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Alpine skiing blends art with speed
Sports has changed dramatically since 1936 Games debut
Alpine skiing is a sport that is a blend of art and speed. Put them together and you have a creative movement that when in perfect harmony leads to gold. The balance is shifting, however. Today, the scales are tipping a little heavier toward the speed department, thanks in part to the new equipment and breakaway gates. Within the past few years, speeds have progressively increased. The most graceful of the alpine events is the giant slalom. Turns are smoother and more rhythmic. In slalom, the turns come more quickly and where skiers once swung gracefully around the gates, they now slam into them with a hard forearm blow. Downhill and the super G will forever be based on speed with style.
 OLYMPIC OVERVIEW
Skiing is one of the long-standing Olympic events, with alpine skiing joining its nordic predecessor for the 1936 Games. Since alpine's start, appearances have changed dramatically. Gone are the long, wooden staves, baggy ski attire and leather boots and in their place are high-tech skis with flared tips, skin-tight suits and plastic boots.
Alpine's inclusion in the 1936 Winter Olympics was not without controversy. The decision was to combine the slalom and downhill into one event and to make Europe's crop of young ski teachers — certainly the best skiers at the time — ineligible. Austria and France ended up boycotting the first Games. World War II scuttled the next two Winter Olympics. When the Games resumed in 1948, there was a full complement of events and major changes in the rules. This, too, brought the first American to the podium. Sun Valley's Gretchen Fraser won a gold medal in the slalom and a silver in the combined. Her coach was a young Norwegian just making his presence felt in the United States: Alf Engen would go on to a storied skiing presence in Utah.
In 1988, the Olympics changed from a three-discipline format to four with the introduction of the super G, or super giant slalom. Not everyone, however, embraced the newcomer. Some skiers — including the United States' famed Mahre twins, Phil and Steve — refused to compete in the event. Through its history, skiing has been considered more of a European sport, like basketball is an American event. Most of the great champions have, in fact, been from European countries. That's not to say the United States hasn't had its champions. Europe has simply had more.
Over the years, there have been many great names in Olympic alpine competition but none more important than the two who swept the Games' famed "Triple Crown." In 1956, Anton "Toni" Sailer of Austria won the slalom, giant slalom and downhill, while France's Jean-Claude Killy repeated the feat in 1968. Rosi Mittermaier of Germany came close in 1976, winning golds in the downhill and slalom but finishing second in the GS. And while there was always a surface interest in skiing here in the United States, it wasn't until 1976 that it reached any great depth. That was when TV audiences watched as Franz Klammer made his most memorable gold-medal downhill run from top to bottom. From that point on, American audiences have been glued to the TV sets for downhill races.
There have been some names imprinted on the minds of skiing fans. Among them the Mahres. At Lake Placid in 1980, Phil won a silver in the slalom. Four years later in Sarajevo, Phil backed that up with a gold and Steve a silver in the slalom. That same year, Bill Johnson became the first American male to win a gold by streaking to victory in the downhill. Among those who have harbored the spotlight the longest were Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden, Alberto Tomba and Italy, and the latest icon, Hermann Maier of Austria. Looking back over the years, probably the two most significant changes involve skis and gates. The introduction of shaped skis has resulted in shorter skis making faster times. Gates have, in fact, gone through two changes: from bamboo first to plastic and now to breakaways. Each required a certain style.
EVENT DESCRIPTIONS:
The four alpine skiing disciplines are, by simple definition, similar. Skiers race between red and blue gates, on skis, for the quickest possible time.
Each country is allowed four competitors in each event.
Skiers can race in any manner they choose, along any line they wish, but experience tells them there's only one line that will lead them to the winner's podium.
And even though in the simplest of explanations they may seem similar, in truth the four disciplines are very different.
DOWNHILL: Of all the alpine events, this one is the most popular with spectators, even though very little of the race can be seen live from any one vantage point. The course itself is long, typically follows the most challenging terrain, and requires the most nerve. Skiers constantly hit speeds up to 70 and 85 mph.
