American Marconi Wireless News - Olympic men's downhill postponed because of high winds

"The jury together with the organisers have decided in the best interest of safety and fairness for the racers to delay," they said.

"More information on a new date and start time will be communicated as soon as it is confirmed."

The blue riband event of alpine skiing had been scheduled to start at 11:00am (0300 GMT), but was delayed three times in the hope that the gusty wind would die down.

It was not to be, however, leaving organisers with no option but to postpone the race, just as they had to at the Pyeongchang Olympics in 2018, for the same reason.

Wind also caused the cancellation of Saturday's third and final training run down the "Rock" course in Yanqing on a hill previously untested by racers because World Cup events in both 2020 and 2021 could not take place due to Covid-19 restrictions in China.

Although cancelled, three racers did come down the final training run before that decision was taken, notably Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, to the anger of the rest of the field who argued it could have given the Norwegian an advantage.

Kilde is hot favourite but faces competition from World Cup overall leader Marco Odermatt of Switzerland, his teammate Beat Feuz and the Austrian pair of current double world speed champion Vincent Kriechmayr and two-time Olympic gold medallist Matthias Mayer.

Y.Aukaiv--AMWN