Olympic Showcase of Speed, Thrills
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (Dispatches) - Alpine skiing is fast and dangerous and offers must-see races at the Pyeongchang Olympics - when they finally get started at this year's wind-buffeted games.
The downhills - ski racing's equivalent to track and field's 100-meter dash - and American star Mikaela Shiffrin's slalom title defense are all scheduled in prime time for U.S. TV audiences.
A simple concept: Find the fastest route down the mountain. The elite racers cover the men's course of 1} miles (2.86 kilometers) - the women's course is a little shorter - in about 1 minute, 40 seconds, while dropping 2,700 feet (825 meters) in altitude.
Downhill should involve ''technique, courage, speed, risk, physical condition and judgment,'' according to international skiing rules. For safety reasons, entrants must do at least one full training run before the actual event.
The Olympic speed courses in Jeongseon were raced just once on each World Cup circuit.
Two years ago, Kjetil Jansrud of Norway averaged more than 60 mph (100 kph) while winning by 0.20 seconds - a solid winning margin.
In the women's test race last year, Sofia Goggia of Italy beat Lindsey Vonn on a slightly different course setting.
Vonn will be favored to regain the title she won in 2010 and couldn't defend four years ago because of knee surgery. The men's downhill frequently serves up a surprise, but world champion Beat Feuz of Switzerland and 2010 silver medalist Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway are popular picks.

Austria's Hirscher Bags Combined Title
Austrian ace Marcel Hirscher's long wait for Olympic gold ended Tuesday when he produced a brilliant slalom run to storm to a dominant victory in the men's alpine combined.
Alexis Pinturault claimed silver for France with his team-mate Victor Muffat-Jeandet taking an astonishing bronze after finishing 29th fastest in the opening downhill.
Hirscher, 28, has been the outstanding skier in the World Cup in recent years, his 55 career wins the bedrock of a startling six consecutive overall crystal globes.


Dominant Dutch Win Gold, Silver in Men's 1,500m Speed Skating
Dutch speed skaters continued their dominance at Games with world champion Kjeld Nuis powering to gold in the men's 1,500 metres ahead of compatriot Patrick Roest.
South Korea's Kim Min-seok sparked wild celebrations by taking bronze to open the host nation's speed skating account at the Games.
The Netherlands has won eight of the 12 speed skating medals at the Games so far, including all four golds.
Nuis, the first reigning world champion to win Olympic gold in the distance, made a blistering start and finished in one minute 44.01 seconds despite losing speed on the final lap.
Skating in the fourth pair of the evening, 22-year-old Roest set the time to beat, powering across the line in 1 minute 44.86 seconds.
Racing after Nuis, Kim responded to the cheers of the crowd with a huge effort and made a late surge in the last two laps to finish 0.07 seconds behind Roest in third.



Geisenberger Defends Luge Gold, Extends German Reign
Germany's Natalie Geisenberger won her second successive Olympic gold medal in the women's singles luge.
Her compatriot Dajana Eitberger took silver ahead of bronze winner Alex Gough of Canada.


 Canada Sweeps Past Swiss for First Mixed-Doubles Gold
Canada were crowned the first Olympics mixed-doubles curling champions claiming gold with a 10-3 blowout win over world champions Switzerland.
The victory placed John Morris and Kaitlyn Lawes in an elite company, the Canadians adding their names to a short list of four curlers who have won two Olympic gold medals.
Lawes, a member of Canada's gold medal women's team in Sochi and Morris, part of the men's gold medal foursome at the 2010 Vancouver Games, got the Pyeongchang Games off to a rocky start dropping their opener but that would be their only blemish on an otherwise spotless run to the gold medal.
Swiss pair of Jenny Perret and Martin Rios added an Olympic silver to their world championship title.
The final was at first a strategic tug-of-war between Olympic and world champions with Canada scoring two in the opening end and the Swiss answering with a pair in the second.


Fourcade Can Become France's Greatest Olympian
Martin Fourcade joined a select club of triple champions by winning the Olympic biathlon pursuit on Monday and is on course to become the most successful French Olympian.
Victory in the 20km individual or the mass start would take him past Jean-Claude Killy (Alpine skiing), Paul Masson (cycling), Felicia Ballanger (track cycling), Marie-Jose Perec (athletics) and Tony Estanguet (canoeing) who all won three individual Olympic titles.
Fourcade disappointed in the sprint event when he finished eighth after three shooting errors, the first time this season he failed to make the podium, but he reacted in style in the pursuit to add to his two titles from Sochi four years ago.




Fontana Wins Gold in 500m Short Track
Italy's Arianna Fontana won gold in the women's 500 metres race after a photo finish with South Korean Choi Minjeong who was later disqualified.
Yara van Kerkhof of the Netherlands was pushed up to second place and Kim Boutin of Canada came third. China's Fan Kexin, world champion in the 500 metres for the past three years, was disqualified in the semi-finals.