Races
In all forms of Downhill, both at a local youth-level as well as the higher FIS international level, racers are allowed extensive preparation for the race, which includes daily course inspection and discussion with their coaches and teammates as well as several practice runs before the actual race. Racers do not make any unnecessary turns while on the course, and try to do everything they can to maintain the most aerodynamic position while negotiating turns and jumps.
Unlike Slalom and Giant Slalom, where racers have two combined times, in the Downhill, the race is a single "run." Times are typically between 1:30 (1 minute, 30 seconds) and 2:30 for World Cup courses and must be over 1 minute in length to meet international minimum standards. Tenths and hundredths and, occasionally, thousandths of seconds count: World Cup races and Olympic medals have sometimes been decided by as little as one or two hundredths of a second, and ties are not unheard of.
The most successful all-time winners of World Cup Downhill races are Annemarie Moser-Pröll of Austria (36 wins, 7 women's titles) and Franz Klammer of Austria (25 wins, 5 men's titles). Lindsey Vonn of the U.S. is currently dominant in woman's downhill racing with a lifetime total of 25 World Cup downhill wins.
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Famous quotes containing the word races:
“Women are most fascinating between the ages of thirty-five and forty, after they have won a few races and know how to pace themselves. Since few women ever pass forty, maximum fascination can continue indefinitely.”
—Christian Dior (1905–1957)