MAIN Sports Olympic Games Alpine Skiing

© LaPresse

Along with popularity of figure skating, the Alpine downhill is one of the most anticipated spectacles of the Winter Games.

It all begins as racers curl up in a "tuck" position. This is to gain aerodynamic speed as they hurtle down the mountain at times in excess of 120 km/h (75 miles per hour).

Exciting and action-packed, it's a race against the clock as top skiing teams from around the world compete in such events as the Slalom, Super-G and the Nordic combined.

Each event has its own rules and discipline, but all of them maintain the same level of excitement — as competitors try to outdo one another (sometimes by hundredths of seconds) down the steep and hard-packed slopes.

Speed and agility are the two mainstains of competition in the Super-G, which features the blue and red alternating gates that number at least 35 for the men and 30 for the women.

This is followed by the Giant Slalom, where the gates become closer, and the demand for maneuverability is at its utmost. The Nordic Combined includes both a downhill and a slalom descent, which totals the times acheived over the two events to determine the winner.

More about Olympic alpine skiing around the Web:

Alpine Skiing - Vancouver 2010 - Historical overview, event descriptions, related info on venues, photo gallery, and the complete 2010 schedule.

FIS Ski - Alpine Skiing - The complete Olympic schedule at a glance, from the International Ski Federation.

U.S. Ski Team - U.S. Olympic team overview, headlines news, video reports, TV schedules.

Official Website for Alpine Canada - Event schedules and headline news, in English and French.

Snowport GB - Official British team info featuring proflles, pictures, event schedule.

Short History of Skiing - Classic history of the sport archived by Skiing Heritage magazine.

also in Winter Olympics -> Biathlon | Bobsled | Cross-country Skiing

Curling | Olympic Figure Skating | Freestyle Skiing | Ice Hockey | Luge

Nordic Combined | Short-Track Skating | Olympic Skeleton

Ski Jumping | Olympic Speed Skating | Snowboard

also see in Sports Idols -> Bode Miller