A downhill race consists of one run. The skier with the fastest time wins. The course itself is set up in alternating red and blue gates. Because of the high speeds and the vulnerability of the racers to unstable snow conditions, downhill courses are required to be firm and clear of soft snow. This is why the downhill is the first event on the Olympic event schedule. If snow conditions are not right on race day, officials have the remainder of the Olympics to try and reschedule the event.
There are occasions where a racer may be interfered with or a problem may develop on the course, which would allow for a rerun. Racers, however, would prefer to avoid that situation at all costs.
The secret to a good downhill run is to keep the skis as flat as possible on the snow, to stay in contact with the snow as much as possible and to keep the body as aerodynamically true as possible. New equipment, including space-age helmets, curved poles and form-fitting ski suits help cut down wind resistance. The skis for this event are long and have low tip profiles, again to cut down on wind resistance.
The start order is based on past results, which account for seed points. The skiers with the lowest seed points or best past results start first. The first seed, the top 15, get to pick numbers out of a hat and pick their start positions. Most skiers do not prefer being first on the course.
To get the best possible snow conditions, races are generally scheduled in the morning. It's also common for officials to ice a course to make the surface as hard and fast as possible.
SUPER G: This is the newest of the alpine events and was introduced as a made-for-TV race to complement the downhill. The course is slightly shorter than a downhill and the gates are at more of an angle to get skiers to turn a little more, thus slowing speeds slightly.
As with other races, the gate sequence is the same — red, blue, red, blue, etc. This is a one-run event and the skier with the quickest time is the one who gets the gold. The secret to a good run is to start the turns early, not be too hard on the edges in a turn, to spend as little time as possible in the air and put the body in a tuck where possible.
Speeds in the super G are slightly slower than in a downhill but can still get up around 60 and 70 mph.
The start order is figured the same way as for the downhill.
GIANT SLALOM: Of all the alpine events, the giant slalom looks like it would be the easiest, but racers say quite the opposite. This is a very technical race where turns must be more precise and ski position on the snow must be more exact. There is no room for mistakes — even the very slightest mistakes.
In the GS, gate placement is much tighter than either the downhill or super G. The course is also shorter. Skiers must make wide, sweeping turns and must anticipate the turns in order to make a smooth, flowing arc.
The GS is a two-run event. After the first run there is a break and the course is reset for the second run. Skiers for the first run are placed according to their seeding points. The racers with the lowest points run early and those with the highest come last. For the second run, skiers are placed according to their first-run finishes. The exception is that the first 15 racers run in reverse order. That is, the skier with the fastest time on the first run will race 15th and the skier in 15th position after the first run will race first. The skier with the lowest combined time on the two runs wins the race.
SLALOM: This is called the riskiest of all alpine events. Gates are closer together, sometimes even touching, and require a skier to make quick, rapid-fire turns. Being just a fraction of an inch too late or too early can cause a skier to hit a gate or miss a turn. Officials figure on at least 10 percent of the field being disqualified.
As with the GS, the slalom is a combination of two runs, generally made about an hour apart. The skier with the lowest combined time for the two runs is the one at the top of the podium at the end of the race. Times separating winners and losers can sometimes be in the hundredths of a second.
This event is a favorite among spectators because the course is much shorter than the other three events and can usually be viewed from top to bottom.
And, as with the GS, the original start is based on seed points — the skiers with the fewest points start first and the ones with the most start last. The disadvantage with this race is that the course, no matter how hard the surface, takes a beating. The later a racer starts, the rougher the course. A new course is set for the running of the second run.
For the second run, the start is based on performance on the first run, but here again the running order of the top 15 is flopped.
COMBINED (DOWNHILL/SLALOM): This event combines the results of two races — the downhill and slalom. Competitors will ski the downhill first, then after a break return and make two slalom runs. Generally, the order of finish in the downhill determines the start order for the slalom. This, however, is not a fast and set rule.
Because the events are so opposite — the downhill is based on speed, while the slalom more on technical skills — the combined favors skiers with well-rounded skiing skills as opposed to someone who has specialized in either speed or technical events.
The times clocked on all three runs — one downhill and two slalom — are added and the skier with the lowest time wins the gold.
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