High winds force cancellation of men's World Cup season opening giant slalom

Strong winds forced the cancellation of the season-opening men's World Cup giant slalom Sunday in Soelden, Austria, after 47 of the 73 skiers in the first run had started.

Gusts high up on the Rettenbachferner glacier initially prompted organizers to lower the start gate, which reduced run times by nearly 10 seconds.

As winds on the course became too strong, the jury interrupted the race after 47 starters, before calling it off as conditions failed to improve.

The International Ski and Snowboard Federation said the race was canceled "due to the extreme wind at the moment and the forecast with increasing wind for the rest of the day, for safety and fairness to all racers."

FIS race director Markus Waldner said the race will be rescheduled, with date and venue likely to be announced in the coming days.

It is the third time in the last seven years the race had to be canceled because of strong winds.

Austrian skier Marco Schwarz was leading the race, underlining his ambitions to compete for the World Cup overall title.

Schwarz had a near-flawless run to lead defending overall champion Marco Odermatt by 0.29 seconds. The Swiss skier, world and Olympic champion in the discipline, won 12 of the last 18 World Cup giant slaloms, including season openers in 2021 and 2022.

Alexis Pinturault of France and Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway were the only other racers to finish within six-tenths of a second of the Austrian's time.

"It's disappointing for me, of course, but you cannot ski in these conditions," said Schwarz, who could have become the first Austrian winner of the race since Marcel Hirscher triumphed in 2014.

Starting his World Cup career as a slalom specialist, Schwarz has developed into an all-round skier, who plans to