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From the Olympics Toword Tomorrow
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Downhill scrapped by snow, events rescheduled
Thousands of spectators, some of whom had been waiting for hours in freezing temperatures for the men's downhill, were later stranded for hours more in a mass traffic jam that exposed flaws in the delicate transport system at the Happo-one ski resort.
Organizers said the men's downhill race will now be held Wednesday morning, weather permitting.
At the same, they juggled the Alpine men's combined, pushing the combined downhill back to Tuesday while pulling the slalom part of the competition forward to Monday. The original schedule had it the other way round.
Heavy snow fell in the Habuka area Sunday and weathermen are predicting more snow Monday, with the weather clearing up Tuesday.
Downhill course managers decided to postpone Sunday's men's downhill race at 11:40 a.m., almost one-and-a-half hours after the scheduled start time, as dense fog and steady snowfall made visibility poor in the uppermost section of the controversial Happo-one course.
Finnish referee Matjaz Kranjc said some 40 centimeters of snow is expected in the area in the next 24 hours, accompanied by high winds.
''It is a pity to cancel the race, but it is the Olympics and the racers should have the best race possible,'' Kranjc said.
Thousands of spectators, some of whom had been waiting for hours for the race to start, immediately headed toward the nearest bus stop as soon as the race organizers announced the event was off.
Many of them were then caught in a massive traffic gridlock as passenger cars and buses carrying Olympic sponsors and Olympic personnel had already packed the roads near the bus stop.
Some buses took one hour and a half to travel 500 meters to the bus stop, leaving some spectators waiting as long as four hours.
Nagano Olympic organizers said, ''We had planned several measures for various situations, but the heavy traffic far exceeded our expectations. We will ponder what we can do in the future.''
Ski officials say they are hoping the weather will clear sufficiently Tuesday to stage the race, which starts at 1,765 meters.
A five-year battle ultimately led to the start gate being raised from the originally planned 1,680 meters.
In the prolonged dispute between the Nagano Olympic organizing committee (NAOC) and the International Ski Federation (FIS), NAOC argued that going above 1,680 meters would encroach upon a protected national park area.
Pressure on NAOC from the FIS, the Japanese Olympic Committee and even from some of its own members forced a compromise at 1,765 meters in December. (Kyodo News)
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Copyright 1998 The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun