Snowstorm disrupts schedule of Olympic slopestyle and freestyle events in Italian Alps

LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — The Olympic final for women’s snowboarding slopestyle was scrubbed off Tuesday's schedule due to a heavy snowstorm in Livigno.

The slopestyle final was scheduled to start at 1 p.m. local time but organizers said it was called off. A new date for the final has not been announced.

It delays New Zealander Zoi Sadowski-Synnott's attempt at a repeat. She qualified first on Sunday — an opening round that was moved up a day because of the storms rolling in.

Qualifying for freestyle aerials down the road from the snowpark in Livigno was also delayed. The men’s ski big air finals are also scheduled later on Tuesday.

On Monday night, the start of the women's big air contest was delayed for more than an hour when a windy squall came through the course. Megan Oldham of Canada won and Eileen Gu finished second.

In slopestyle, snowboarders perform tricks on rails and jump off ramps. Heavy snow and wind can throw them off course or make the track too slow to ascend the run-ups to the jumps.

More than 4 inches (10 centimeters) of snow fell by midday Tuesday. The men's slopestyle final is scheduled for Wednesday, when the forecast looks better.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

The slopestyle course is seen during heavy snow before the women's snowboarding slopestyle finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

MADRID (AP) — Five people have died and five others suffered light injuries in northeastern Spain in a fire that broke out in an apartment building, regional emergency services said late Monday.

The fire originated in the storage room of a five-story apartment block in Manlleu, a town of 21,000 north of Barcelona, regional authorities in Catalonia said in a statement.

For reasons not yet known, the victims could not escape the attic storage room, authorities said. What caused the blaze also wasn't yet known. The victims will be identified later Tuesday, as some of the bodies were charred.

Catalan police said the five dead were all young people and that they did not live in the building.

Catalonia's regional leader, Salvador Illa, expressed his condolences for the dead and their families on X, saying he was “deeply saddened by the death of five people.”

Among the injured, four were later released from hospitals while one other didn't require hospitalization, emergency services said on Tuesday.

Catalan police have opened an investigation into the cause of the fire. They did not state whether they were looking into the case as possible homicide.

FILE - The Spanish flag flies during a memorial for coronavirus (COVID-19) victims in Madrid, Spain, Friday, Oct. 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)