How do you ski the Alpine combined in the Winter Olympics?
We’ve seen the women’s slalom, giant slalom, Super-G, and downhill at this point. The combined is the newest event on the skiing circuit, but how is it different from the others?
In the women’s combined event in Pyeongchang, two of Alpine skiing’s top stars will meet for the first time.
What is the Combined in Skiing
At the 2018 Winter Olympics, Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin are competing for a second medal for Team USA. Shiffrin won the giant slalom event and Vonn the downhill event, both of which she won medals for.
So far, we’ve caught the women’s slalom, giant slalom, Super-G, and downhill.
Now that combined skiing is a competition event, it’s natural to wonder how it differs from the other types of skiing.
Let’s begin with a brief overview of the dividing lines between the many academic fields.
In downhill skiing, the most rapid type of Alpine skiing, speed is of the essence. The objective is to race to the finish line as quickly as possible while staying inside the marked course boundaries.
In a slalom competition, technique is more important than speed. Skiers navigate a track with frequent directional shifts by navigating through closely spaced gates.
Slalom is the same as the Giant Slalom, only the Course is Longer and the Gates are Further between.
The Super G (super giant slalom) is a race that combines high speeds and technical difficulty. More so than on the downhill, the gates are spaced more apart on the winding uphill circuit.
Now that we know what each component is, we can confirm that the total effect is as it sounds. The downhill and slalom races are combined into one.
The combined times from the skiers’ downhill and slalom runs will determine their overall placing. The gold medal goes to the athlete with the fastest overall time.
After numerous weather postponements muddled the schedule, causing Shiffrin to miss several races, this will be the first time on the slopes in Pyeongchang that the slalom expert and the downhill great will encounter. The slalom competition saw her finish in fourth place.
Teams of two men and two women will compete against one another on parallel slalom courses in the team Alpine skiing event at the 2018 Winter Olympics.