Midnight Snowstorm Pushes 2026 Winter Olympics Freestyle Skiing Final to Sunday
Heavy snowfall in Livigno forced the women’s halfpipe final to be postponed, moving the 2026 winter olympics freestyle skiing competition originally set for Saturday into a Sunday morning slot — the final day of the Games. The scheduled shift follows an initial one-and-a-half-hour delay after the halfpipe was blanketed and visibility fell to unsafe levels.
2026 Winter Olympics Freestyle Skiing schedule
The women’s halfpipe final had been due to begin Saturday evening at 7: 30 p. m. local time, which corresponded to 1: 30 p. m. ET. Persistent snowfall pushed organizers to postpone the event; it is now scheduled to start at 10: 40 a. m. local on Sunday, which is 4: 40 a. m. ET on the final day of the Games. Event officials described the pipe as completely blanketed by snow and cited poor visibility when making the decision to move the competition.
Top qualifiers and key numbers
Qualification rounds produced a clear top score: a 91. 50 from Great Britain’s Zoe Atkin, who posted the high mark that went unbeaten through qualifying. China’s Li Fanghui posted the second-best qualifying score with a 90. 00 on her second run. The defending Olympic champion, Eileen Gu, qualified fifth after a mistake in her first run that included clipping the lip of the pipe on her third jump, though she recovered to put together a competitive second attempt. Atkin is a reigning X Games champion and world champion and was 23 at the time of qualification; Gu was noted as 22 and the defending gold medalist.
What the postponement means for athletes
The shift to Sunday morning compresses recovery and warm-up windows for finalists. One prominent athlete had earlier expressed frustration with scheduling, noting that progression to another final forced a missed training session for the halfpipe and left her tired: "At this point, I’m exhausted, " she said after qualifying. With the final now early on the Games’ closing day, competitors will face an altered routine and a tightened turnaround from qualifying to medal competition.
Key takeaways:
- The halfpipe final moved from Saturday evening (1: 30 p. m. ET) to Sunday morning (4: 40 a. m. ET).
- Zoe Atkin led qualifying with 91. 50; Li Fanghui was second with 90. 00; Eileen Gu qualified fifth.
- Organizers cited heavy snowfall and poor visibility as the reason for the postponement.
Looking ahead, the rescheduled start time places the halfpipe final on the last morning of the Games, where weather and athlete recovery will determine performance dynamics. If snowfall eases and visibility improves overnight, the event is set to proceed at the revised hour; if conditions remain poor, the status of the final for that morning is unclear at this time.
