For the first time in the Winter Olympics, there will be a mixed team event in alpine skiing. The mixed team event is considerably different than traditional alpine skiing events, as, in the mixed team event, there are two competitors on course at any one time instead of just one competitor on course, and the competition format is that of an elimination tournament.
A total of 16 countries will compete in the mixed team event, with each country entering a four-skier team consisting of two male skiers and two female skiers; each team is also able to enter an alternate skier of each gender who can replace a skier of the same gender. The Olympic format for mixed team alpine skiing will be a single-elimination tournament, with the final match, called the big final, being contested for the gold and silver medals, although the losers of the semifinal matches will compete in the small final for the bronze medal. Each team is seeded based on a ranking system by the FIS, which is the IOC-approved governing body for Olympic skiing, and the #1 seed faces the #16 seed in the first round, the #8 seed faces the #9 seed in the first round, and so on.
The course is a snow-covered piste with two starting gates and two sets of giant slalom-style course gates, with one set of course gates being blue in color and the other set of course gates being red in color, and both sets of course gates being parallel to each other.
Each match consists of a total of four runs. In each run, a skier from one country is assigned to the path with the blue course gates, and a skier of the same gender from the other country is assigned to the path with the red course gates. The starting gates deploy simultaneously, and each skier is required to ski to the correct side of each course gate of their designated color without interfering with the other skier or skiing around a course gate of the other color. The first skier across the line in each run wins one point for his or her country, and the country with the highest number of points after four runs in a match wins the match. Should neither skier in a run complete their run, the skier who legally completed the furthest distance wins the run and one point for their country. Should a run end in a tie for any reason, each country wins one point. Should a match be tied after four runs (typically a 2-2 tie, although 3-3 and 4-4 ties are possible due to the tied run rule), a tiebreaking procedure is used. The first tiebreaker is the shorter combined time of one country's fastest run by a female skier and its fastest run by a male skier against the combined time of the other country's fastest run by a female skier and its fastest run by a male skier. The second tiebreaker is the shorter combined time of one country's second-fastest run by a female skier and its second-fastest run by a male skier against the combined time of the other country's second-fastest run by a female skier and its second-fastest run by a male skier. To be honest, I'm not sure what would happen if the second tiebreaker failed to break a tie, as I've not found anything in the FIS rules that clearly states what a last resort tiebreaker would be.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the fifth blog post in a seven-part series previewing the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang County, South Korea.
A total of 16 countries will compete in the mixed team event, with each country entering a four-skier team consisting of two male skiers and two female skiers; each team is also able to enter an alternate skier of each gender who can replace a skier of the same gender. The Olympic format for mixed team alpine skiing will be a single-elimination tournament, with the final match, called the big final, being contested for the gold and silver medals, although the losers of the semifinal matches will compete in the small final for the bronze medal. Each team is seeded based on a ranking system by the FIS, which is the IOC-approved governing body for Olympic skiing, and the #1 seed faces the #16 seed in the first round, the #8 seed faces the #9 seed in the first round, and so on.
The course is a snow-covered piste with two starting gates and two sets of giant slalom-style course gates, with one set of course gates being blue in color and the other set of course gates being red in color, and both sets of course gates being parallel to each other.
Each match consists of a total of four runs. In each run, a skier from one country is assigned to the path with the blue course gates, and a skier of the same gender from the other country is assigned to the path with the red course gates. The starting gates deploy simultaneously, and each skier is required to ski to the correct side of each course gate of their designated color without interfering with the other skier or skiing around a course gate of the other color. The first skier across the line in each run wins one point for his or her country, and the country with the highest number of points after four runs in a match wins the match. Should neither skier in a run complete their run, the skier who legally completed the furthest distance wins the run and one point for their country. Should a run end in a tie for any reason, each country wins one point. Should a match be tied after four runs (typically a 2-2 tie, although 3-3 and 4-4 ties are possible due to the tied run rule), a tiebreaking procedure is used. The first tiebreaker is the shorter combined time of one country's fastest run by a female skier and its fastest run by a male skier against the combined time of the other country's fastest run by a female skier and its fastest run by a male skier. The second tiebreaker is the shorter combined time of one country's second-fastest run by a female skier and its second-fastest run by a male skier against the combined time of the other country's second-fastest run by a female skier and its second-fastest run by a male skier. To be honest, I'm not sure what would happen if the second tiebreaker failed to break a tie, as I've not found anything in the FIS rules that clearly states what a last resort tiebreaker would be.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the fifth blog post in a seven-part series previewing the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang County, South Korea.
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