The Sochi Games was facing rescheduling problems for the first time Monday as fog and low cloud forced the postponements of two medals events.
A men’s biathlon race which had been delayed from Sunday was further shelved until Tuesday, while a snowboard cross event was also called off after several delays.
The Sochi Games were free of any weather-related disruption in the first week where events have been held under mainly clear skies and sunny conditions.
Temperatures reached 18 degrees Celsius in the Black Sea resort towards the end of the week, but Sunday saw more cloud cover and rain in Sochi, with fog descending on mountain venues.
The poor visibility at the Laura Cross-Country Ski and Biathlon Centre led to the men’s 15km biathlon pursuit moved to a Monday morning time and then to the afternoon before organisers decided to call it off. The race is now scheduled for 2.30 pm (1030 GMT) Tuesday.
The men’s snowboard cross was called off after seeding runs were scrapped. It is now scheduled for a 10.30 am start Tuesday without the seeding runs.
The rest of the Monday’s events, which include an evening women’s mass-start biathlon race and men’s aerials in freestyle skiing remain scheduled amid signs the visibility was beginning to improve in the afternoon.
The forecast for Tuesday is for snow in the higher ranges of Krasnaya Polyana and rain at lower altitudes, which could lead to further disruptions to the programme.
As well as the postponed biathlon and snowboard cross, Tuesday’s events include the women’s giant slalom in alpine skiing, Nordic combined and men’s halfpipe in freestyle skiing.
The postponements are the first for the Sochi Games although some training sessions and qualifications have been cancelled or delayed by warm weather or high winds.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesman Mark Adams said the Games had yet to experience a cancellation unlike previous Winter Olympics.
“We’re not complacent, but winter sport is very, very unpredictable, it is a dynamic field of play,” he said.
“At present the conditions are good and we are continuing and we haven’t had any major complaints about the conditions up there.” Sergey Belikov, the manager of the Rosa Khutor alpine resort, which is home to the Extreme Park, told reporters no stored snow had yet been used during the Games at any venue.
Course officials are confident the mixture of natural and artificial snow in place is sufficient to host all remaining competitions at Rosa Khutor, he said.
The weather was not the only problem at the Laura centre where race officials have experienced a problem with the salting of the course.
“The salt on the tracks isn’t working. They salted the whole course but there seems to be no interaction with the snow,” said competition jury member Fabrizio Curtaz.
