Bad weather forces new schedule in St Anton

Work on the downhill courses has been hampered by fears of avalanches Keystone

The heavy snowfall and storms that hit the Austrian resort of St Anton at the weekend have forced the organisers of the alpine skiing world championships to radically revise their programme.

Officials announced on Monday that the men’s downhill would now be held on Wednesday with the women’s downhill taking place on Tuesday. Both races were cancelled at the weekend after almost a metre of snow fell in the Austrian resort.

Monday’s racing action will involve only half of the men’s combined event. The two evening slalom runs will go ahead as scheduled while the downhill stage will be held on Tuesday, following the women’s downhill.

Tuesday was originally set aside as a spare day to be used in the event of bad weather, and the organisers of the world championships remain confident that they can complete the full programme.

Conditions permitting, three Swiss men are due to compete in the combined slalom runs on Monday. Paul Accola, Didier Defago and Bruno Kernen will be the men trying to upset the Norwegian favourites Lasse Kjus and Kjetil Andre Aamodt.

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