Alpine Skiing at the 1984 Winter Games: Previous Winter Games ▪ Next Winter Games
Host City: Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
Venue(s): , Bjelašnica
Date Started: February 16, 1984
Date Finished: February 16, 1984
Gold: | ![]() |
Silver: | ![]() |
Bronze: | ![]() |
No American had ever won the menâs downhill at the Olympics. In fact, they had never won an Olympic medal in the event, and their only major international win had come in 1959 when [Buddy Werner] triumphed on the Hahnenkamm. A few weeks before Sarajevo there was nothing to suggest this would change, until [Bill Johnson] won the Lauberhorn in Wengen, Switzerland. Known as a good glider, but not so good on a difficult course with lots of turns, the Sarajevo downhill set up perfectly for him.
The race had difficulty starting as it was postponed three times and seven days because of heavy snows. After Johnson had several of the best training runs, he was a slight favorite, and starting in sixth position, he posted the best time which held up for the gold medal. Asked later what this meant to him, he responded, âMillions!â Johnson would win two more World Cup downhills in 1984, at Aspen and Whistler in March, but never again won a major race after 1984. His victory was derided by the European skiers, who claimed he only won because the course was easy, to which Johnson asked, âIf it was so easy, why didnât they win it?â Johnson was a cocky, controversial character who had a very short period in the skiing limelight. He attempted a comeback for the 2002 Winter Olympics, but crashed during the US Championships in 2001 and sustained significant brain damage, spending several weeks in a coma. He never fully recovered and requires constant day-to-day care.
Rank | Athlete | Age | Team | NOC | Medal | T | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bill Johnson | 23 | United States | USA | Gold | 1:45.59 | |
2 | Peter Müller | 26 | Switzerland | SUI | Silver | 1:45.86 | |
3 | Anton Steiner | 25 | Austria | AUT | Bronze | 1:45.95 | |
4 | Pirmin Zurbriggen | 21 | Switzerland | SUI | 1:46.05 | ||
5T | Urs Räber | 25 | Switzerland | SUI | 1:46.32 | ||
5T | Helmut Höflehner | 24 | Austria | AUT | 1:46.32 | ||
7 | Sepp Wildgruber | 25 | West Germany | FRG | 1:46.53 | ||
8 | Steve Podborski | 26 | Canada | CAN | 1:46.59 | ||
9 | Todd Brooker | 24 | Canada | CAN | 1:46.64 | ||
10 | Franz Klammer | 30 | Austria | AUT | 1:47.04 | ||
11 | Erwin Resch | 22 | Austria | AUT | 1:47.06 | ||
12 | Klaus Gattermann | 23 | West Germany | FRG | 1:47.12 | ||
13 | Günther Marxer | 19 | Liechtenstein | LIE | 1:47.43 | ||
14 | Conradin Cathomen | 24 | Switzerland | SUI | 1:47.63 | ||
15 | Michael Mair | 21 | Italy | ITA | 1:47.70 | ||
16T | Vladimir Makeyev | 26 | Soviet Union | URS | 1:47.87 | ||
16T | Alberto Ghidoni | 21 | Italy | ITA | 1:47.87 | ||
18 | Martin Bell | 19 | Great Britain | GBR | 1:48.00 | ||
19 | Steven Lee | 21 | Australia | AUS | 1:48.02 | ||
20T | Franck Piccard | 19 | France | FRA | 1:48.06 | ||
20T | Danilo Sbardellotto | 23 | Italy | ITA | 1:48.06 | ||
22 | Herbert Renoth | 22 | West Germany | FRG | 1:48.39 | ||
23 | Valery Tsyganov | 27 | Soviet Union | URS | 1:48.46 | ||
24 | Doug Lewis | 20 | United States | USA | 1:48.49 | ||
25 | Michel Vion | 24 | France | FRA | 1:48.68 | ||
26 | Gary Athans | 22 | Canada | CAN | 1:48.79 | ||
27 | Janež Pleteršek | 23 | Yugoslavia | YUG | 1:48.97 | ||
28 | Shinya Chiba | 22 | Japan | JPN | 1:49.02 | ||
29 | Philippe Verneret | 21 | France | FRA | 1:49.30 | ||
30 | Tomaž Jemc | 19 | Yugoslavia | YUG | 1:49.68 | ||
31 | Bruce Grant | 20 | New Zealand | NZL | 1:49.94 | ||
32 | Graham Bell | 18 | Great Britain | GBR | 1:50.06 | ||
33 | Connor O'Brien | 23 | Great Britain | GBR | 1:50.36 | ||
34 | Alistair Guss | 18 | Australia | AUS | 1:50.57 | ||
35 | Markus Hubrich | 21 | New Zealand | NZL | 1:50.77 | ||
36 | Hubert Hilti | 20 | Liechtenstein | LIE | 1:50.94 | ||
37 | Frederick Burton | 24 | Great Britain | GBR | 1:51.15 | ||
38 | Hubertus von Fürstenberg-von Hohenlohe | 25 | Mexico | MEX | 1:51.57 | ||
39 | Dieter Linneberg | 18 | Chile | CHI | 1:51.68 | ||
40 | Pierre Couquelet | 19 | Belgium | BEL | 1:52.40 | ||
41 | Andres Figueroa | 20 | Chile | CHI | 1:52.97 | ||
42 | Hans Kossmann | 19 | Chile | CHI | 1:54.36 | ||
43 | Scott Alan Sánchez | 25 | Bolivia | BOL | 1:54.75 | ||
44 | Miguel Purcell | 21 | Chile | CHI | 1:54.91 | ||
45 | Jorge Birkner | 19 | Argentina | ARG | 1:54.92 | ||
46 | Henri Mollin | 25 | Belgium | BEL | 1:55.72 | ||
47 | David Lajoux | 17 | Monaco | MON | 1:56.95 | ||
48 | Albert Llovera | 17 | Andorra | AND | 1:57.88 | ||
49 | Nicolas van Ditmar | 18 | Argentina | ARG | 1:58.86 | ||
50 | Jordi Torres | 19 | Andorra | AND | 1:59.06 | ||
51 | Lamine Guèye | 23 | Senegal | SEN | 1:59.64 | ||
52 | Park Byung-Ro | 21 | South Korea | KOR | 1:59.74 | ||
53 | Enrique de Ridder | 25 | Argentina | ARG | 1:59.76 | ||
54 | Américo Astete | 16 | Argentina | ARG | 2:01.60 | ||
55 | Giannis Stamatiou | 21 | Greece | GRE | 2:01.79 | ||
56 | Andreas Pantelidis | 21 | Greece | GRE | 2:01.88 | ||
57 | Kim Jin-Hae | 21 | South Korea | KOR | 2:01.96 | ||
58 | Eu Woo-Youn | 17 | South Korea | KOR | 2:02.67 | ||
59 | Lazaros Arkhontopoulos | 25 | Greece | GRE | 2:03.93 | ||
60 | Jamil El-Reedy | 18 | Egypt | EGY | 3:13.86 | ||
AC | Peter Dürr | 23 | West Germany | FRG | DNF |