The men's downhill in the 2024 FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup consisted of eight events. The season had been planned with thirteen downhills, but two scheduled downhills on 11/12 November 2023 on the Matterhorn, running from Switzerland (Zermatt) into Italy (Cervinia), were canceled for the second straight year, this time due to heavy snowfall and high winds (unlike the year before, when the cancellation was due to lack of snow), and only one has been rescheduled (at Val Gardena on 12 December). The two downhill races after that, scheduled in the U.S. at Beaver Creek, Colorado, were also cancelled for the same reason, although they still may be rescheduled—meaning that the downhill season had not completed a race as of early December despite having had four scheduled, with the next attempt being the rescheduled race at Val Gardena/Gröden. One of the Beaver Creek races was rescheduled at Wengen on 11 January 2024. As described in the season summary, two February downhills at Chamonix, France were cancelled later in the season, reducing the total races in the discipline to nine. In the last race of the World Cup season, the final was also cancelled, meaning that seven men's downhills were cancelled during the season and only two of those were rescheduled.
Season summary After the cancellations, the season began with the make-up at Val Gardena/Grõden, which was won (in a huge upset) by American Bryce Bennett (who did not start in the top 30), edging out two-time defending discipline champion Aleksander Aamodt Kilde from Norway and two-time overall champion Marco Odermatt from Switzerland. In the next race, on the Stelvio in Bormio, overall World Cup leader Marco Schwarz of Austria suffered a season-ending knee injury, and Switzerland's Marco Odermatt, who finished second, took over first place in the discipline for the season. The season then became a battle between Odermatt and French skier Cyprien Sarrazin, who won both of the downhills in Kitzbühel, Austria to move into second, just six points behind Odermatt, who had previously won the two downhills in Wengen, Switzerland.
However, just when a French skier moved into contention for the discipline title, the upcoming two races in France (at Chamonix, 2-3 February) had to be cancelled due to a lack of snow and a too-warm forecast, which left just two more downhills on the discipline schedule for the season -- one in Norway in February, and then the season finals in March. And then Sarrazin was injured during training and had to miss the downhill in Kvitfjell, Norway, which was won by Niels Hintermann of Switzerland, while his teammate Odermatt finished seventh and opened a 42-point lead over Sarrazin with just the season finals remaining.
Finals The season final was scheduled to take place on 24 March at Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria. For the first time since the finals began in 1993, the downhill was the last event of the finals instead of the first, with the women's race being held on Saturday and the men's on Sunday. Only the top 25 in the downhill standings and the downhill gold medalist at the Junior World Championships (Livio Hiltbrand of Switzerland) were eligible to compete in the downhill finals, with the exception that any skier who has earned at least 500 points in the overall standings was eligible to compete in any discipline, regardless of his standing in the downhill for the season. Due to the reduced field, only the top 15 earned points. Because Hiltbrand was competing in (and winning, despite starting the final in fifth place) the European Cup downhill season championship this week, he and the injured Kilde and Florian Schieder of Italy did not enter finals, while one 500-point skier (Loïc Meillard) did, setting the race field at 25.
However, on race day heavy snow and wind caused the final to be delayed by two hours and then cancelled (and not postponed, as it was scheduled for the same day as the season-ending ceremonies). Accordingly, Odermatt, who was leading by 42 points, won the season crown, giving him the overall title and three discipline titles for the season.
Standings Venue #Skier Total Marco Odermattxx6036801001006080x36x5522 Cyprien Sarrazin xxDNF501008080100100xDNSx5103 Dominik Parisxx24100045604060x13x3424 Vincent Kriechmayrxx14184520453640x80x2985 Bryce Bennettxx100600152660x50x2576 Niels Hintermannxx526362432DNF6x100x2297 xx8080DNF60DNFDNS2208 Ryan Cochran-Sieglexx1820040295015x36x2089 Cameron Alexanderxx26DNF607DNF457x60x20510 Nils Allègrexx5040614362629xDNFx20111 Florian Schiederxx16141850DNF8016x0DNS19412 Mattia Cassexx2236403626020x5x18513 James Crawfordxx45453201084x8x15214 Justin Murisierxx075026DNF329x15x13915 Stefan Babinskyxx4000160050x3x10916 Stefan Rogentin xx10859201626x10x10417 Franjo von Allmenxx022018180DNFx45x10318 Maxence Muzatonxx815011DNF2245xDNSx10119 Blaise Giezendannerxx20150131036x24x10020 Alexis Monneyxx00202291132x5x9921 Matthieu Bailet xx36DNF95DNF2013x0x8322 Miha Hrobatxx6924DNF5210x24x8023 Adrien Théauxxx541564081x0x7924 Otmar Striedinger xx01403222100x0x7825 Guglielmo Boscaxx1201081420x18x73 Elian Lehtoxx9230112424x0x7327 Jared Goldbergxx13244DNF150DNFx14NE7028 Christof Innerhoferxx22102131200x10NE6929 Nils Alphandxx01629000DNFx20NE65 xx00DNS25013DNFxDNSNE6531 Sam Morsexx000161214x26NE5932 Marco Kohlerxx32026DNFDNSNE5833 Arnaud BoissetxxDNS09DNSDNF2911x7NE56 Daniel Danklmaierxx0011814DNF5x18NE5635 Jeffrey Read xx800004DNFx40NE5236 Andreas Sander xx0121210308x1NE4637 Romed Baumannxx293DNF13000x0NE45 Josua Mettlerxx00DNS0160DNFx29NE4539 Alexis PinturaultxxDNS929DNSNE3840 Wiley MaplexxDNS220DNF00x12NE3441 Simon JocherxxDNF01040163x0NE3342 Marco Schwarzxx029DNFDNSNE2943 Daniel Hemetsbergerxx31100DNS012xDNSNE26 Christopher NeumayerxxDNF0DNS422xDNSNE2645 Raphael HaaserxxDNS180DNS50x0NE2346 Josef Ferstlxx16600000xDNSNE22 Pietro Zazzixx0013021DNFx6NE2248 Dominik SchwaigerxxDNS00180x0NE1849 Kyle Negomirxx010000DNSx12NE1350 Jan Zabystřanxx11000DNSx0NE1151 Thomas Dreßenxx05DNS30DNS0xDNSNE852 Lars Röstixx0DNS0070DNSNE753 Brodie Segerxx0000003x2NE554 Gilles Roulinxx00004DNS0x0NE455 Martin Čaterxx1000DNF0DNFx0NE1 Fredrik MøllerxxDNS0DNSx1NE1 Luis VogtxxDNS0100xDNSNE1References
Legend
DNF = Did not finish DSQ = Disqualified
See also 2024 Alpine Skiing World Cup – Men's summary rankings 2024 Alpine Skiing World Cup – Men's overall 2024 Alpine Skiing World Cup – Men's super-G 2024 Alpine Skiing World Cup – Men's giant slalom 2024 Alpine Skiing World Cup – Men's slalom World Cup scoring system
References
External links Alpine skiing at FIS website
External links