What is Combined Downhill in the Winter Olympics?

As the skiing section of this Winter Games is winding down, one of the final events remaining is the women’s combined. The combined — starting Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 9:30pm ET, is one of the premier skiing events; as the name suggests, it combines the elements of a downhill course with a slalom course.

This year’s two courses are a downhill course named “Rock” and a technical course named “Ice River” in China’s Yanqing district. The men’s combined run was completed back on Feb. 10, with Austrian Johannes Strolz taking home the gold medal.

Alpine Skiing

Alpine skiing, also known as downhill skiing, has been used by folks in the Alpine countries for generations and has been recorded to have been practiced in a modern form as early as 1886.

Alpine skiing is one of the oldest events at the Winter Games, having debuted at the 1936 Olympics in Germany. It was introduced originally as a combined event, and was then changed to only a slalom or a downhill for a few years until eventually all different event types were used. The current slate of alpine skiing events includes combined, slalom, giant slalom, super-G and downhill.

Combined at the Olympics

Combined skiing has been an official Olympic event at the 1936 Olympics, the 1948 Olympics, the 1988 Olympics, and at every Winter Games since. Although it is the oldest alpine skiing event at the Olympics, it has not been featured as often as downhill, slalom, giant slalom or super-G.

The combined event has been dominated by the Alpine Countries as much as any alpine event has, with the only real exceptions being Canada and Team USA.

This year’s favorites for the women’s combined in no particular order are France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, and Team USA.

Men’s combined, Feb. 10:

• Gold – Johannes Strolz, AUT
• Silver – Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, NOR
• Bronze – James Crawford, CAN

Women’s combined, Feb. 16-17:

• “Rock” downhill course – Feb. 16th at 9:30pm ET
• “Ice River” slalom course – Feb. 17th at 1:00am ET

2022 Olympic Skiing Schedule

Here is the schedule for all of the alpine skiing events, including the men’s and women’s combined:

Men’s downhill, Feb. 7:

• Gold – Beat Feuz, SUI
• Silver – Johan Clarey, FRA
• Bronze – Matthias Mayer, AUT

Women’s giant slalom, Feb. 7:

• Gold – Sara Hector, SWE
• Silver – Federica Brignone, ITA
• Bronze – Lara Gut-Behrami, SUI

Men’s super-G, Feb. 8:

• Gold – Matthias Mayer, AUT
• Silver – Ryan Cochran-Siegle, USA
• Bronze – Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, NOR

Women’s slalom, Feb. 9:

• Gold – Petra Vlhová, SLK
• Silver – Katharina Liensberger, AUT
• Bronze – Wendy Holdener, SUI

Men’s combined, Feb. 10:

• Gold – Johannes Strolz, AUT
• Silver – Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, NOR
• Bronze – James Crawford, CAN

Women’s super-G, Feb. 11:

• Gold – Lara Gut-Behrami, SUI
• Silver – Mirjam Puchner, AUT
• Bronze – Michelle Gisin, SUI

Men’s giant slalom, Feb. 13:

• Gold – Marco Odermatt, SUI
• Silver – Žan Kranjec, SLO
• Bronze – Mathieu Faivre, FRA

Women’s downhill, Feb. 15:

• Gold – Corinne Suter, SUI
• Silver – Sofia Goggia, ITA
• Bronze – Nadia Delago, ITA

Men’s slalom, Feb. 16:

• Gold – Clément Noël, FRA
• Silver – Johannes Strols, AUT
• Bronze – Sebastian Foss-Salevåg, NOR

Women’s combined, Feb. 16-17:

• “Rock” downhill course – Feb. 16th at 9:30pm ET
• “Ice River” slalom course – Feb. 17th at 1am ET

Mixed Event, Feb. 18:

• Mixed Team Parallel Finals – Feb. 18th at 10pm ET

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