When the stars of Alpine skiing such as American Mikaela Shiffrin arrive in China's Yanquing mountain area for the Winter Olympics there will be one question on their minds - 'What kind of course will we be competing on?'
The track has never been used for World Cup races and the COVID-19 pandemic meant that planned test events last year had to be cancelled with the only competition held on the course being minor events with a handful of Chinese skiers. "Everybody thought Beijing is flat and Beijing has no mountains and that's not true. It has really everything," Russi told Reuters.
All eyes will be on 26-year-old Shiffrin, who has suggested that she may compete in all events, having branched out from her early years as a slalom skier.Italy's Sofia Goggia, the defending downhill champion, is favourite to retain her title but could face a real challenge from compatriot Federica Brignone in the Super-G while American Breezy Johnson has hopes in the downhill.