PYEONGCHANG, South Korea _ Strong winds that are expected to increase throughout the day forced the postponement of the men's downhill Sunday, in what would have been the first Alpine skiing event of the Pyeongchang Games.
"With this being an outdoor sport, this is not abnormal," said Sasha Rearick, the U.S. men's Alpine coach. "The excitement, the energy on the team right now is fantastic. ... Now the key is to take that energy and harness it, stay relaxed and then be able to ramp back up."
The event has been rescheduled for Thursday and the men's super-G pushed to Friday, originally an off day.
Bryce Bennett, Tommy Biesemeyer, Jared Goldberg and Wiley Maple are scheduled to compete in the downhill for the U.S. None of them placed in the top 3 during three days of training runs.
Despite gusts that pushed wind chills below zero, competition continued Sunday at Phoenix Snow Park, about a 30-mile drive from the downhill site at the Jeongseon Alpine Center.
The first Alpine event will now be the the women's giant slalom Monday at the Yongpyong Alpine Center, where U.S. star Mikaela Shiffrin will challenge for a gold medal.
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