Alpine skiing at the 1988 Winter Olympics – Men's downhill explained

Event:	Men's Downhill
Games:	1988 Winter
Venue:	Nakiska, Kananaskis Village, Alberta, Canada
Date:	February 15, 1988
Competitors:	51
Nations:	18
Win Value:	1:59.63
Gold:	Pirmin Zurbriggen
Goldnoc:	SUI
Silver:	Peter Müller
Silvernoc:	SUI
Bronze:	Franck Piccard
Bronzenoc:	FRA
Prev:	1984
Next:	1992

Men's Downhill
Location:	Nakiska
Vertical:	874m (2,867feet)
Top Elevation:	2412m (7,913feet)
Base Elevation:	1538m (5,046feet)

The Men's downhill competition of the Calgary 1988 Olympics was held at the newly-developed Nakiska on Mount Allan on Monday, February 15.^{[1] [2]}

The reigning world champion was Peter Müller, while all-around Pirmin Zurbriggen was the defending World Cup downhill champion, led the current season, and was a medal threat in all five alpine events.^{[3] [4] [5]} Defending Olympic champion Bill Johnson did not make the U.S. Olympic team; this was the third of four consecutive Olympics without the defending champion in the field.

The race was postponed a day due to winds that gusted to 98mph at the exposed summit;^[6] Zurbriggen took the gold and Müller the silver, a half-second behind.^[7] More than a second behind the runner-up was bronze medalist Franck Piccard.^[8] Leonhard Stock, the 1980 champion, was fourth, but nearly two seconds behind Zurbriggen.

The course started at an elevation of 2412m (7,913feet) above sea level with a vertical drop of 874m (2,867feet) and a course length of 3.147km (01.955miles). Zurbriggen's winning time of 119.63 seconds yielded an average speed of 94.702km/h, with an average vertical descent rate of 7.306m/s.

Results

The race was started at 11:30 local time, (UTC −7). At the starting gate, the skies were overcast, the temperature was -7C, and the snow condition was hard; the temperature at the finish was 0C.

Rank	Bib	Name	Country	Time	Difference
	14			1:59.63	—
	1			2:00.14	+0.51
	15			2:01.24	+1.61
4	12			2:01.56	+1.93
5	21			2:02.02	+2.39
6	9			2:02.03	+2.40
7	10			2:02.19	+2.56
8	26			2:02.49	+2.86
9	8			2:02.59	+2.96
10	13			2:02.69	+3.06
11	28			2:03.16	+3.53
12	3			2:03.18	+3.55
13	25			2:03.23	+3.60
14	35			2:03.25	+3.62
15	16			2:03.26	+3.63
16	7			2:03.27	+3.64
17	6			2:03.36	+3.73
18	11			2:03.59	+3.96
19	37			2:03.96	+4.33
20	24			2:04.31	+4.68
21	20			2:04.32	+4.69
22	30			2:04.46	+4.83
23	33			2:04.56	+4.93
24	19			2:04.77	+5.14
25	2			2:04.78	+5.15
26	32			2:04.94	+5.31
27	18			2:05.02	+5.39
28	27			2:05.09	+5.46
29	43			2:05.32	+5.69
30	34			2:05.52	+5.89
31	17			2:05.85	+6.22
32	29			2:06.25	+6.62
33	39			2:06.34	+6.71
34	36			2:07.17	+7.54
35	45			2:07.64	+8.01
36	51			2:07.77	+8.14
37	37			2:07.88	+8.25
38	46			2:08.50	+8.87
39	47			2:08.66	+9.03
40	44			2:09.41	+9.78
41	40			2:09.83	+10.20
42	41			2:11.16	+11.53
43	49			2:12.58	+12.95
44	48			2:14.20	+14.57
45	50			2:16.79	+17.16
-	42			DNF	-
-	31			DNF	-
-	4			DNF	-
-	23			DNF	-
-	22			DQ	-
-	5			DQ	-

External links

• FIS results

Notes and References

1. Web site: Calgary 1988 Official Report. LA84 Foundation. XV Olympic Winter Games Organizing Committee. 1988. January 3, 2014.
2. Web site: Alpine Skiing at the 1988 Calgary Winter Games: Men's Downhill . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417200003/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/winter/1988/ASK/mens-downhill.html . dead . 17 April 2020 . 22 March 2018 . Sports Reference.
3. The Swiss golden boy . Sports Illustrated . Johnson . William Oscar . January 27, 1988 . 46.
4. Web site: 1987 World Cup standings. FIS. January 3, 2014.
5. Web site: 1987 World Championships results. FIS. January 3, 2014.
6. News: Downhill blown out . Nashua Telegraph . (New Hampshire) . Associated Press . February 15, 1988 . 15.
7. News: Zurbriggen snatches downhill gold . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon) . (Los Angeles Times) . Lochner . Bob . February 16, 1988 . 3D .
8. News: Zurbriggen not worrying about gold . Toledo Blade . (Ohio). Associated Press . February 16, 1988 . 18 .