The heavy wind had obviously made it necessary to lower the downhill start and use a racing line bypassing the biggest jumps of the course. The Jeongseon downhill course is already a short one with a run of one minute, 40 seconds; using the super-G start shortened it by further 20 seconds and bypassing the big jumps made it easier for less routined downhill skiers. Yet this is where the logic of the International Ski Federation fails, and this was not the first time. Despite the shortened downhill, the slalom leg was on a full course. This very much handed the medals to slalom specialists. The top six of the race were also the six fastest men on the slalom course.
I'm not sure the top two would've been any different with a full downhill course. Alexis Pinturault was 1.04 seconds and Marcel Hirscher 1.32 seconds behind Thomas Dreßen, the leader after the downhill leg. With downhill specialists losing over three seconds in the slalom leg, they might not have been able to build enough lead even on the full downhill course. Of course, it appeared the wind conditions were affecting the downhill with those starting among the first 10, like Dreßen, Hirscher, and Pinturault, being favored by their starting position.
However, the shortened downhill may still have decided the victory. While Pinturault is better in slalom than downhill, he can finish the downhill leg even on a full course close enough the leaders to overtake them in the slalom. His strength against Hirscher is the downhill. On a full course, he might have been able to build enough gap to Hirscher to stay ahead in the slalom leg.
This was not the first farcical alpine combined at major championships. Last two men's combined races at the World Championships have been won by the 30th skiers of the downhill leg who were able to benefit greatly from being the first skiers on the slalom leg in warm conditions with the course deteriorating rapidly. The Olympic combined could have been different with the slalom course holding up well in the cold Korean weather. A pity it was ruined by a shortened downhill.
I'm not the first to cry about unfair conditions. It's unfortunate for the fans who have come to watch a race to see it canceled. If this had been a regular World Cup race, I'd have been fine with it; do whatever you need to get the race safely carried out. But when it's the highlight of the year, or four years in the case of the Olympics, the athletes deserve a fair race.
I don't think the downhill leg should have taken place as scheduled with the wind affecting the results. They could have started with the slalom leg as scheduled and have the downhill leg another day like has happened before in similar situations. That would actually have been even fairer as the slalom specialists barely making the top 30 in the downhill, like the bronze medalist Victor Muffat-Jeandet, wouldn't get such a big advantage from their starting position. And even if starting with a shortened downhill was the right decision, the slalom leg should have been shortened respectively.
The FIS clearly has a strange view about what is a fair race. The combined format has some major flaws, yet the FIS has done nothing to fix those issues. At least there won't be many farces like this remaining as the alpine combined will likely be gone by the 2021 World Championships. Though it's a pity because it could be a great event. But this is just the tip of the iceberg of examples of how the FIS fails to provide a level playing field for the speed specialists against the technicians.
World Cup skewed in favor of technical specialists
The men's World Cup has been dominated by technical specialists this decade. After the speed specialist Carlo Janka won the 2010 overall title, technical specialists have claimed the big crystal globe with Ivica Kostelić winning in 2011 and Marcel Hirscher every season since 2012.
The World Cup schedule has more races in technical disciplines than in speed ones. That's nothing new, although the introduction of parallel races has added to the number of technical races. Yet what is different is the evolution of giant slalom. Speed specialists used to have success also in giant slalom, boosting their overall title campaigns. Benjamin Raich in 2006 was the only speed specialist winning the overall title in the 00s. Yet ever since the the GS equipment changed from the 28-meter radius skis to longer 35-meter radius skis in the 2012-13 season, speed specialists have been struggling in that discipline, hurting their overall title chances.
The radius of GS skis was shortened to 30 meters starting from this season. Although the equipment is now closer to the old skis, it seems like the speed specialists are still no longer able to succeed in giant slalom. That is very harmful for their chances for the big crystal globe as meanwhile there are technical specialists like Hirscher or Pinturault who can even win in super-G on some of the more technical courses. When you see a World Cup champion like Aksel Lund Svindal and another Olympic medalist Kjetil Jansrud struggling to make the second round in giant slalom, you know the discipline is different than what it was in their heyday in giant slalom.
With speed specialists no longer succeeding in giant slalom, the only way to give them an equal chance to race for the overall title would seem to be adding speed races into the schedule. An equal number of races in each discipline should be the priority of scheduling, or at least an equal number between speed and technical disciplines. It can't be so difficult. At least the long-term calendar for the 2020-21 season seems better in that regard for men, although the parallel races still skew the schedule in favor of technical specialists.
It's not only the scheduling but also the replacement policy. Last season one of the scheduled men's downhill races ended up being permanently canceled. The schedule should leave enough space for replacement dates because every canceled race is one less scoring opportunity for the specialists in that discipline. And with the speed disciplines more prone to weather-related cancellations, that's yet another factor against speed specialists overall title hopes.
What's even worse is the replacement policy at the World Cup Finals, leading to some farcical season finales. In 2013 the speed races had to be canceled at the Finals in Lenzerheide, denying Aksel Lund Svindal his last opportunity to challenge Marcel Hirscher for the overall title while securing the downhill title without having to race for it. In 2011, also in Lenzerheide, Maria Riesch (now Höfl-Riesch) celebrated her only World Cup overall title by three points over Lindsey Vonn after the season-ending giant slalom was canceled, a discipline where Vonn had the advantage over Riesch.
In both cases, and many others, the final races were not rescheduled because the FIS rules don't allow it. I get it, the TV channels want the titles being decided in Sunday's technical races and there are probably some logistical issues as well. But a cancellation is an unfortunate way to decide the crystal globe. I'm sure the fans would rather have the titles decided by racing, even if they missed it when at work on Monday as a cancellation means they didn't see racing anyway. They don't tune in to see the trophy presented, they tune in to see the skiers racing for the trophy.
I'm not sure what it takes for the FIS to realize the speed specialists are at a disadvantage in the overall title hunt and make it a level playing field between speed and technical specialists. It's a pity that those speed specialists, not only risking their health but even their lives, are constantly being put at a disadvantage by the sanctioning body. The FIS failed to provide a fair race for the Olympic medals in men's combined but that's just one more example of how the FIS lets the weather ruin speed specialists' chances for success.
The Austrian Ski Federation is usually vocal when things don't go their way. Maybe things would start happening if there was a big star in the Austrian speed team. But as long as Austria's biggest star is a technical specialist, the current situation is fine for the ÖSV.
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