Ireland's Ben Lynch will have to wait another day to open his Winter Olympic account in Milano-Cortina after the men's halfpipe event was pushed back 24 hours due to adverse weather conditions.
The 23-year-old, who spent the build-up to the Games recovering from a knee injury, was slated for a 9.30am qualification slot this morning.
The event, to be held at the Livigno Snow Park in Valtellina, was due to take place today with the final scheduled for tomorrow.
However continued snowfall and worsening conditions resulted in organisers pushing the event out to Friday, with Lynch now set to compete in qualifying at 9.30am tomorrow morning.
The women's halfpipe qualification – scheduled for this evening – is currently due to continue.
International Olympic Committee spokesperson Mark Adams said: "Snow is an occupational hazard in winter sports and they are well used to dealing with delays and changes and bad weather.
"Very often there are problems with snow, they can be dealt with, we're used to it, the federations are used to it – it’s something we have to work with unfortunately."
The half-pipe event sees athletes slingshot themselves off the walls of a 22-foot high U-shaped wall of snow to perform tricks and grabs.
Lynch switched to Ireland last year having spent time on the Canadian development team and will the last of Ireland’s four-athlete team to appear at the Milano-Cortina Games.
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