2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics– Alpine Skiing Preview
by Tim Furious
Alpine skiing is one of the premier events at the Whistler Mountain, one of the alpine crown jewels of Canada and the world. It’s there that skiers will defy all common sense and hurl themselves down a sheet of ice, rock and snow to try and claim victory.
The downhill event remains the biggest draw of alpine skiing, and Didier Cuche of Switzerland leads the field at +325 with Michael Walchofe of Austria stands right behind him at +400. Racers can reach speeds between 80-90 mph on average and the illustrious course at Whistler promises to challenge the very best of the world.
The slalom event is perhaps the most entertaining because it tests the courage of skiers like no other event. Precision turns and eye-watering pace is enough to make anyone’s stomach churn, especially if you money riding on the winners.
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The Super G event is a mindboggling twist of the slalom and downhill event where skiers hurl themselves down the mountain at perilous speeds while trying to navigate through slalom gates. The turns are wider, but racers approach speeds equal to that of their downhill counterparts. The Super G is known as much for the big thrills as it is for the massive crashes.
The sport is further split between women and men, and there is no bigger star in women’s skiing than American Lindsey Vonn. She stands as the heavy favorite on the women’s side at -135 in the alpine and +125 in the Super G.
No country has performed better at the Winter Olympics in the alpine skiing events than Austria, which holds 101 medals overall and 30 gold medals. They almost double their main competition at the games in total medals. Switzerland (53 total, 16 gold) and France (43 total, 15 golds) are the next best medal earners in skiing but are a far cry from the pedigree that Austria churns out year after year. Almost surprisingly, America is fourth in the history of skiing with 31 medals and Canada is ranked 10th overall with just ten medals, four of those gold.
Like so many other countries, the host nation of Canada will try to put forth their best efforts to usurp Austria as the kings of the mountain. You can bank on your best alpine ski bets in our sportsbook throughout the 2010 Vancouver Games, and our Locker Room will keep feeding you all the news, profiles and hype you need to join the 2010 Olympic hopefuls on the podium.
