American skier Julia Mancuso has described the temporary halt of the first training run for the women's downhill at the Winter Olympics in Sochi as "unfortunate".

The first session on Thursday was postponed after three athletes complained about the height of the jump, although training resumed later in the day.

"It's unfortunate that in a way the racers are the testers," she told reporters. "It would be a lot better if we had decent forerunners, but that's always been an issue on our tour and it's not much fun."

Mancuso won the silver medal at the 2010 Winter Oympics in Vancouver.