Training took place in the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou, but the freestyle springboard qualifying had to be postponed due to snowfall.
Image: AFP (2), Witters, Imago / AP (2) / Reuters / dpa
The criticism of the Winter Olympics in brown mountains and gray cities was great. But heavy snowfall changed the picture, at least temporarily – and caused problems in several places.
Dhe weather report had predicted it for a long time, but the surprise still succeeded: In Beijing, and even more so at the competition sites in Zhangjiakou and Yanqing, real snow fell like sugar on the Olympic scenery, which was bitterly criticized by many observers. But that’s where the problems began, because winter sports are hardly prepared anywhere for real snow. People have long since adjusted to reliable artificial snow.
Especially since there is usually hardly any rainfall in February in the mountainous region north of Beijing, where the Nordic and alpine competitions take place. The criticism of water consumption for artificial snow is therefore great. The skiers in the giant slalom in particular started to skid on Sunday. “It was a bit dangerous,” said the Austrian Manuel Feller: “Actually, a cheek.” Of course, this was not aimed at the obvious Olympic friend Frau Holle, who sent her snowflakes, but at the officials who, despite severe disabilities, did the giant slalom let out. In any case, the women’s downhill training was canceled.
The qualifications for the women’s artistic ski jumpers and for the slopestyle competition for the women’s freestylers were postponed, the new Chinese-American diva Eileen Gu had a surprise break. On the other hand, the volunteers, who sometimes felt a bit superfluous, had fun building snowmen. Biathlete Franziska Preuß, on the other hand, didn’t understand the joke: “I hope that the fresh snow is over now.”
