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Winter Olympics day 11<\/a>: Weather plays havoc with Olympic schedule<\/p>\n Stay across the highs and lows of the Games with the ABC Sport Daily podcast<\/a> and ABC Sport<\/a>.<\/p>\n As time went on, fog also rolled into the valley, making visibility even worse.<\/p>\n Livigno’s idylic quality enhanced as snow stops play<\/a><\/p>\n Livigno is an Italian outlier in more ways than one. Already known for its special tax status and fairytale quality, the town has had a phenomenal dumping of snow, causing a significant shuffling of events.<\/p>\n Aerials is, without a doubt, one of the most risky events at the Winter Olympics.<\/p>\n Athletes flip and spin up to 15 metres in the air before attempting to stick a landing on a 37-degree slope of crushed snow.<\/p>\n Getting your speed down the in-run \u2014 a 70-metre, 25-degree slope that takes skiers towards a kicker that is either 3.5 or 4.1 metres high, with an angle of 65 or 71 degrees respectively \u2014 is crucial.<\/p>\n So, with fresh snow falling regularly, judging the speed required to complete the tricks gets harder, which can have utterly catastrophic consequences.\u00a0<\/p>\n Aerials is not a sport you want to get wrong. (Getty Images: Hannah Peters)<\/p>\n “And then, as the fog rolled in, we had some trouble with medical [services] having access to the site,” Australia’s aerials coach Renee McElduff said.\u00a0<\/p>\n “If medical can’t be here, then it’s a little bit unsafe for us to jump without that service available to us.”<\/p>\n Fortunately, thanks to some “nuts” training methods, Australia’s aerialists were well prepared for the delays and eventual postponement of the competition.<\/p>\n “We practice for this,” McElduff said after the qualifying session was cancelled.\u00a0<\/p>\n “When we’re in Brisbane at our water ramp at Sleeman Sports Complex there, we do lots of scenario planning and this is definitely something that we’ve trained for.”<\/p>\n If you’re assuming that scenario training means letting athletes get ready to jump in mock competitions, only to pull the plug and tell them to stand down for a while, you’re absolutely right \u2014 an unusual roll play under the baking Brisbane sun for occasions where the temperature drops and the snow falls.<\/p>\n Situations exactly like this are, admittedly, harder to recreate in Brisbane’s weather. (Getty Images: Michael Reaves)<\/p>\n “The athletes think we’re a little nuts sometimes, but that’s exactly what we do,” McElduff said.\u00a0<\/p>\n “We might have a mock competition, let’s say, and we’ll cancel the competition or have a wind hold for 20 minutes and the athletes will have to sit and re-warm up and then we go again.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Just throwing whatever we can at them because we don’t know what’s going to be thrown at us when we get out here.”<\/p>\n Read more about the Winter Olympics:<\/p>\n Plenty has already been thrown in this team’s direction these Games.<\/p>\n Laura Peel was heartbreakingly ruled out on the eve of the competition<\/a> getting underway.<\/p>\n The snowy conditions yesterday meant that training was cancelled for the day and now the athletes are going to have to revert to completing qualifying and finals on the same day, a test of endurance that some may struggle with.<\/p>\n Spare a thought, in particular, for Sidney Stephens, the 24-year-old World Cup rookie, thrust into her maiden Olympics with barely any time to think, let alone practice.<\/p>\n Sidney Stephens, captured using a vintage camera, has barely had any training. (Getty Images: Hector Vivas)<\/p>\n “It’s a little bit more challenging for Sidney, who had the late call up and has had seven jumps in about a month on the double,” McElduff said<\/p>\n “She’s got a bit of a tall order ahead of her tomorrow, but she’s taking it like a champion.\u00a0<\/p>\n “She’s resilient and she’ll be ready to come out and put on the best show she can tomorrow.”<\/p>\n Stephens, a South Africa-born, Western Australia-raised former elite gymnast who swapped out the balance beam for the doubles ramp aged 18, is competing in her first ever Olympics after just 10 FIS World Cup starts.<\/p>\n She replaced Peel, who is here with the team, despite the obvious heartache being so close to the Games must be causing her.<\/p>\n![\"Anhelina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/4a0a61c8b870b99e34861b1780ac1c43.jpeg\")
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