All About the Alpine Skiing Olympic Event
Alpine skiing, also otherwise known as downhill skiing, is a high speed sport where skiers reach intense speeds greater than 130 kilometres an hour. The vertical drop ranges from 180 metres (slalom) to 1,100 metres (downhill) and can be made more difficult with gates the skiers must pass through. If a skier misses a gate, they become disqualified. The skis used are often very long.
To win the alpine skiing event, the athlete must complete the race in the least amount of time.
Types of Alpine Skiing Events in the Olympics
The alpine skiing event in the Olympics has both men and women competitions. They are primarily individual events. All events start by the skier pushing a bar. The times are recorded to a 100th of a second. There are five events in total. Two are for speed (downhill and super-G); two are for technical (giant and slalom) and 1 is mixed (combined).
The Downhill Race: This event is the longest course with the fastest speeds. The course is very steep and the skier races straight down the course and the gates very far apart with few corners. The course is typically on average 30 metres wide. The Super G Race: This event is known also as the Super Giant Slalom. The race is a combination of downhill and giant slalom style. The race is shorter than the downhill and there are more gates. Each skier makes one run down a single course. The Giant Slalom: A shorter course than the Super G race, with more gates and sharper turns. Each skier goes down twice on two different courses. The best 30 from the first run then qualify for the second run. The fastest combined time over two runs is the winner. Slalom: This event is the shortest course with the quickest turns. Like the giant slalom, each skier completes two runs down two different formats on the same slope. The fastest 30 form the 1st run qualify for the second run. The Super Combined: This event consists of a downhill course followed by one slalom course using a shorter run. The fastest combined time wins.
The alpine skiing event is scheduled to be in the 2010 Winter Olympics starting February 14th to 27th, 2010. The competition will be held in Whistler Creekside, a short four kilometres from Whistler Village.
By: Devon O'Malley
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Filed under Recreation And Sports by on Sep 8th, 2010. 