Downhill is a form of alpine skiing competition. Whereas the other alpine skiing events emphasize turning and technique, downhill emphasizes "the six components of technique, courage, speed, risk, physical condition and judgement", according to the FIS "International Ski Competition Rules (ICR)". Speeds of up to 130 km/h (81 mph) are common in international competition. Athletes must have an aerodynamically efficient tuck position to minimize drag and increase speed.
Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding competitive discipline. It involves racing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in slalom but less than in Super-G.
The men's downhill of the 2006 Winter Olympics was held at Sestriere, Italy, on Sunday, 12 February.
The men's alpine skiing downhill was the third of six events of the alpine skiing programme at the 1952 Winter Olympics. It was held at Norefjell ski area on Saturday, 16 February, and started at 1 p.m. It followed the women's giant slalom on Thursday and men's giant slalom on Friday.
The Women's Downhill competition of the Sarajevo 1984 Olympics was held at Jahorina on Thursday, February 16. It was the tenth edition of the event, which was established in 1948.
The Men's Downhill competition of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics was held at Whistler Creekside in Whistler, British Columbia. The competition was scheduled for Saturday, February 13, but was postponed due to rain and warm temperatures; it was held on Monday, February 15.
Beat Feuz is a Swiss former World Cup alpine ski racer, specializing in the speed events of downhill and super-G. He is 2017 World champion and 2022 Olympic champion in downhill. In 2021, he won consecutive downhills on the famed Streif at Kitzbühel.
The Men's Downhill competition of the Nagano 1998 Olympics was held at Hakuba on Friday, February 13. Originally scheduled for Sunday, the race was postponed several times due to heavy snow, followed by rain and gusty winds.
The Men's downhill competition of the Calgary 1988 Olympics was held at the newly-developed Nakiska on Mount Allan on Monday, February 15.
The Men's Downhill competition of the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid was held at Whiteface Mountain on Thursday, February 14.
The Women's downhill competition of the Sapporo 1972 Olympics was held at Mount Eniwa on Saturday, February 5.
The men's downhill competition of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics was held on Thursday, 15 February, at the Jeongseon Alpine Centre in PyeongChang. Scheduled for Sunday, 11 February, winds in excess of 50 km/h (31 mph) forced officials to postpone the race four days.
The Men's downhill competition at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2021 was held on 14 February 2021.
Alpine skiing at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held at the Yanqing National Alpine Ski Centre in Yanqing District, China. The competitions took place from 6 to 20 February 2022.
The men's super-G competition of the Beijing 2022 Olympics was held on Tuesday, 8 February, on the "Rock" course at Yanqing National Alpine Ski Centre ski resort in Yanqing District. Matthias Mayer of Austria defended his 2018 title. Ryan Cochran-Siegle of the United States won the silver medal, and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway won bronze. For Cochran-Siegle and Aamodt Kilde this was the first Olympic medal.
The men's combined competition of the Beijing 2022 Olympics was held on 10 February, on "Rock" and "Ice River" courses at the Yanqing National Alpine Ski Centre in Yanqing District. Johannes Strolz of Austria became the champion, winning the first Olympic medal. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway won the silver medal. James Crawford won bronze, also his first Olympic medal.
The men's giant slalom competition of the Beijing 2022 Olympics was held on 13 February, on "Ice River" course at the Yanqing National Alpine Ski Centre in Yanqing District. Marco Odermatt of Switzerland won the event. Žan Kranjec of Slovenia won the silver medal, and Mathieu Faivre of France bronze. For all of them, they got their first Olympic medals.
The women's downhill competition of the Beijing 2022 Olympics was held on 15 February, on the "Rock" course at Yanqing National Alpine Ski Centre ski resort in Yanqing District. Corinne Suter of Switzerland, the reigning world champion, won the event, which was her first Olympic medal. Defending champion Sofia Goggia of Italy won silver, and Nadia Delago of Italy took bronze, also her first Olympic medal.
The men's downhill in the 2022 FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup included eleven events including the final. A scheduled downhill on 5 December 2021 at Beaver Creek, Colorado was cancelled due to bad weather, but after several abortive attempts to run it at other venues, it was finally added to Kvitfjell on March 4, the day before the previously-scheduled race.
Rock is the Olympic downhill ski course in China, located in Yanqing District, part of National Alpine Ski Centre resort, opened in 2022.
