The Latest: Wind delays Olympic men's ski training session

Organizers have delayed the start of the second men’s downhill training session at the Beijing Olympics due to strong winds

Beijing Olympics Alpine Skiing (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

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Organizers have delayed the start of the second men’s downhill training session at the Beijing Olympics due to strong winds.

The session had been scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Beijing time, but organizers will only make a decision then whether it can start at the new scheduled time of noon.

The world’s best skiers only got the chance to see the Rock course up close for the first time on Thursday. There is a third training session scheduled Saturday before the men’s downhill opens the Alpine competition the following day.

Weather is yet another source of stress for competitive skiers who can do nothing to control changing conditions on the slopes.

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Chinese figure skating judge Huang Feng, who was suspended in 2018 for biased judging at the Pyeongchang Olympics, was among the three officials on the technical panel for the team event to start the Beijing Games.

Huang served a one-year suspension after he was accused of biased judging in the pairs event in Pyeongchang.

The International Skating Union, which assigns the judges and technical panel, said in a statement that Huang was cleared to work the Olympics after serving his suspension provided he continues to abide by the organization’s code of ethics. The technical panel is responsible for identifying all the elements that skaters execute during their programs.

Huang received a round of applause from the several hundred fans, all Chinese citizens, who were allowed into Capital Indoor Stadium for the start of Friday’s program. He stood and gave a brief wave before sitting back down.

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