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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Men's downhill competition of the 1984 Winter Olympics was held at Bjelašnica, Yugoslavia.[1] Due to weather delays, it was run on Thursday, February 16, a full week after originally scheduled.[2][3][4]
Men's Downhill at the XIV Olympic Winter Games | |||||||||||||
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Venue | Bjelašnica, Yugoslavia | ||||||||||||
Date | February 16, 1984 | ||||||||||||
Competitors | 61 from 25 nations | ||||||||||||
Winning time | 1:45.59 | ||||||||||||
Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Men's Downhill | |
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Location | Bjelašnica, Yugoslavia Olympia course |
Vertical | 803 m (2,635 ft) |
Top elevation | 2,076 m (6,811 ft) |
Base elevation | 1,273 m (4,177 ft) |
The reigning world champion was Harti Weirather of Austria, while teammate Franz Klammer was the reigning World Cup downhill champion and Switzerland's Urs Räber led the current season.[5][6] Similar to 1980, the defending Olympic downhill champion was from Austria and did not compete; Leonhard Stock was injured a month earlier in early January.
In order to meet the minimum vertical drop requirement of 800 meters (2,625 feet), the starting gate was in a newly constructed summit lodge and restaurant, with a connecting ramp to the mountain proper.[7]
Bill Johnson of the United States became the first from outside the Alps to win an Olympic downhill.[8][9][10] In his first full World Cup season, he was a top "glider" and made up time on the flatter lower third of the course.[11] The previous best finishes for an American man in an Olympic downhill was fifth (1952, 1980), and sixth (1976); American women had won three medals (1960, 1972, 1976), but never a gold.
The course started at an elevation of 2,076 m (6,811 ft) above sea level with a vertical drop of 803 m (2,635 ft) and a length of 3.066 km (1.91 mi). Johnson's winning time was 105.59 seconds, yielding an average speed of 104.533 km/h (65.0 mph), with an average vertical descent rate of 7.605 m/s (25.0 ft/s).
The race was started at 12:00 local time, (UTC+1). At the starting gate, the skies were clear, the temperature was −9.8 °C (14.4 °F), and the snow condition was "good."
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