First downhill in Saalbach cancelled

The first of two scheduled Audi FIS World Cup men’s downhill races in Saalbach Hinterglemm had to be stopped after nine racers due to thick fog and heavy snowfall.

The start already had to be lowered five gates due to fog in the morning and the first racer’s start was delayed by 10 minutes. For the early racers it looked as if the conditions were improving, but soon the weather changed once again for the worse, causing the stoppage after nine athletes.

The jury waited as long as possible before it was determined that the conditions would not improve enough to allow the rest of the field to race. Leading at the time was Italian Dominik Paris 0.07 seconds ahead of Vincent Kriechmayr. However, the results do not count as today’s race will go down in the books as a cancellation.

Saalbach-Hinterglemm was a replacement for the Wengen and Kvitfjell speed races, which both had to be cancelled due to Covid-19. Still on the schedule this weekend is another shot at a downhill race tomorrow, followed by a super-G on Sunday.