Due to the extreme weather conditions at the Winter Olympics, the International Olympic Committee is in constant contact with the sports associations. The conditions for the athletes will become even more difficult over the next few days.
“It’s not always easy because we’re dealing with seven different sports,”said IOC spokesman Mark Adams,”We’re always talking about it with the federations,”said Adams. It is also checked whether competitions have to be cancelled.
The conditions at Andreas Wellingers Goldsprung on the normal hill were borderline. Due to the wind, jumps had to be postponed again and again. The men’s downhill was cancelled.”The wind was too strong. We cared about the athletes,”said Sung Baik You of the Pocog Organizing Committee.
The outlook for the next few days does not promise any improvement. According to the organizers, the cold wind is expected to stop until Wednesday, and temperatures can drop to minus 18 degrees Celsius. The spectators are patient, even in the event of postponements,”said Sung.
The weather is also not favourable for ticket sales. While in the ice arena for short track or speed skating good visitors were registered, the utilisation of the biathlon with 61 per cent left a lot to be desired. For downhill skiing, which was postponed to Thursday, 85 percent of the tickets were sold,”for other ski disciplines all the tickets have even gone,”explained Sung.