Bad weather leads to Aspen downhill cancellation after 24 starters

Adverse weather forced the cancellation of a men's World Cup downhill ski race in Colorado after 24 starters on Friday.

The first speed race after the world championships started in sunny conditions in Aspen but very soon the wind picked up, the visibility deteriorated and snowfall set in.

Norway's Adrian Smiseth Sejerstad had set the fastest time with bib number one, and led .26 ahead of Austrian Vincent Kriechmayr who was also among the early starters.

But the rapidly deteriorating conditions made racing unsafe and unfair, and - after several interruptions - the race was finally cancelled after 24 of 59 registered starters.

None of the later skiers before the cancellation came even remotely close to Sejerstad's time, with discipline World Cup leader Alexander Aamodt Kilde of Norway 1.63 seconds back in sixth and Swiss world champion Marco Odermatt another second behind in 14th.

All results were nullified because less than 30 athletes had started the race.

That was bad news for Sejerstad who had seemed on course towards a first career win, and also for Kriechmayr because five-time season winner Kilde retained a 156-point lead over him in the downhill standings.

But Kriechmayr admitted "it simply wasn't fair any more" and expressed hope that conditions would be better on Saturday when another downhill in Aspen is scheduled.