VANCOUVER — With one eye on the weather, the IOC opens a series of meetings today to examine the last- minute preparations for the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee executive board’s two-day meeting comes amid unseasonably warm conditions that have led to special contingency measures to protect the snow at the snowboard and freestyle skiing venue at nearby Cypress Mountain.
The IOC is monitoring the weather situation but remains confident the Vancouver Games, which open Friday, won’t suffer.
“We are in a world with uncertain meteorology. We have to adapt to it,” IOC president Jacques Rogge said recently. “There is a permanent contingency planning for the entire duration of the Games. If there would be too much snow or not enough snow, we will act on that.”
Local organizers said they will eliminate two days of halfpipe training at Cypress Mountain to protect the competition area. Athletes now will have three days of training instead of five.
Austrian wins Cup ski jumping
WILLINGEN, Germany — Austria’s Gregor Schlierenzauer captured his eighth World Cup ski jumping victory of the season.
Norway’s Anders Jacobsen finished second with 269 points while German Michael Neumayer was third with 264.5 points.
• Justyna Kowalcyzk won the final cross country World Cup race before the Vancouver Olympics in Canmore, Alberta.
Emil Jonsson of Sweden won the men’s race on the 1988 Olympic trails west of Calgary.
• Simon Dumont won a freeski superpipe final for the first time this season, while Jossi Wells locked up the overall Dew Cup title in West Dover, Vt.
• Germany’s Amelie Kober and Andreas Prommegger of Austria collected parallel giant slalom victories in Sudelfeld, Germany.
Footnotes.
Diver Chris Colwill outpointed Kristian Ipsen 1,024.60 to 992.50 to win the 3-meter title at the USA national winter championships in Columbus, Ohio.
• Croatia’s Marin Cilic beat Juergen Melzer 7-6 (5), 6-4 to reach the Zagreb Indoors final in Zagreb, Croatia. He will play Michael Berrer, who beat Philipp Petzschner 7-6 (6), 7-5.
• Feliciano Lopez and Stephane Robert advanced to the final of the SA Open in Johannesburg.
Lopez upset top-seeded Gael Monfils 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (1), while Robert ousted second-seeded David Ferrer 7-5, 6-4.
• Edwin Valero of Venezuela defeated Antonio DeMarco of Mexico in their WBC lightweight title fight in Monterrey, Mexico.
• Melanie Oudin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands won the opening singles to give the U.S. a 2-0 lead against France in the Fed Cup in Lievin, France.
• Bernard Lagat shattered the American record in the indoor 5,000-meter run at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games. Lagat’s time of 13 minutes, 11.50 seconds beat the previous mark by almost 7 seconds.
• Quality Road won the $500,000 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park.
