Slalom skier Tess Arbez has become the second Irish athlete to have her Olympic debut delayed due to weather after today's women's giant slalom was called off due to high winds and bitter cold at the Yongpyong Alpine Centre.
Minus 20-degree temperatures and gusts of 100mph at the mountain summit saw local organisers taking no chances and they have rescheduled the event to Thursday morning.
Arbez (20), whose grandfather was born in Carlow and grew up in Dublin, is competing in two events in Pyeongchang so will now make her Olympic debut in the slalom on Thursday morning (1am Irish time) followed by giant slalom the next day.
She was on her way up the mountain, in a gondola, when word came through of the postponement, but was not a bit put out. "That is alpine skiing. Every time we have a lot of snow or it is raining or very windy they usually cancel it or move it so we are used to it," she said.
"I will have some free-skiing on the race slope tomorrow and don't mind because the race is now on Thursday and I am already competing in slalom on Wednesday. It is no problem."
High winds have caused problems in PyeongChang, repeatedly disrupting the alpine events so far but, weather allowing, Tuesday should be a very busy day for Team Ireland.
Two-time Olympic snowboarder Seamus O'Connor, who was only 16 when he finished 15th and 17th in Sochi, competes in the half-pipe qualifier where he needs to make the top 12 to progress to the final, which he just narrowly missed in 2014.
Clare skier Patrick McMillan, whose opening event (the downhill) was postponed last Sunday, is also making his Olympic debut in the Alpine Combined on Tuesday. This event is based on each skier's combined time over one downhill and one slalom run.
The third Irish in action on Tuesday is cross-country skier Thomas Westgaard who has recovered from the tough 30km Skiathlon to take part in the 1.4km Sprint event.
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— PyeongChang 2018 (@pyeongchang2018) February 11, 2018
