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CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — After winning bronze in his men’s super-G race earlier this week at the 2026 Paralympic Games, Andrew Kurka had his eyes set on another medal in the men’s giant slalom Friday in Cortina.
So when he missed a gate early in his race, there was an audible gasp from the stands.
Warming temperatures that reached 45 degrees, combined with a race schedule that placed Kurka later in the slate contributed to the miss. Kurka said the snow was soft and that he wished race officials had salted the course earlier, a decision he thought impacted his run.
"This is the most dangerous (giant slalom) course of the year," Kurka said. "I think the amount of finishers shows that as well."
A total of 24 racers did not finish on Friday, March 13. Under different conditions, only six of the women’s giant slalom racers failed to finish the course on Thursday, March 12.
The Paralympics giant slalom event consists of three classifications: vision impaired athletes went first, followed by the "standing" event. Kurka competes with a monoski in the "sitting" classification, the last to race.
"The first three gates were soft and not even raceworthy, which just made it really, really, really difficult to try to manage and hold onto any kind of lines, especially with speed," he said.
Kurka said that prior to the 9 a.m. start, the snow looked firm and passed inspection. But as the racing began, skiers consistently missed gates.
Fellow monoskier Kyle Taulman said in such soft conditions, an early start before the holes stiffen and snow further softens can make all the difference.
"Sometimes if you get an early bib number, that’s a huge advantage, especially in conditions like this where it gets warmer and the track does change a lot," Taulman said. "The track slows down as it gets warmer so it becomes a lot harder to be competitive on that snow."
The IPC took note of the warming temperatures and moved the banked slalom snowboarding events up a day to protect the course and athletes.
A day’s difference can change results that athletes have worked to achieve over the course of four years.
"It’s getting softer and softer every day," said Saylor O’Brien, U.S. Ski and Snowboard's 2024-2025 Adaptive Athlete of the Year said. "It’s not getting quite cold enough overnight to let it freeze."
Deteriorating snow conditions have raised questions about the timing of the Paralympic Games.
"The Olympics and Paralympics are probably too late in the year," Spenser Gustafson, guide for visually impaired skier Meg Gustafson, said. "Snow is very important to almost all of the winter sports and it seems like a very simple fix. They can be earlier in the year."
Allie Campbell is a reporter for the Paralympics Project, a partnership between USA TODAY Network and the College of Communication and Information at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Snow conditions at Winter Paralympics cause schedule disruptions
Continue reading...
So when he missed a gate early in his race, there was an audible gasp from the stands.
Warming temperatures that reached 45 degrees, combined with a race schedule that placed Kurka later in the slate contributed to the miss. Kurka said the snow was soft and that he wished race officials had salted the course earlier, a decision he thought impacted his run.
"This is the most dangerous (giant slalom) course of the year," Kurka said. "I think the amount of finishers shows that as well."
A total of 24 racers did not finish on Friday, March 13. Under different conditions, only six of the women’s giant slalom racers failed to finish the course on Thursday, March 12.
The Paralympics giant slalom event consists of three classifications: vision impaired athletes went first, followed by the "standing" event. Kurka competes with a monoski in the "sitting" classification, the last to race.
"The first three gates were soft and not even raceworthy, which just made it really, really, really difficult to try to manage and hold onto any kind of lines, especially with speed," he said.
Kurka said that prior to the 9 a.m. start, the snow looked firm and passed inspection. But as the racing began, skiers consistently missed gates.
Fellow monoskier Kyle Taulman said in such soft conditions, an early start before the holes stiffen and snow further softens can make all the difference.
"Sometimes if you get an early bib number, that’s a huge advantage, especially in conditions like this where it gets warmer and the track does change a lot," Taulman said. "The track slows down as it gets warmer so it becomes a lot harder to be competitive on that snow."
The IPC took note of the warming temperatures and moved the banked slalom snowboarding events up a day to protect the course and athletes.
A day’s difference can change results that athletes have worked to achieve over the course of four years.
"It’s getting softer and softer every day," said Saylor O’Brien, U.S. Ski and Snowboard's 2024-2025 Adaptive Athlete of the Year said. "It’s not getting quite cold enough overnight to let it freeze."
Deteriorating snow conditions have raised questions about the timing of the Paralympic Games.
"The Olympics and Paralympics are probably too late in the year," Spenser Gustafson, guide for visually impaired skier Meg Gustafson, said. "Snow is very important to almost all of the winter sports and it seems like a very simple fix. They can be earlier in the year."
Allie Campbell is a reporter for the Paralympics Project, a partnership between USA TODAY Network and the College of Communication and Information at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Snow conditions at Winter Paralympics cause schedule disruptions
Continue reading...
