A men's World Cup downhill ski training session was cancelled in Wengen today to preserve the infamous Lauberhorn course, which has been damaged by rain and mild weather over recent days.

The relatively warm temperatures also led to the cancellation of a women's downhill practice at Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria.

In Wengen, a super combination, downhill and slalom are scheduled for Friday 12th, Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th respectively. For safety reasons, the International Ski Federation (ISF) rules

require at least one training session before a downhill race. This now looks likely to be impossible.

Overnight rain on Monday and into Tuesday damaged the Lauberhorn course, home to the longest downhill on the World Cup circuit.

Temperatures on today (Wednesday 10th) were expected to reach up to five degrees Celsius at the top of the course and 10 degrees at the bottom in Wengen, unheard of for January in recent years.

Snow is, however, expected next week...

Chemmy Alcott,
Great Britain's number 1 Ladies Downhill hope