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

Men's Downhill
at the XIV Olympic Winter Games
Alpine skiing
VenueBjelašnica, Yugoslavia
DateFebruary 16, 1984
Competitors61 from 25 nations
Winning time1:45.59
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Bill Johnson  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Peter Müller  Switzerland
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Anton Steiner  Austria
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1988 →
Alpine skiing at the
1984 Winter Olympics
Downhillmenwomen
Giant slalommenwomen
Slalommenwomen
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 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]

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."

Rank Bib Name Country Time Difference
1st place, gold medalist(s) 6 Bill Johnson  United States 1:45.59 –
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 11 Peter Müller  Switzerland 1:45.86 +0.27
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 13 Anton Steiner  Austria 1:45.95 +0.36
4 2 Pirmin Zurbriggen  Switzerland 1:46.05 +0.46
5 9 Urs Räber  Switzerland 1:46.32 +0.73
7 Helmut Höflehner  Austria
7 14 Sepp Wildgruber  West Germany 1:46.53 +0.94
8 12 Steve Podborski  Canada 1:46.59 +1.00
9 15 Todd Brooker  Canada 1:46.64 +1.05
10 3 Franz Klammer  Austria 1:47.04 +1.45
11 10 Erwin Resch  Austria 1:47.06 +1.47
12 21 Klaus Gattermann  West Germany 1:47.12 +1.53
13 25 Günther Marxer  Liechtenstein 1:47.43 +1.84
14 5 Conradin Cathomen  Switzerland 1:47.63 +2.04
15 4 Michael Mair  Italy 1:47.70 +2.11
16 18 Vladimir Makeyev  Soviet Union 1:47.87 +2.28
16 Alberto Ghidoni  Italy
18 26 Martin Bell  Great Britain 1:48.00 +2.41
19 8 Steven Lee  Australia 1:48.02 +2.43
20 27 Franck Piccard  France 1:48.06 +2.47
19 Danilo Sbardellotto  Italy
22 24 Herbert Renoth  West Germany 1:48.39 +2.80
23 20 Valeri Tsyganov  Soviet Union 1:48.46 +2.87
24 22 Doug Lewis  United States 1:48.49 +2.90
25 31 Michel Vion  France 1:48.68 +3.09
26 1 Gary Athans  Canada 1:48.79 +3.20
27 30 Janež Pleteršek  Yugoslavia 1:48.97 +3.38
28 28 Shinya Chiba  Japan 1:49.02 +3.43
29 23 Philippe Verneret  France 1:49.30 +3.71
30 32 Tomaž Jemc  Yugoslavia 1:49.68 +4.09
31 38 Bruce Grant  New Zealand 1:49.94 +4.35
32 29 Graham Bell  Great Britain 1:50.06 +4.47
33 34 Connor O'Brien  Great Britain 1:50.36 +4.77
34 35 Alistair Guss  Australia 1:50.57 +4.98
35 37 Markus Hubrich  New Zealand 1:50.77 +5.18
36 36 Hubert Hilti  Liechtenstein 1:50.94 +5.35
37 33 Frederick Burton  Great Britain 1:51.15 +5.56
38 41 Hubertus von Fürstenberg  Mexico 1:51.57 +5.98
39 43 Dieter Linneberg  Chile 1:51.68 +6.09
40 40 Pierre Couquelet  Belgium 1:52.40 +6.81
41 42 Andres Figueroa  Chile 1:52.97 +7.38
42 44 Hans Kossmann  Chile 1:54.36 +8.77
43 45 Scott Alan Sánchez  Bolivia 1:54.75 +9.16
44 48 Miguel Purcell  Chile 1:54.91 +9.32
45 46 Jorge Birkner  Argentina 1:54.92 +9.33
46 39 Henri Mollin  Belgium 1:55.72 +10.13
47 50 David Lajoux  Monaco 1:56.95 +11.36
48 57 Albert Llovera  Andorra 1:57.88 +12.29
49 47 Nicolas van Ditmar  Argentina 1:58.86 +13.27
50 56 Jordi Torres  Andorra 1:59.06 +13.47
51 49 Lamine Guèye  Senegal 1:59.64 +14.05
52 60 Park Byung-ro  South Korea 1:59.74 +14.15
53 52 Enrique de Ridder  Argentina 1:59.76 +14.17
54 51 Américo Astete  Argentina 2:01.60 +16.01
55 58 Giannis Stamatiou  Greece 2:01.79 +16.20
56 53 Andreas Pantelidis  Greece 2:01.88 +16.29
57 59 Kim Jin-hae  South Korea 2:01.96 +16.37
58 54 Eu Woo-youn  South Korea 2:02.67 +17.08
59 55 Lazaros Arkhontopoulos  Greece 2:03.93 +18.34
60 61 Jamil El-Reedy  Egypt 3:13.86 +88.27
– 17 Peter Dürr  West Germany DNF –
Source:[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "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.