Snowstorm plays havoc with Winter Olympics schedule as multiple events are postponed

Heavy snowfall in Livigno on Thursday morning forced the postponement of Olympic men's ski halfpipe qualifying and men's aerials, further disrupting the competition schedule.

More than half a foot of snow blanketed the mountain town, delaying the men's halfpipe event, which includes American medal hopefuls Alex Ferreira and Nick Goepper.

A new start time is yet to be decided, while men's aerials has been moved to Friday.

Women's halfpipe qualifying, featuring defending champion Eileen Gu, remains on schedule for Thursday evening.

Weather conditions are expected to improve for Friday and Saturday, the final two days of action.

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This latest disruption follows earlier storms this week that forced organisers to juggle snowboard slopestyle contests.

Both finals eventually took place under sunny skies on Wednesday, with China's Su Yiming and Japan's Kokomo Murase securing titles.

The Big Air final, that featured Britain’s Kirsty Muir, was also delayed on Monday following heavy snowfall just before the event was due to begin.

The final eventually went ahead slightly later than planned and ended in heartbreak for Muir as she narrowly missed out on a medal for the second time in a week.

After finishing fourth in the slopestyle final, Muir appeared well-placed to get onto the podium as she sat in second place after two runs of the Big Air final.

However, she could not cling on for a medal as she ended up down in fourth once again.

Reflecting on her performance, Muir said: “I'm a bit up and down at the moment. I'm not really sure how to feel. I put it all out there so I'm really proud of that.

“On the third run, I went for a trick I haven't landed before so I gave it my all and I am taking that with me.

“It's a little bit bittersweet but I came into this competition today feeling really grateful and I think I'm still at that point.”