Alpine skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics
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Alpine skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics included ten alpine skiing events. They were held at Sestriere and Cesana-San Sicario. The alpine skiing events of the 2006 Winter Olympics began on 12 February and ended on 25 February 2006.
Contents |
[edit] Medal table
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Austria |
4 | 5 | 5 | 14 |
| 2 |  United States |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 |  Croatia |
1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 |  France |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 |  Sweden |
1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 6 |  Norway |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 |  Switzerland |
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 8 |  Finland |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
[edit] Men's events
[edit] Downhill
The downhill competition consists of a single, high-speed run down the slope. The men's downhill was the first alpine skiing event of the 2006 Olympics, and was held on 12 February. Defending Olympic champion was the Austrian Fritz Strobl, while American Bode Miller won the event at the Alpine World Ski Championships 2005. Austrian Michael Walchhofer led the downhill World Cup entering the Olympics, ahead of Strobl and American Daron Rahlves [1].
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Antoine Dénériaz (FRA) |
1:48.80 |
| Silver | Michael Walchhofer (AUT) |
1:49.52 |
| Bronze | Bruno Kernen (SUI) |
1:49.82 |
[edit] Combined
The men's combined was held on Tuesday, 14 February, two days after the downhill. The combined competition, as the name suggests, is a combination where the times in the downhill racing and the slalom events are added. One run of downhill and two runs of slalom are used to determine overall ranking in the combined event. All three runs are done in a single day.
Norway's Kjetil Andre Aamodt was defending Olympic champion from Salt Lake City in 2002, while Benjamin Raich won at the most recent World Championship in Bormio. Raich led the Combined standings on the World Cup entering the Olympics, followed by Michael Walchhofer and Bode Miller in a tie for second [2].
Bode Miller, the leader after the Downhill portion, was disqualified in the first slalom run for straddling a gate. This left Raich in the lead going into the final run of slalom, followed by Ivica Kostelić and young American Ted Ligety. Ligety scorched the final run for the Gold Medal, while Raich skied out. Kjetil Andre Aamodt did not start the event after a knee injury, and Filip Trejbal had to withdraw after a spectacular crash saw the event delayed for a prolonged period.
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Ted Ligety (USA) |
3:09.35 |
| Silver | Ivica Kostelić (CRO) |
3:09.88 |
| Bronze | Rainer Schönfelder (AUT) |
3:10.67 |
[edit] Super-G
In the Super-G competitions, skiers must navigate between gates at high speed, and the gates are further apart than in slalom and giant slalom competitions. As in the downhill, there is only one run of the Super-G. The men's competition took place on Saturday, 18 February, with the defending Olympic champion Kjetil André Aamodt expected to start.
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Kjetil André Aamodt (NOR) |
1:30.65 |
| Silver | Hermann Maier (AUT) |
1:30.78 |
| Bronze | Ambrosi Hoffmann (SUI) |
1:30.98 |
[edit] Giant slalom
The giant slalom is conducted in two runs, with emphasis on manoeuvering rather than speed as the gates are fairly close together – but not as close as in slalom. The giant slalom also promotes endurance, with the primary difference between it and the slalom competition being the length of the course - the difference in level in giant slalom is 300 to 450 metres, while in slalom it is between 180 and 220 metres. This also leads to the gates being further apart in giant slalom. The men's giant slalom took place on 20 February.
Stephan Eberharter won the 2002 giant slalom gold, but he had since retired [3]. The 2005 World Champion, Hermann Maier had skied ahead of the Olympics, however, and was fourth in the Giant Slalom World Cup - which was headed by Maier's compatriot Benjamin Raich [4].
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Benjamin Raich (AUT) |
2:35.00 |
| Silver | Joël Chenal (FRA) |
2:35.07 |
| Bronze | Hermann Maier (AUT) |
2:35.16 |
[edit] Slalom
The slalom competition is shorter than the giant slalom, but is otherwise similar in emphasizing maneuverability. Slalom has been a part of all the Winter Olympics since 1936, although it was a part of the alpine combination that year. Only the downhill event has a longer history at the Winter Olympics. The men's slalom took place on 25 February and was the last of the Olympic alpine skiing competitions.
Jean-Pierre Vidal of France was the defending Olympic champion, but he hadn't won a World Cup slalom event since the 2001–02 season [5]. Nevertheless, Vidal was fourth in the slalom World Cup, one place ahead of defending World Champion Benjamin Raich. The Italian Giorgio Rocca led the World Cup after winning all five races thus far in the season, 215 points ahead of the second-placed American Ted Ligety [6].
