Martin Toomey. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES "Really strange" weather in the Queenstown Lakes area did not put a dampener on the 2024 Winter Games NZ, the event’s chief executive said. Martin Toomey said that while "one and a half" of the 10 events on the international snow sports competition had been unable to be completed, that was itself an achievement given the conditions organisers were working with. "You know, there’s been front after front after front that’s come through in the Southern Lakes with quite heavy rain. "This year had just a really strange, westerly flow." He said managing the windy and unusually warm weather had posed a challenge for organisers across the entire event, which ran from August 23 until yesterday. Weather conditions in the first week had resulted in the cancellation of three giant slalom races at Coronet Peak, while conditions at Cardrona on Sunday meant the games’ closing event, the FIS freeski halfpipe World Cup finals, were postponed until yesterday. "When you’re 22 feet above a half-pipe, you don’t really want to get blown around too much", Mr Toomey said. More than 500 athletes from over 35 countries were in Queenstown and Wānaka for the annual competition, which is now in its 11th year. Mr Toomey said this year’s games had been notable for hosting the first two FIS (International Ski Federation) World Cup events to successfully take place in New Zealand since 2019. As World Cup events were qualifiers for the Olympics, Mr Toomey said the buildup to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy would "ideally" result in next year’s Winter Games hosting as many as four World Cup events. "I think there’ll be even more of the big international teams wanting to train in New Zealand in the lead-up to the Winter Olympics. Expect fields to get even stronger, and that makes for great entertainment. "It attracts the best of the best down here, so that means they stay and spend time in the region, and that’s good for the local economy", he said. regan.harris@odt.co.nz
