Final alpine skiing event of Olympics moved to Sunday in Beijing due to wind
Mixed-team competition represents final chance for Shiffrin to medal in China
The last alpine skiing race of the Beijing Olympics was moved from Saturday to Sunday because of too-strong wind, making Mikaela Shiffrin wait to get one last chance to bring home a medal from China.
Gusts at up to about 65 km/h led to the announcement of two one-hour delays for the mixed team parallel event, before the International Ski Federation eventually said it would not be possible to hold the competition at all on Saturday.
About 75 minutes later, after what the ski federation called a meeting "to discuss the potential rescheduling of the event," the race was shifted to Sunday at 9 a.m. local time (Saturday at 8 p.m. ET).
The 2022 Olympics end Sunday.
WATCH | Shiffrin posts 3rd DNF in Beijing:
This was only the second time the team event has been part of the alpine program at a Winter Games after making its debut at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
Athletes go head-to-head on parallel giant slalom courses during a series of heats, and each nation is represented by both women and men.
Only one of the 10 athletes who earned an individual alpine gold in Beijing was listed on the team rosters released Friday: Austria's Johannes Strolz. He won the men's combined last week and also picked up a silver in slalom on Wednesday.
Canada set to face Slovenia
Canada, seeded ninth, will face No. 8 Slovenia in the first round. Its team includes three women (Cassidy Gray, Erin Mielzynski, Roni Remme) and two men (Trevor Philp, Erik Read).
Shiffrin was named to the U.S. roster that will race against Slovakia in the opening round.
Otherwise, she was 18th in the downhill and ended up with "Did Not Finish" results next to her name for three races: giant slalom, slalom and alpine combined.
Canada collected only one of the 30 individual medals in alpine — Jack Crawford's bronze in alpine combined.
WATCH | Crawford lands on alpine combined podium:
Switzerland led the Beijing standings after the individual events with nine medals, including a record five golds.
Other first-round matchups for the team event: Switzerland vs. China; Italy vs. Russia; Norway vs. Poland; France vs. Czech Republic; and Germany vs. Sweden.
There were 15 countries entered in a 16-team bracket, so top-ranked Austria received a first-round bye.
Four years ago, Switzerland won gold in the team event, with Austria earning the silver and Norway the bronze.
With files from CBC Sports
