Norway, Switzerland, Austria Head in Strong to Men’s Downhill Skiing

Men’s downhill, the first Alpine skiing event at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, is the sport’s fastest discipline.

Norway’s intimidating “Attacking Vikings” feature several medal threats. 2014 Olympic bronze medalist Kjetil Jansrud clocked the fastest time at the 2018 Olympic test event. Aksel Lund Svindal, the 2010 Olympic silver medalist who finished fourth in Sochi, is currently second in the World Cup standings.

Austria’s Matthias Mayer is hoping to become the first man to successfully defend an Olympic downhill gold medal.

Switzerland’s Beat Feuz, the 2017 world champion, tops the World Cup standings. He will turn 31 on Feb. 11.

Expectations were high for Steven Nyman, who finished third in the Olympic test event. Just one day after being named to his fourth Olympic team, however, Nyman tore his right ACL.

Bryce Bennett, ranked 18th, is the only U.S. man in the top-20 of the World Cup standings. He clocked the seventh-fastest time in Wednesday’s Olympic downhill training run.

2014 Sochi Games medalists
Gold: Matthias Mayer (Austria)
Silver: Christof Innerhofer (Italy)
Bronze: Kjetil Jansrud (Norway)