| Event: | Women's Downhill race |
| Games: | 1998 Winter |
| Venue: | Hakuba |
| Date: | February 16 |
| Competitors: | 39 |
| Nations: | 16 |
| Win Value: | 1:28.89 |
| Gold: | Katja Seizinger |
| Goldnoc: | GER |
| Silver: | Pernilla Wiberg |
| Silvernoc: | SWE |
| Bronze: | Florence Masnada |
| Bronzenoc: | FRA |
| Prev: | 1994 |
| Next: | 2002 |
| Women's Downhill | |
| Location: | Hakuba – Happo-One Olympic Course II |
| Vertical: | 691m (2,267feet) |
| Top Elevation: | 1590m (5,220feet) |
| Base Elevation: | 899m (2,949feet) |
The Women's Downhill competition of the Nagano 1998 Olympics was held at Happo-One at Hakuba on Monday, February 16.[1] [2] The race was delayed two days due to rain and fog.[3]
The defending world champion was Hilary Lindh of the United States, while Austria's Renate Goetschl was the defending World Cup downhill champion.[4] [5]
Katja Seizinger successfully defended her Olympic title, Pernilla Wiberg took the silver, and Florence Masnada was the bronze medalist.[3] [6] Through 2019, Seizinger remains the only ski racer in history to repeat as an Olympic downhill gold medalist.
The Olympic Course II started at an elevation of 1590m (5,220feet) above sea level with a vertical drop of 691m (2,267feet) and a length of 2.518km (01.565miles). Seizinger's winning time was 88.89 seconds, yielding an average course speed of 101.978km/h, with an average vertical descent rate of 7.774m/s.
The race was started at 10:30 local time, (UTC +9). At the starting gate, the skies were clear, the temperature was -5.3C, and the snow condition was hard; the temperature at the finish was 2.5C.
| Rank | Bib | Name | Country | Time | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1:28.89 | — | ||||
| 15 | 1:29.18 | +0.29 | ||||
| 2 | 1:29.37 | +0.48 | ||||
| 4 | 4 | 1:29.48 | +0.59 | |||
| 5 | 27 | 1:29.50 | +0.61 | |||
| 6 | 8 | 1:29.54 | +0.65 | |||
| 7 | 12 | 1:29.72 | +0.83 | |||
| 8 | 1 | 1:29.84 | +0.95 | |||
| 9 | 7 | 1:29.96 | +1.07 | |||
| 9 | 11 | 1:29.96 | +1.07 | |||
| 11 | 29 | 1:30.19 | +1.30 | |||
| 12 | 3 | 1:30.25 | +1.36 | |||
| 13 | 14 | 1:30.38 | +1.49 | |||
| 14 | 10 | 1:30.65 | +1.76 | |||
| 15 | 13 | 1:30.73 | +1.84 | |||
| 16 | 25 | 1:30.87 | +1.98 | |||
| 17 | 35 | 1:30.89 | +2.00 | |||
| 18 | 22 | 1:31.17 | +2.28 | |||
| 19 | 17 | 1:31.30 | +2.41 | |||
| 20 | 21 | 1:31.43 | +2.54 | |||
| 21 | 24 | 1:31.44 | +2.55 | |||
| 22 | 23 | 1:31.45 | +2.56 | |||
| 22 | 30 | 1:31.45 | +2.56 | |||
| 24 | 20 | 1:31.54 | +2.65 | |||
| 25 | 33 | 1:31.97 | +3.08 | |||
| 26 | 26 | 1:32.22 | +3.33 | |||
| 26 | 34 | 1:32.22 | +3.33 | |||
| 28 | 31 | 1:32.25 | +3.36 | |||
| 29 | 32 | 1:32.54 | +3.65 | |||
| 30 | 18 | 1:32.92 | +4.03 | |||
| 31 | 36 | 1:33.00 | +4.11 | |||
| 32 | 28 | 1:34.36 | +5.47 | |||
| 33 | 39 | 1:35.60 | +6.71 | |||
| 34 | 37 | 1:36.71 | +7.82 | |||
| - | 6 | DNF | - | |||
| - | 9 | DNF | - | |||
| - | 16 | DNF | - | |||
| - | 19 | DNF | - | |||
| - | 38 | DQ | - |