event in Solden at the Alpine Skiing World Cup due to high winds

Updated 29/10/2023 at 12:27 GMT

The men's giant slalom event at the Alpine Skiing World Cup in Solden, Austria, will not take place on Sunday. The Federation of International Skiing (FIS) announced the news on social media with high winds forcing a cancellation. “For safety and fairness reasons, it has been decided to cancel today’s Giant Slalom race in Solden," a statement from the FIS read.

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The men’s Giant Slalom race at the Alpine Skiing World Cup in Solden, Austria this Sunday has been cancelled due to adverse weather conditions, the Federation of International Skiing (FIS) has announced.

Forecasts are predicting already strong winds to build up throughout the day, with tournament organisers opting to postpone the event for safety and fair competiton purposes.

The news comes after three-time Olympic medallist Lara Gut-Behrami kicked the Alpine Skiing World Cup off with a win on Saturday, claiming victory at the women’s Giant Slalom event.

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The FIS issued a statement on social media platform X to explain that the men's event on Sunday would not go ahead.

The organisation said: “Due to the extreme wind and with the forecast of even increasing wind for the rest of the day, for safety and fairness reasons, it has been decided to cancel today’s Giant Slalom race in Solden.”

It has not yet been announced when the race will be rescheduled to.

FIS chief race director for men’s alpine skiing, Markus Waldner, said to the FIS website: “The decision was pretty easy, unfortunately.

“We just double checked with GeoSphere Center in Innsbruck and they just confirmed that the tendency was increasing the wind and not expecting a window, so no chance to complete the first run.”

It came after the race had got underway from the lower, reserve start gate, with 47 skiers from a field of 73 managing to complete the first two runs.

Austrian Marco Schwarz took the lead with the fastest time, completing his opening run in 51.85 seconds, 0.29 seconds ahead of Switzerland's Marco Odermatt.

After the event was called off, Schwarz admitted his disappointment.

He said: “A little bit disappointed but that’s part of the game and you can’t change the weather.

“It won’t be fair with this wind so it was the right decision.”

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