The Speed of the Downhill, With the Turns of a Slalom

The men’s super-giant slalom became an Olympic event in 1988. It is a hybrid of the downhill and the giant slalom, with at least 35 changes of direction required.

Norwegian Kjetil Andre Aamodt, the defending Olympic champion, has a sore left knee but is expected to race. Austrian Hermann Maier, who missed the 2002 games after a motorcycle crash, is the greatest super-G skier, with 23 World Cup wins and an Olympic gold in 1998. Maier left Sestriere to recover from a sore throat after finishing sixth in the downhill. Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves are top medal hopes for the U.S.