Winter Olympics Big Air final featuring Kirsty Muir delayed due to blizzard

The Winter Olympics women’s freestyle skiing Big Air final has been delayed due to a blizzard.

Team GB’s Kirsty Muir - who finished just off the podium in last week’s slopestyle competition - qualified fourth for Monday’s final, with slopestyle medallists Megan Oldham, Eileen Gu and Mathilde Gremaud ahead of her.

But the competition was delayed by 90 minutes and could be postponed further as a result of severe weather in Livigno, the Alpine town where the snowsport events are taking place.

Heavy snowfall and high winds have plagued the Bormio and Livigno area all day, with this morning’s first run of the men’s slalom event, on the Stelvio piste in Bormio, badly affected by snow.

Only 44 of the 96 racers on the start list completed the first run, with several major contenders including giant slalom champion Lucas Pinheiro Braathen failing to make it down the course, although the weather improved by the afternoon’s final run.

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But by the time night fell Livigno, 35km away and nearly 2000ft higher in the Italian Alps, was hit by blizzard conditions.

Heavy snow and high wind speeds made it unsafe to compete and officials made the decision to postpone it by 30 minutes.

Ground staff attempted fairly fruitlessly to clear the snow with leaf blowers, before the delay was extended to 90 minutes in an attempt to wait out the blizzard.

That was then changed to a 75 minute delay as the snow cleared, with the competition now scheduled to start at 7.45pm GMT (8.45pm local time).