Olympic official confident for Alpine test races in S Korea

WENGEN, Switzerland (AP) Olympic course designer Bernhard Russi says he has ''full confidence'' that men's Alpine World Cup racers will go to South Korea next month for a 2018 Pyeongchang Games test event.

Downhill and super-G races due Feb. 6-7 at Jeongseon were put in doubt by delays building a gondola to take people up the mountain.

Russi tells The Associated Press the gondola will be OK, and the International Ski Federation will decide on snow conditions Wednesday.

The Swiss official says ''the final decision like at every World Cup (meeting) is snow control day, which is the 20th.''

Russi, the 1972 Sapporo Games downhill champion, has designed the new course which will stage men's and women's Alpine speed races.

He says it is ''surprisingly good ... because there is good natural terrain.''