| Event: | Men's downhill |
| Games: | 2002 Winter |
| Venue: | Snowbasin |
| Date: | February 10 |
| Competitors: | 55 |
| Nations: | 22 |
| Win Value: | 1:39.13 |
| Gold: | Fritz Strobl |
| Goldnoc: | AUT |
| Silver: | Lasse Kjus |
| Silvernoc: | NOR |
| Bronze: | Stephan Eberharter |
| Bronzenoc: | AUT |
| Prev: | 1998 |
| Next: | 2006 |
| Men's Downhill | |
| Location: | Snowbasin Grizzly Downhill |
| Vertical: | 883m (2,897feet) |
| Top Elevation: | 2831m (9,288feet) |
| Base Elevation: | 1948m (6,391feet) |
The marquee event of alpine skiing was held on Sunday, February 10, at the Snowbasin ski area, east of Ogden under clear skies.[1] [2]
Designed by 1972 gold medalist Bernhard Russi, the steep "Grizzly Downhill" course was just in length, and began at a lofty above sea level, with a vertical drop of . The average gradient on the Grizzly Downhill was 30.87% (17.98°), exceeding the classic layouts of Kitzbühel (860 m vertical / 3312 m length = 25.97%, 15.05°) and Wengen (1025 m vertical / 4455 m length = 23.01%, 13.30°).
The top five finishers completed the course in less than a hundred seconds, making it the quickest descending Olympic downhill.https://web.archive.org/web/20110604162051/http://www.fis-ski.com/pdf/2002/AL/1551/1551RLR0.pdf The average speed of the medalists for the entire course exceeded 64mph, rating it among the fastest courses in international competition.
Pre-race favorite Stephan Eberharter of Austria took the bronze medal, bested by compatriot Fritz Strobl and all-arounder Lasse Kjus of Norway.[2] [3] [4] Strobl's average speed was 64.538mph, at an average vertical descent of 29.224ft/s.
The race was started at 10:00 local time, (UTC −7). At the starting gate, the skies were clear, the temperature was -3C, and the snow condition was hard; the temperature at the finish was lower, at -4C.
| Rank | Bib | Name | Country | Time | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 1:39.13 | — | ||||
| 13 | 1:39.35 | +0.22 | ||||
| 9 | 1:39.41 | +0.28 | ||||
| 12 | 1:39.78 | +0.65 | ||||
| 19 | 1:39.96 | +0.83 | ||||
| 7 | 1:40.00 | +0.87 | ||||
| 3 | 1:40.30 | +1.17 | ||||
| 15 | 1:40.31 | +1.18 | ||||
| 31 | 1:40.37 | +1.24 | ||||
| 10 | 2 | 1:40.39 | +1.26 | |||
| 11 | 18 | 1:40.58 | +1.45 | |||
| 12 | 23 | 1:40.74 | +1.61 | |||
| 5 | ||||||
| 14 | 14 | 1:40.76 | +1.63 | |||
| 15 | 11 | 1:40.81 | +1.68 | |||
| 16 | 17 | 1:40.84 | +1.71 | |||
| 17 | 21 | 1:40.85 | +1.72 | |||
| 18 | 28 | 1:41.05 | +1.92 | |||
| 19 | 4 | 1:41.24 | +2.11 | |||
| 20 | 22 | 1:41.25 | +2.12 | |||
| 21 | 29 | 1:41.27 | +2.14 | |||
| 22 | 6 | 1:41.56 | +2.43 | |||
| 23 | 16 | 1:41.66 | +2.53 | |||
| 24 | 27 | 1:41.69 | +2.56 | |||
| 25 | 20 | 1:41.70 | +2.57 | |||
| 26 | 32 | 1:41.76 | +2.63 | |||
| 27 | 34 | 1:41.84 | +2.71 | |||
| 28 | 41 | 1:41.85 | +2.72 | |||
| 29 | 25 | 1:41.86 | +2.73 | |||
| 1 | ||||||
| 31 | 26 | 1:41.88 | +2.75 | |||
| 32 | 24 | 1:42.15 | +3.02 | |||
| 33 | 36 | 1:42.41 | +3.18 | |||
| 34 | 30 | 1:42.52 | +3.39 | |||
| 35 | 8 | 1:42.54 | +3.41 | |||
| 36 | 46 | 1:43.04 | +3.91 | |||
| 37 | 39 | 1:43.19 | +4.06 | |||
| 38 | 35 | 1:43.20 | +4.07 | |||
| 39 | 50 | 1:43.33 | +4.20 | |||
| 40 | 42 | 1:43.63 | +4.50 | |||
| 41 | 40 | 1:43.73 | +4.60 | |||
| 42 | 43 | 1:43.75 | +4.62 | |||
| 43 | 37 | 1:44.35 | +5.22 | |||
| 44 | 48 | 1:45.25 | +6.12 | |||
| 45 | 38 | 1:45.34 | +6.21 | |||
| 46 | 44 | 1:45.59 | +6.36 | |||
| 47 | 54 | 1:46.36 | +7.23 | |||
| 48 | 47 | 1:47.63 | +8.50 | |||
| 49 | 52 | 1:47.65 | +8.52 | |||
| 50 | 45 | 1:48.37 | +9.24 | |||
| 51 | 55 | 1:48.84 | +9.71 | |||
| 52 | 51 | 1:49.75 | +10.62 | |||
| 53 | 53 | 1:54.42 | +15.29 | |||
| 49 | ||||||
| 33 |