Downhill, Men

In keeping with tradition this was the first Alpine event of the 2002 Winter Olympics, held over the Grizzly Run at the Snowbasin Ski Area. The best downhiller since the Nagano Olympics had been Hermann Maier who won the 2000-2001 World Cup and the 1999 World Championships. But in August 2001, he was in a very serious motorcycle accident and doctors feared that they might have to amputate his leg. Able to save the leg with major reconstructive surgery, his ski career thought to be over, Maier would return to the World Cup circuit in January 2003. In his absence the best downhiller in 2001-02 was his teammate, Stephan Eberharter, who was leading the World Cup after winning five of eight races prior to the Winter Olympics. Eberharter went off as the ninth starter and took the lead with a time of 1:39.41. The next skier was another Austrian, Fritz Strobl, who was second in the 2001-02 World Cup standings. Strobl edged ahead of Eberharter with his 1:39.13. The biggest remaining challengers were the Norwegians, Lasse Kjus and Kjetil André Aamodt, but they could not better Strobl, who won the gold medal. Kjus did move ahead of Eberharter to take silver, while Aamodt placed fourth.