Olympics-First women's downhill training cancelled as heavy snow falls on Cortina

By Julien Pretot and Sara Rossi

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Heavy snowfall in the last couple of days has forced Milano Cortina Olympics organisers to cancel the first of three training runs for Sunday's women's downhill, the International Ski Federation (FIS) said on Wednesday.

"You have seen the heavy snowfall is ongoing and the weather forecast does not allow us to reasonably plan the training for tomorrow," Peter Gerdol, chief race director at FIS, said at the team captains' meeting.

"We will definitely concentrate all our efforts tomorrow and then we will be staying in the plan as well. We will concentrate all our efforts to be ready for Friday's morning training, which is the main goal now."

The two other training runs are scheduled for Friday and Saturday as organisers expect to have time to prepare the Olimpia delle Tofane piste.

"Intense snowfall is forecast in the coming night and snowfall is expected to stop in the middle of the day tomorrow," Thierry Robert-Luciani, a meteorologist for FIS, said.

New Zealand's Alice Robinson, who will take part in the downhill training runs and in the super-G and giant slalom, told a press conference on Wednesday that she was sure everything would be fine come race day.

"They always do a great job here, so even with the new snow, I'm sure it's going to be good," she said.

The cancellation of Thursday's run means that Lindsey Vonn, the 2010 downhill Olympic champion, and still among the bookies' favourites for Sunday's race, will have to wait another day to test her left knee after she ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament in a crash at a World Cup downhill in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, last Friday.

The 41-year-old speed queen, who has finished in the top three of all five downhill World Cup events this season, said on Tuesday that she still intended to race.