Snow And A Nice Win On Ice Weather Still Brings Changes In Skiing Plans

Weather was the word once again at the Winter Olympics.

A day after fog and heavy snow caused postponement of the men’s downhill, more heavy snow caused postponement of more skiing, the men’s combined slalom, as well as women’s snowboarding giant slalom.

The combined slalom, which already has been moved twice, tentatively was rescheduled for today. That means the downhill part of the combined event, also scheduled today, may be moved to later in the week.

More than a foot of snow fell overnight on the Happo’one ski course in Hakuba, and 4 inches fell in lower-lying Nagano City. Snow continued to fall on Hakuba at a rate of about an inch an hour, and more is forecast.

“It’s frustrating,” U.S. snowboarder Betsy Shaw said at Mount Yakebital, where she had planned to compete Sunday. “I was ready to race. I have so much pent-up energy. I’ve been here six times before, and we’ve always had bad weather.”

At Hakuba’s lower-lying Snow Harp, medals were decided in men’s 30-kilometer classical cross-country despite the snowfall. Mika Myllylae of Finland struck gold with a time of 1 hour, 33 minutes, 55.8 seconds. Norway’s Erling Jevne took second in 1:35:27.1, followed by Italy’s Silvio Fauner in 1:36:08.5.

“I felt like dying after the first kilometer,” Myllylae said.

Medals also were to be decided Sunday in women’s 15-kilometer biathlon and men’s luge singles.

Myllylae, 28, the 1994 bronze medalist at 30K, also won a 50K silver and a relay bronze at Lillehammer. Two more medal chances were lost when his pole broke. A nature lover nicknamed Karpasi, which means “the man in the woods and picking up berries,” Myllylae went on to win the 1997 50K world championship.

Five-time gold medalist Bjorn Daehlie of Norway finished 20th, 6:22.7 behind Myllylae. That was better than his countryman, the defending gold medalist and top-ranked skier in the world, Thomas Alsgaard. He dropped out midway through the race, in 50th place at the time.

“The course was very tough and … it was hard to find the right wax,” Daehlie said. “At about 10 kilometers, I understood that I had no chance.”

Justin Wadsworth of Bend, Ore., was the first American, 37th in 1:42:21.1.

“It’s the hardest course I’ve ever raced,” said John Bauer, at 47th, the second American finisher. “If you got in a rut in the track, it was slow, slow.”

First-round or preliminary action was scheduled in curling, hockey and speedskating. The U.S. curling women dropped their opener, 7-6 to Canada, and were to meet Sweden later in the day.