For complete coverage of 2010 Olympic Skiing, including events, competitors, schedules, and news go to the 2010 Olympic Skiing Guide.
Alpine Ski Racing Olympics Overview
I think the best way to analyze the 2010 Winter Olympic ski races is to take a close look at the 2009 World Cup race season. Most of the ski racers competing in Vancouver will be the veterans who have raced on their country's World Cup A Team.
2009 was a good barometer race year because, not only was it a tune-up for the 2010 Winter Olympic games in Vancouver, BC, but it was also a World Championship race year. The World Championships are conducted every other year and are held in high esteem in the ski racing world. Every ski racer dreams of Olympic and World Championship Gold.
2009 World Cup Standings
Let's see how the racers of competing nations did as far as total medals won and racers (men and women) finishing in positions 4-10 during the 2009 season in the Alpine Skiing events of Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super G, Combined and Downhill. The following statistics are culled from the International Ski Federation (FIS) data base and generated by me. Left to right, find the Nation team, the Gold, Silver, Bronze medals won - the 4th-10th place finishes – and the Total Top 10 racer appearences.
Nation - Gold, Silver, Bronze - 4th-10th finishes - Total Top 10s
Austria - 18, 22, 17 - 96 - 152
Switzerland- 12, 9, 13 - 80 - 114
Italy - 10, 11, 8 - 60 - 89
USA - 10, 9 , 5 - 32 - 56
France - 7, 5, 2 - 45 - 59
Germany - 6, 3, 6 - 24 - 39
Sweden - 3, 3, 8 - 51 - 65
Norway - 3, 2, 3 - 14 - 22
Slovenia - 2, 1, 3 - 22 - 28
Finland - 1, 4 , 3 - 9 - 17
Croatia - 1, 3, 3 - 13 - 20
Canada - 1, 1 3 - 39 - 44
Czechia - 1, 0, 2 - 7 - 10
Liectenstein - 0, 1, 0 - 2 - 3
Slovakia - 0, 0, 0 - 2 - 2
Spain - 0 , 0, 0 - 1 - 1
Great Britain - 0, 0, 0 - 1 - 1
Russia - 0, 0, 0 - 1 - 1
A Ski Race - A Horse Race
Will this be the order the nations accumulate medals during the 2010 Olympics? I don't think so. Based on the Olympic "fever" that burns in every athlete it is better to look at the 5 Alpine events for the men and ladies as five Kentucky Derby horse races. Only the top world class racers will race, but on any given day someone out of the blue can win.
There are favorites and there are "also competing." Favorites fall, hometown racers know the course better, fog roll in, many what-ifs can and do happen, but I would pay special attention to the top favorites.
2010 Olympic Skiing Competitors
I think it is fair to say that most of the 2009 racers will be back competing trying to peak at Olympic race time. There will be a few mentionable retirements, but for the most part top racers will be returning.
It is also fair to say that competing nation teams that put no racers in the top ten at any World Cup event stand little chance of medaling at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
That's not to say it's impossible because some good racers may be eligible to race under a different flag. For instance an American ski racer not on the U.S. Ski Team and born in Jamaica can choose to race for Jamaica. However, that skier is a long shot to medal.
Look At The Stats
Of course, at first glance Austria looks overwhelming. However, remember that we are dealing with races that are timed to the hundredth of a second. I've seen results where the top seven racers are within a teth of a second of each other.
Interestingly, take a look at Sweden - only 14 medals but 51 4th-10th positions - hundredths or tenths of a second off a podium.
Canada, the home team for the 2010 Winter Olympics, only 5 podiums but 39 times in 4th-10th and a lot of practice time on the home course.
In perspective, watch the nation favorites for medal counts, but don't be surprised at surprises.
