Everything to Know About Alpine Skiing at the Winter Olympics: Rules, Team USA

Alpine skiing at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics is built around high-speed, gravity-driven racing down some of the sport’s most demanding courses. Athletes such as Breezy Johnson in the Women’s Downhill and Mikaela Shiffrin in the Women’s Slalom represent Team USA; Johnson earned a gold medal on February 8, and the U.S.

has three alpine medals so far. The discipline stands apart from other Olympic skiing events by emphasizing speed, skill and instantaneous reflexes rather than endurance. Skiers routinely reach speeds of 80 miles per hour or more while negotiating a series of technically challenging gates that define each course.

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