Alpine skiing at the 1984 Winter Olympics – Men's downhill

The Men's downhill competition of the 1984 Winter Olympics was held at Bjelašnica, Yugoslavia.[1] Due to weather delays, it was run on Thursday, February 16, a full week after originally scheduled.[2][3][4]

Men's Downhill
at the XIV Olympic Winter Games
VenueBjelašnica, Yugoslavia
DateFebruary 16, 1984
Competitors61 from 25 nations
Winning time1:45.59
Medalists
Bill Johnson  United States
Peter Müller  Switzerland
Anton Steiner  Austria
Men's Downhill
LocationBjelašnica, Yugoslavia
Olympia course
Vertical   803 m (2,635 ft)
Top elevation2,076 m (6,811 ft)  
Base elevation1,273 m (4,177 ft)

The reigning world champion was Harti Weirather of Austria, while teammate Franz Klammer was the reigning World Cup downhill champion and Switzerland's Urs Räber led the current season.[5][6] Similar to 1980, the defending Olympic downhill champion was from Austria and did not compete; Leonhard Stock was injured a month earlier in early January.

In order to meet the minimum vertical drop requirement of 800 meters (2,625 feet), the starting gate was in a newly-constructed summit lodge and restaurant, with a connecting ramp to the mountain proper.[7]

Bill Johnson of the United States became the first from outside the Alps to win an Olympic downhill.[8][9][10] In his first full World Cup season, he was a top "glider" and made up time on the flatter lower third of the course.[11] The previous best finishes for an American man in an Olympic downhill was fifth (1952, 1980), and sixth (1976); American women had won three medals (1960, 1972, 1976), but never a gold.

The course started at an elevation of 2,076 m (6,811 ft) above sea level with a vertical drop of 803 m (2,635 ft) and a length of 3.066 km (1.91 mi). Johnson's winning time was 105.59 seconds, yielding an average speed of 104.533 km/h (65.0 mph), with an average vertical descent rate of 7.605 m/s (25.0 ft/s).

Results

The race was started at 12:00 local time, (UTC+1). At the starting gate, the skies were clear, the temperature was −9.8 °C (14.4 °F), and the snow condition was "good."

RankBibNameCountryTimeDifference
6Bill Johnson United States1:45.59
11Peter Müller Switzerland1:45.86+0.27
13Anton Steiner Austria1:45.95+0.36
42Pirmin Zurbriggen Switzerland1:46.05+0.46
59Urs Räber Switzerland1:46.32+0.73
7Helmut Höflehner Austria
714Sepp Wildgruber West Germany1:46.53+0.94
812Steve Podborski Canada1:46.59+1.00
915Todd Brooker Canada1:46.64+1.05
103Franz Klammer Austria1:47.04+1.45
1110Erwin Resch Austria1:47.06+1.47
1221Klaus Gattermann West Germany1:47.12+1.53
1325Günther Marxer Liechtenstein1:47.43+1.84
145Conradin Cathomen Switzerland1:47.63+2.04
154Michael Mair Italy1:47.70+2.11
1618Vladimir Makeyev Soviet Union1:47.87+2.28
16Alberto Ghidoni Italy
1826Martin Bell Great Britain1:48.00+2.41
198Steven Lee Australia1:48.02+2.43
2027Franck Piccard France1:48.06+2.47
19Danilo Sbardellotto Italy
2224Herbert Renoth West Germany1:48.39+2.80
2320Valeri Tsyganov Soviet Union1:48.46+2.87
2422Doug Lewis United States1:48.49+2.90
2531Michel Vion France1:48.68+3.09
261Gary Athans Canada1:48.79+3.20
2730Janež Pleteršek Yugoslavia1:48.97+3.38
2828Shinya Chiba Japan1:49.02+3.43
2923Philippe Verneret France1:49.30+3.71
3032Tomaž Jemc Yugoslavia1:49.68+4.09
3138Bruce Grant New Zealand1:49.94+4.35
3229Graham Bell Great Britain1:50.06+4.47
3334Connor O'Brien Great Britain1:50.36+4.77
3435Alistair Guss Australia1:50.57+4.98
3537Markus Hubrich New Zealand1:50.77+5.18
3636Hubert Hilti Liechtenstein1:50.94+5.35
3733Frederick Burton Great Britain1:51.15+5.56
3841Hubertus von Fürstenberg Mexico1:51.57+5.98
3943Dieter Linneberg Chile1:51.68+6.09
4040Pierre Couquelet Belgium1:52.40+6.81
4142Andres Figueroa Chile1:52.97+7.38
4244Hans Kossmann Chile1:54.36+8.77
4345Scott Alan Sánchez Bolivia1:54.75+9.16
4448Miguel Purcell Chile1:54.91+9.32
4546Jorge Birkner Argentina1:54.92+9.33
4639Henri Mollin Belgium1:55.72+10.13
4750David Lajoux Monaco1:56.95+11.36
4857Albert Llovera Andorra1:57.88+12.29
4947Nicolas van Ditmar Argentina1:58.86+13.27
5056Jordi Torres Andorra1:59.06+13.47
5149Lamine Guèye Senegal1:59.64+14.05
5260Park Byung-ro South Korea1:59.74+14.15
5352Enrique de Ridder Argentina1:59.76+14.17
5451Américo Astete Argentina2:01.60+16.01
5558Giannis Stamatiou Greece2:01.79+16.20
5653Andreas Pantelidis Greece2:01.88+16.29
5759Kim Jin-hae South Korea2:01.96+16.37
5854Eu Woo-youn South Korea2:02.67+17.08
5955Lazaros Arkhontopoulos Greece2:03.93+18.34
6061Jamil El-Reedy Egypt3:13.86+88.27
17Peter Dürr West GermanyDNF
Source:[1]

References

  1. "Sarajevo 1984 Official Report" (PDF). Organising Committee of the XlVth Winter Olympic Games 1984 at Sarajevo. LA84 Foundation. 1984. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  2. "Weather delays Johnson, men's downhill". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire service reports. February 10, 1984. p. 1C.
  3. "Alpine Skiing at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Games: Men's Downhill". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  4. "Schedule revised for alpine skiing". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. February 13, 1984. p. 3C.
  5. "1983 World Cup standings". FIS. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  6. "1982 World Championships results". FIS. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  7. Ottum, Bob (March 14, 1983). "They were real troopers". Sports Illustrated. p. 82.
  8. Johnson, William Oscar (February 27, 1984). "They saved the best for last". Sports Illustrated. p. 14.
  9. Clarke, Norm. "Johnson lets his skis do the talking". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. p. 41.
  10. Collins, Denis (February 17, 1984). "Johnson's words turn to gold". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (Washington Post). p. 3D.
  11. "Bill Johnson races to gold medal". Nashua Telegraph. (New Hampshire). Associated Press. February 16, 1984. p. 25.
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