Olympics-Alpine skiing-Women's combined moved forward because of wind

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea, Feb 19 (Reuters) - The women's combined Alpine skiing event at the Winter Olympics has been moved forward a day to Thursday because of the strong winds forecast for Pyeongchang on Friday, organisers said on Monday.

The men's slalom, in which Austria's Marcel Hirscher could win his third gold medal of the Games, will take place as scheduled on Thursday at the Yongpyong mountain.

Three of the first four races on the Alpine schedule were postponed because of winds gusting up to 72 kilometres per hour which closed the gondola taking the competitors to the top of the mountain.

(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Ed Osmond)