Downhill, Men

This was the traditional first Alpine event of the Winter Olympics, and was contested on the Kandahar Banchetta course at Borgata Sestriere. One change was that the number of seeded skiers had been increased to 30, from the standard 15. The leading contenders were American Bode Miller, the 2005 World Champion and overall World Cup winner, Austrian Michael Walchhofer, 2005 World Cup downhill titlist and leading the 2005-06 World Cup, and another American, Daron Rahlves, who had been runner-up at the 2005 World Championships. Walchhofer was off 10th, the first favorite to leave the starthouse, and recorded 1:49.52. Miller was off 18th and Rahlves 20th and neither approached his time, which left him looking like the gold medalist. But the final seeded skier was France’s Antoine Dénériaz, and he shattered the leaders’ times with 1:48.80 to win the gold medal, his first ever victory in a major international downhill. The bronze medalist was a bit of a blast from the past, as Switzerland’s Bruno Kernen had been downhill World Champion in 1997, and had won three World Cup downhills, two in 1997 and one in 2003. Miller placed fifth and Rahlves 10th.