Downhill World Champion Franjo von Allmen won the gold medal in the Men’s Downhill at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. He completed a flawless run from start to finish at the Stelvio course in Bormio, defeating Italy's Giovanni Franzoni and Dominik Paris to claim Switzerland's first gold of the Milano Cortina Games.

The Women's Downhill event will be held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, on the mythical Olympia delle Tofane slope. The Olympia delle Tofane, known as the "Queen of Speed," is one of the most iconic slopes in the world for its technical complexity and the dramatic natural scenery of the Dolomites.

Downhill is considered the premier discipline and is the longest and, after the Slalom, second-oldest alpine skiing competition. Due to the high speeds involved, Downhill is by far the most risky discipline. Downhill emphasizes "the six components of technique, courage, speed, risk, physical condition, and judgement", according to the FIS International Ski Competition Rules.

In this new series of posts, we will highlight the best moments of alpine skiing since its incorporation into the Olympic Winter Games program  in Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936

The 2026 Olympic Winter Games will be held from February 6-22, 2026 in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.

At the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, Alpine skiing competitions are held from February 7 to 18, 2026, in two iconic venues: Cortina d'Ampezzo and Bormio.

The most successful skiers at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing 2022 were Austrian Johannes Strolz, Katharina Liensberger, and Matthias Mayer. Michelle Gisin (Alpine combined) was able to repeat her win from PyeongChang four years earlier.

For the first time since the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, when Super G was added and combined returned, a new event was added to the Alpine skiing program with the mixed team event, but the combined event was to be held for the last time

Following their disappointment at the previous Games, Austria proved to be the top Alpine skiing nation with nine medals, three of them gold, ahead of the United States (five medals, two of which were gold) and their traditional rivals, Switzerland (three medals, two of which were gold).

Bode Miller of the U.S. and Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway won three medals: a gold medal, a silver medal, and a bronze medal. German skier Maria Riesch was Vancouver's sole double gold medalist in 2010.

The 2006 Olympic Games were particularly satisfactory for the Austrian skiers winning a total of 14 medals. Two skiers from Austria won two gold medals in Turin: Michaela Dorfmeister and Benjamin Raich. Dorfmeister won the gold medal in the Downhill and the Super-G. Raich won gold medals in Slalom and Giant Slalom.

In the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games, Janica Kostelic was to become the first woman to win four alpine skiing medals at the same Games, and her three golds were also an unprecedented achievement in the sport.

Katja Seizinger led the individual medal table in Nagano 1998, with two gold medals and a bronze, while Hermann Maier was the most successful male skier, with two gold medals.

The Games were the first to be held in a different year from the Summer Olympics, the first and only one to be held two years after the previous Winter Games, and the most recent to be held in a small town. The Games were the second Winter Games hosted in Norway, after the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo.

Petra Kronberger of Austria led the individual medal table with two gold medals in Slalom and the Alpine Combined, while Alberto Tomba of Italy was the most successful male skier with two medals, one gold in Giant Slalom and one silver in the Slalom.

The Alpine Skiing Olympic Winter Games program was expanded in Calgary 1988 from three to five events with the inclusion of the Super-G and the return of the Alpine combined.

Yugoslavia won its first-ever Winter Olympic medal at these Games, with Jure Franko sending the crowds wild by coming second in the Men’s Giant Slalom. The USA’s Phil Mahre won the gold medal in the men’s slalom, with his twin brother, Steve, finishing in second place.

Ingemar Stenmark and Hanni Wenzel were the highlights of Alpine Skiing in the 1980 Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid.

The biggest surprise of the Olympic Winter Games held in Sapporo was the victory of 21-year-old Francisco Fernandez Ochoa, who won the Slalom by a full second.

In the first Winter Olympic Games to be broadcast in color, French hero Jean-Claude Killy swept the Men’s Alpine events, but only after great controversy.