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Benjamin Raich (AUT) |
1:43.14 |
| Silver | Reinfried Herbst (AUT) |
1:43.97 |
| Bronze | Rainer Schönfelder (AUT) |
1:44.15 |
[edit] Women's events
[edit] Downhill
The women's downhill was held on Wednesday, 15 February. It is identical in format to the men's downhill, except that the course is shorter. Carole Montillet from France was defending Olympic champion, but she was 19th in the 2005–06 World Cup downhill standings, headed by Michaela Dorfmeister from Austria. The Croat Janica Kostelić was defending World Champion, but she was fourth in the overall World Cup standings, though she did win one World Cup race at Bad Kleinkirchheim in January [7]. Britain's Chemmy Alcott finished 11th, the best finish ever of a British women in this event, although she had for a while been in Silver and Bronze medal positions.
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Michaela Dorfmeister (AUT) |
1:56.49 |
| Silver | Martina Schild (SUI) |
1:56.86 |
| Bronze | Anja Pärson (SWE) |
1:57.13 |
[edit] Combined
Originally scheduled to run on 17 February, the downhill portion of the Women's combined was postponed due to high winds. The slalom was held on 17 February and the downhill portion was on Saturday, 18 February. Janica Kostelić was both defending World and Olympic champion, and she led the aggregate World Cup standings. Janica also won the only combined race leading into the championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland and she also won all combined races held in World Cup since the last Olympic games.
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Janica Kostelić (CRO) |
2:51.08 |
| Silver | Marlies Schild (AUT) |
2:51.58 |
| Bronze | Anja Pärson (SWE) |
2:51.63 |
[edit] Super-G
The women competed for the Super G title on Monday 20 February, after poor weather conditions postponed the race from Sunday 19 February. Italian Daniela Ceccarelli won the title at the 2002 Winter Olympics, but was 31st on the World Cup standings leading up to the Games. Anja Pärson of Sweden was defending World Champion from 2005, but she had also been considerably poorer on the World Cup circuit this season, and was ranked 23rd. Austrian Michaela Dorfmeister led with 320 points, ten ahead of compatriot Alexandra Meissnitzer; both of whom crashed out of the 2005 World Championships [8] [9]
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Michaela Dorfmeister (AUT) |
1:32.47 |
| Silver | Janica Kostelić (CRO) |
1:32.74 |
| Bronze | Alexandra Meissnitzer (AUT) |
1:33.06 |
[edit] Giant slalom
The last event of the women's alpine skiing, the giant slalom, took place on Friday, 24 February. Kostelić was a favourite once again, as she was defending Olympic champion, but Swede Anja Pärson led the World Cup and was defending World Champion of the event. Kostelić was second in the World Cup standing, however, while Austrian Kathrin Zettel was third.
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Julia Mancuso (USA) |
2:09.19 |
| Silver | Tanja Poutiainen (FIN) |
2:09.86 |
| Bronze | Anna Ottosson (SWE) |
2:10.33 |
[edit] Slalom
The women's slalom was contested on Wednesday, 22 February. Janica Kostelić led in the slalom World Cup with 460 points, and was also defending World and Olympic champion, but she finished 0.15 seconds behind Marlies Schild for the 4th place. Anja Pärson got her first Olympic gold medal.
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Anja Pärson (SWE) |
1:29.04 |
| Silver | Nicole Hosp (AUT) |
1:29.33 |
| Bronze | Marlies Schild (AUT) |
1:29.79 |
[edit] Qualification
All entries had to be submitted to the organizing committee by 30 January 2006.
In general, athletes must be among the top 500 in the world in their event to compete. They must also have no more than 120 FIS points. Each National Olympic Committee may enter up to 22 athletes, but not more than 14 men or 14 women. No more than 4 athletes from any NOC may compete in each event.
If an NOC has fewer than 2 athletes qualified under those rules, it may send one male and one female athlete with an FIS score of no more than 140 in the slalom or giant slalom event.
[edit] References
- TOROC Explanatory Book - Alpine Skiing
- FIS-SKI - FIS World Ski Championships medals, URL accessed 23 December 2005
- FIS-Ski - Olympic medals, URL accessed 21 December 2005
- Alpine Skiing Cup Standings, URL accessed 21 December 2005
- World Cup Calendar, from FIS-Ski, URL accessed 21 December 2005
- (Norwegian) Sportsboken 2002 published by Sportsboken AS, edited by Tore Johansen
[edit] See also
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