How Alpine skiing is scored in the Olympics:
Simple as can be: The best time wins. There is no side-by-side competition, no judges and no - as Bode Miller likes to note - style points. Skiers compete as individuals, navigating their way down snow on a mountainside one by one in a race against the clock.
There will be five medal events for men and women at the Vancouver Olympics: downhill, slalom, giant slalom, super giant slalom (generally called super-G) and super-combined (also known as super-combi).
The downhill and super-G are speed events; the slalom and giant slalom are technical events, requiring quick maneuvering back and forth between gates.
Downhill is a one-run race with the longest course and fastest speeds; the men reach 75 mph or more.
Slalom is a two-run event - the course is different for each run - with the shortest length of any race and the quickest turns; skiers navigate at least 50 gates.
Giant slalom is also a two-run event and is similar to slalom, but there are fewer gates, spaced farther apart.
The super-G is a one-run event that is sort of a hybrid of downhill and giant slalom; it involves gates that are spaced out similarly to a giant slalom but with fewer turns and greater speed.
The super-combi will add the times from one downhill run and one slalom run.
In the two-run events, the skiers with the top 30 times in the first run race in reverse order in the second run.
