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Weather in Sochi disrupts Olympic schedule

A skier trains at the Laura Cross-Country Ski and Biathlon Center in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia, on Monday. Thick fog shrouding the mountains at the Sochi Olympics forced organizers to postpone events.
(Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP/Getty Images)
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SOCHI, Russia — The waiting Monday morning and afternoon was something to be embraced, not detested.

There was no fear in U.S. snowboarder Nate Holland’s vocabulary when weather disrupted the Olympic schedule, causing a day’s delay to the men’s snowboard cross event.

“I live for days like this,” Holland said. “Like I said, it was a dress rehearsal. You get a free rush out of it…. Like I said, we’ll be back tomorrow. Hopefully the weather cooperates. It’s time to go. Tomorrow should be a good day to try and win the Olympics.

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“This is standard for snowboarding and ski events. Mother Nature doesn’t always cooperate.”

What had been a smooth-running schedule was disrupted at the Sochi Games. The men’s 15-kilometer mass-start biathlon, originally set for Sunday, has twice been rescheduled because of heavy fog and now moved to Tuesday afternoon.

But the women’s mass-start event went forward later Monday.

The only competition at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park on Monday was the men’s aerials at night.

The men’s snowboard cross was rescheduled for Tuesday morning with the seeding runs eliminated. The competition will open with the round of 16.

Snowboarder Tim Watter of Switzerland said that visibility was limited to less than 10 feet in certain sections of the top part of the course.

“For me, it was the right decision,” he said. “It was really dangerous to ride like this.”

lisa.dillman@latimes.com

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Twitter: @reallisa

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