Alpine skiing at the 1998 Winter Olympics – Women's downhill

The Women's Downhill competition of the Nagano 1998 Olympics was held at Happo-One at Hakuba on Monday, February 16.[1][2] The race was delayed two days due to rain and fog.[3]

Women's Downhill race
at the XVIII Olympic Winter Games
VenueHakuba
DateFebruary 16
Competitors39 from 16 nations
Winning time1:28.89
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Katja Seizinger  Germany
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Pernilla Wiberg  Sweden
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Florence Masnada  France
← 1994
2002 →
Women's Downhill
LocationHakuba – Happo-One
Olympic Course II
Vertical   691 m (2,267 ft)
Top elevation1,590 m (5,217 ft)  
Base elevation   899 m (2,949 ft)

The defending world champion was Hilary Lindh of the United States, while Austria's Renate Goetschl was the defending World Cup downhill champion.[4][5]

Katja Seizinger successfully defended her Olympic title, Pernilla Wiberg took the silver, and Florence Masnada was the bronze medalist.[3][6] Through 2019, Seizinger remains the only ski racer in history to repeat as an Olympic downhill gold medalist.

The Olympic Course II started at an elevation of 1,590 m (5,217 ft) above sea level with a vertical drop of 691 m (2,267 ft) and a length of 2.518 km (1.56 mi). Seizinger's winning time was 88.89 seconds, yielding an average course speed of 101.978 km/h (63.4 mph), with an average vertical descent rate of 7.774 m/s (25.5 ft/s).

Results

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The race was started at 10:30 local time, (UTC +9). At the starting gate, the skies were clear, the temperature was −5.3 °C (22 °F), and the snow condition was hard; the temperature at the finish was 2.5 °C (36 °F).

Rank Bib Name Country Time Difference
  5 Katja Seizinger   Germany 1:28.89
  15 Pernilla Wiberg   Sweden 1:29.18 +0.29
  2 Florence Masnada   France 1:29.37 +0.48
4 4 Mélanie Suchet   France 1:29.48 +0.59
5 27 Svetlana Gladysheva   Russia 1:29.50 +0.61
6 8 Picabo Street   United States 1:29.54 +0.65
7 12 Régine Cavagnoud   France 1:29.72 +0.83
8 1 Alexandra Meissnitzer   Austria 1:29.84 +0.95
9 7 Hilde Gerg   Germany 1:29.96 +1.07
9 11 Katrin Gutensohn   Germany 1:29.96 +1.07
11 29 Ingeborg Helen Marken   Norway 1:30.19 +1.30
12 3 Heidi Zurbriggen   Switzerland 1:30.25 +1.36
13 14 Varvara Zelenskaya   Russia 1:30.38 +1.49
14 10 Carole Montillet-Carles   France 1:30.65 +1.76
15 13 Steffi Schuster   Austria 1:30.73 +1.84
16 25 Trude Gimle   Norway 1:30.87 +1.98
17 35 Jonna Mendes   United States 1:30.89 +2.00
18 22 Michaela Dorfmeister   Austria 1:31.17 +2.28
19 17 Kate Pace-Lindsay   Canada 1:31.30 +2.41
20 21 Bibiana Perez   Italy 1:31.43 +2.54
21 24 Alessandra Merlin   Italy 1:31.44 +2.55
22 23 Mélanie Turgeon   Canada 1:31.45 +2.56
22 30 Catherine Borghi   Switzerland 1:31.45 +2.56
24 20 Špela Bračun   Slovenia 1:31.54 +2.65
25 33 Janica Kostelić   Croatia 1:31.97 +3.08
26 26 Katie Monahan   United States 1:32.22 +3.33
26 34 Morena Gallizio   Italy 1:32.22 +3.33
28 31 Kirsten Clark   United States 1:32.25 +3.36
29 32 Yekaterina Nesterenko   Russia 1:32.54 +3.65
30 18 Corinne Rey-Bellet   Switzerland 1:32.92 +4.03
31 36 Lucie Hrstková   Czech Republic 1:33.00 +4.11
32 28 Anna Larionova   Russia 1:34.36 +5.47
33 39 Yuliya Kharkivska   Ukraine 1:35.60 +6.71
34 37 Carola Calello   Argentina 1:36.71 +7.82
- 6 Renate Götschl   Austria DNF -
- 9 Isolde Kostner   Italy DNF -
- 16 Regina Häusl   Germany DNF -
- 19 Kristine Kristiansen   Norway DNF -
- 38 Mónika Kovács   Hungary DQ -
Source:[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Nagano 1998 Official Report - Volume 3" (PDF). Nagano Olympics Organizing Committee. LA84 Foundation. 1998. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2008. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  2. ^ "Alpine Skiing at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games: Women's Downhill". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
  3. ^ a b Robertson, Linda (February 16, 1998). "Street plays it safe". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (Miami Herald). p. C8.
  4. ^ "1997 World Cup standings". FIS. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  5. ^ "1997 World Championships results". FIS. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  6. ^ Gloster, Rob (February 16, 1998). "Cautious Street loses her dream". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. 6B.