| Event: | Women's downhill |
| Games: | 1988 Winter |
| Venue: | Nakiska |
| Date: | February 19 |
| Competitors: | 35 |
| Nations: | 14 |
| Win Value: | 1:25.86 |
| Gold: | Marina Kiehl |
| Goldnoc: | FRG |
| Silver: | Brigitte Oertli |
| Silvernoc: | SUI |
| Bronze: | Karen Percy |
| Bronzenoc: | CAN |
| Prev: | 1984 |
| Next: | 1992 |
| Women's downhill | |
| Location: | Nakiska |
| Vertical: | 647m (2,123feet) |
| Top Elevation: | 2179m (7,149feet) |
| Base Elevation: | 1532m (5,026feet) |
The Women's Downhill competition of the Calgary 1988 Olympics was held at Nakiska on Friday, February 19.[1] [2] The race was delayed a day due to high winds on Thursday.[3]
The defending world champion was Maria Walliser of Switzerland, while teammate Michela Figini was the defending Olympic and World Cup downhill champion and led the current season.[4] [5]
West Germany's Marina Kiehl won the gold medal, Brigitte Oertli of Switzerland took silver, and Karen Percy of Canada was the bronze medalist; Walliser was fourth and Figini finished ninth.[6]
The course started at an elevation of 2179m (7,149feet) above sea level with a vertical drop of 647m (2,123feet) and a course length of 2.238km (01.391miles). Kiehl's winning time was 85.86 seconds, yielding an average speed of 93.836km/h, with an average vertical descent rate of 7.536m/s.
The race was started at 10:00 local time, (UTC −7). At the starting gate, the skies were partly cloudy, the temperature was, and the snow condition was hard; the temperature at the finish was 4C.
| Rank | Bib | Name | Country | Time | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 1:25.86 | — | ||||
| 12 | 1:26.61 | +0.75 | ||||
| 6 | 1:26.62 | +0.76 | ||||
| 4 | 4 | 1:26.89 | +1.03 | |||
| 5 | 15 | 1:26.99 | +1.13 | |||
| 6 | 5 | 1:27.03 | +1.17 | |||
| 7 | 10 | 1:27.16 | +1.30 | |||
| 8 | 14 | 1:27.19 | +1.33 | |||
| 9 | 9 | 1:27.26 | +1.40 | |||
| 10 | 24 | 1:27.28 | +1.42 | |||
| 11 | 3 | 1:27.46 | +1.60 | |||
| 12 | 20 | 1:27.53 | +1.67 | |||
| 13 | 1 | 1:27.83 | +1.97 | |||
| 14 | 25 | 1:27.85 | +1.99 | |||
| 15 | 13 | 1:28.07 | +2.21 | |||
| 16 | 11 | 1:28.23 | +2.37 | |||
| 17 | 21 | 1:28.36 | +2.50 | |||
| 18 | 19 | 1:28.53 | +2.67 | |||
| 19 | 27 | 1:28.69 | +2.83 | |||
| 20 | 26 | 1:29.13 | +3.27 | |||
| 21 | 23 | 1:29.30 | +3.44 | |||
| 22 | 28 | 1:29.76 | +3.90 | |||
| 23 | 30 | 1:30.15 | +4.29 | |||
| 24 | 22 | 1:30.42 | +4.56 | |||
| 25 | 29 | 1:32.50 | +6.64 | |||
| 26 | 32 | 1:32.88 | +7.02 | |||
| 27 | 36 | 1:37.37 | +11.51 | |||
| 28 | 34 | 1:41.64 | +15.78 | |||
| - | 37 | DNF | - | |||
| - | 35 | DNF | - | |||
| - | 33 | DNF | - | |||
| - | 18 | DNF | - | |||
| - | 17 | DNF | - | |||
| - | 7 | DNF | - | |||
| - | 2 | DNF | - | |||
| - | 31 | DNS | - | |||
| - | 16 | DNS | - | |||
| - | DNS | - |