2010 Winter Olympics Preview: Men's Alpine Skiing

The one event in the 2010 Winter Olympics that will be a major draw is Men's Alpine Skiing. Whether you are a casual observer or a diehard skiing fanatic, we are all fascinated at the thought of watching a skier hurdle down the side of a mountain at speeds over seventy miles per hour.

Just like the 2006 Winter Olympics, the Alpine Skiing event has been divided into five different categories; Downhill, Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, and Combined.

Downhill

Spectators will get to see skiers race down the longest course of the Alpine skiing events that features a drop over 3,280 feet. The skier with the fastest time from one run will win the event. Back in 2006, the Gold medal winner was Antoine Deneriaz from France had a time of 1:48:80 and won by .72 of second.

In 2009 the countries of Austria, Switzerland, Norway, and Italy have dominated the downhill circuit, with dark horse candidates Canada and the United States not far behind.

Slalom

This event involves the shortest course of the five where the skier will need to use his experience and athletic ability to make sharp turns while navigating through a series of gates. Each skier is given the chance to complete two runs and the combined fastest time wins the medal.

In 2006, Benjamin Raich won the Gold medal in this event, edging out two other Austrians. Jean-Baptiste Grange from France was the big winner in the World Cup in 2008-09 and remains a heavy favorite for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Giant Slalom

Often referred to as the GS, this Alpine skiing event is similar to the Slalom, but it offers wider turns and fewer gates to navigate through. Raich from Austria won the Gold medal in 2006 by .07 of a second over Joel Chenal from France.

The Swiss performed extremely well in this event throughout the season and Raich seems ready to defend his medal. American Ted Ligety has the potential to be a dark horse candidate for this 2010 Winter Olympic event.

Super-G

The Super-g or Super Giant Slalom is an event created out the speed of the downhill event with the precision turns borrowed from the Giant Slalom. Skiers run the shorter course once and whoever ends with the fastest time is deemed the winner.

During the 2006 Winter Olympics, Kjetil Andre Aarnodt from Norway captured the Gold medal by a narrow .13 second margin. The team from Switzerland, led by Didier Cuche, is strong and will make a run at least two medals. Home snow advantage goes to Canadian John Kucera, who has come on strong as of late.

Super Combined

This final Alpine skiing event brings it all together; skiers will need to complete one downhill run and two runs through the smaller slalom course. The winner of this event will be the skier who finishes with the best combined time.

In the 2006 Winter Olympics, American Ted Ligety brought home the lone Gold medal for the Men's Alpine skiing team. There was no dominant skier who was able to win this event regularly throughout the season, leaving this field wide open for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Resources

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/alpine-skiing/index.html

http://www.fis-ski.com/