Quick Intro: Alpine Skiing In The Olympics

It's difficult to do a quick intro on alpine skiing in the Olympics. With five disciplines--downhill, giant slalom, slalom, super combined, and super-G--the sport of alpine skiing has many variations between technical and speed events. 

 

Downhill and super-G are both speed events consisting of one single run. The fastest skier wins. Super-G is different from downhill in that it combines the high-speeds with the quick turns of giant slalom.

 

Giant slalom and slalom are both technical events where the skier races down the slope, making quick turns to pass through sets of gates. Slalom runs are quicker and shorter than giant slalom runs, and the poles are placed closer together.

 

Super combined is an event that combines both speed and technique. In 2010, skiers were granted one downhill run and one slalom run. The athletes with the fastest combined times--Bode Miller of the United States and Maria Riesch of Germany--were the winners. Before 2010 athletes were given one downhill and two slalom runs.

 

Alpine skiing was first introduced to the Olympics with the combined event at the 1936 Garmisch Partenkirchen Games. There, both men and women competed in a combined event that was comprised of one downhill run and two slalom runs. The winners--Franz Pfnur of Germany and Christl Cranz of Germany--were determined by the fastest combined time. 
 

In 1948, separate slalom and downhill events were added to the alpine skiing program. Edy Reinalter of Switzerland and Gretchen Fraser of the United States were the first slalom gold medal winners. Henri Oreiller of France and Hedy Schlunegger of Switzerland were the first downhill gold medal winners.

 

Four years later, in 1952, giant slalom was added. There, Stein Eriksen of Norway and Andrea Mead-Lawrence of the United States took home gold medals.

 

By 1988, it was time to add another alpine skiing event. This time, super-G was added to the lineup, with Frank Piccard of France and Sigrid Wolf of Austria winning the events.