Outdoor Olympic athletes adjusting to warm weather

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia (AP) ― Cross-country skiers are looking for precisely the right wax to cut through the mush. Jumpers are trying to land in snow that’s way too soft. Freestyle skiers and snowboarders are bailing out of their best tricks on courses that, even way up on the mountain, are melting under the Sochi sun.

Temperatures climbed well above 10 degrees Celsius even on the Sochi Games’ highest hills, exposing huge patches of green around the mountain venues. If it wasn’t clear with the warmth on Monday, it became definitively so by the second afternoon of alarmingly balmy weather: The Winter Olympics have become the Warm Olympics.

Bode Miller went from pre-race favorite during training runs down an icy hill to eighth-place finisher when the downhill course got slushier Sunday. He was still second-guessing himself Tuesday for not trying a different ski setup.

Puffs of low-hanging, gray clouds caressed the peaks of nearby brown mountains covered with bare trees as Miller and other men’s Alpine racers adjusted to a Rosa Khutor course that went from slick to slushy, affecting the way skis react. At least they got in some official work Tuesday. Citing high temperatures, officials called off the training for the women in a bid to preserve the track for their downhill, when it’s supposed to reach 10 degrees Celsius.