Seefeld NC canceled due to wind, rain

A nordic combined World Cup event was canceled Sunday due to heavy winds and rain.

SEEFELD, Austria — A nordic combined World Cup event was canceled Sunday due to heavy winds and rain.
    The event started Sunday morning, but as weather conditions worsened, organizers called it off after 28 of 43 athletes had done their ski jumps.
    The format was changed from an individual race (two jumps, 15-kilometer cross-country race) into a shorter sprint race (one jump, 7.5-kilometer cross-country race), but a restart was postponed several times before the race got canceled.
    On Saturday, Felix Gottwald of Austria won a nordic combined sprint event in Seefeld.
    Race director Uli Wehling said the high winds, which continued to change directions, meant unsafe conditions for the ski jumping, so the event was canceled. Next weekend's competitions in Harrachov, Czech Republic, already were canceled because of a lack of snow, so the next World Cup will be Feb. 3-4 in Zakopane, Poland, with a sprint and individual (15 km) event.
    U.S. skiers are returning home for down time and then a training camp in Park City, Utah, before the World Championships Feb. 22-March 4 in Sapporo, Japan. The combined team for worlds will be named in the next few days, U.S. head coach Lasse Ottesen said.