Women’s combined race canceled, only 7 races left for season

LA THUILE, Italy (AP) — Heavy snowfall has caused the cancellation of a women’s World Cup Alpine combined on Sunday, reducing the number of races left for the season to seven.

The international ski federation said Sunday’s event could not be staged “due to heavy snowfall and the huge amount of snow on the course,” adding that the race will not be rescheduled.

Next week’s GS and slalom in Ofterschwang had already been called off without replacement because of a lack of snow at the German venue.

The women’s World Cup now enters a 12-day break until a parallel slalom in Are on March 13.

The resort in Sweden will also host a GS and a slalom before the circuit returns to Italy for the season-ending World Cup Finals in Cortina d’Ampezzo, with one final race in each of the four disciplines.

After finishing second in a super—G won by Nina Ortlieb of Austria on Saturday, Federica Brignone leads the overall World Cup standings with 1,378 points.

The Italian is 153 points ahead of three-time overall champion Mikaela Shiffrin. However, the American’s return to the World Cup is yet unknown as she is taking a break from racing following the death of her father, Jeff Shiffrin, four weeks ago.