It’s Winter Olympic time; that means it’s time to watch gravity propel people down a mountain at over one hundred miles per hour. The U.S. has a star- studded line up for the Alpine Skiing competition in Pyeongchang. For those who are not familiar with the sport of Alpine Skiing, skiers have the opportunity to compete in five individual events and one combined event. These events include, in descending order of distance and required turn radius, Downhill, Super-G, Giant Slalom, and Slalom. The Combine combines the skier’s times from one Downhill run and one Slalom run.
For the U.S. men’s team, Ted Ligety is the favored competitor, despite his disappointing fifth place finish in the Combined. Ligety will be back to compete for the Super-G and Giant Slalom later in the games.
Lindsey Vonn is back after missing the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics because of injury. The last time Vonn competed in an Olympic Games, she took home both the Gold in the Women’s Downhill and Bronze in the Women’s Super G. This will be her fourth Winter Olympics; she competed in Salt Lake City 2002, Torino 2006, Vancouver 2010, and now Pyeongchang 2018.
Possibly the U.S.’s best chance of gold this year is Mikaela Shiffrin. Shiffrin made her Olympic Debut in Sochi in 2014, winning gold in Women’s Slalom. This year she will be competing in every alpine event, excluding the combine. Medaling in multiple events will prove more difficult than initially perceived because of event delays due to inclement weather.
For the U.S. men’s team, Ted Ligety is the favored competitor, despite his disappointing fifth place finish in the Combined. Ligety will be back to compete for the Super-G and Giant Slalom later in the games.
Lindsey Vonn is back after missing the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics because of injury. The last time Vonn competed in an Olympic Games, she took home both the Gold in the Women’s Downhill and Bronze in the Women’s Super G. This will be her fourth Winter Olympics; she competed in Salt Lake City 2002, Torino 2006, Vancouver 2010, and now Pyeongchang 2018.
Possibly the U.S.’s best chance of gold this year is Mikaela Shiffrin. Shiffrin made her Olympic Debut in Sochi in 2014, winning gold in Women’s Slalom. This year she will be competing in every alpine event, excluding the combine. Medaling in multiple events will prove more difficult than initially perceived because of event delays due to inclement weather.
