Composite Video Of Downhill Skiing Runs That Ended In Gold-Medal Tie

Switzerland's Dominique Gisin and Tina Maze of Slovenia made Olympic history today when they turned in identical winning times of 1:41.57 in the ladies' downhill. That had never happened before in alpine skiing, which measures to the hundredth of the second. We wanted to know what it would look like if they'd been racing each other, so we composited their runs and matched up the camera angles as best we could.

In a sport that comes down to such fractions of a second, it's a bit surprising how large the advantages are at points in this and how differently Gisin and Maze navigate the course. Both skiers seem well ahead of the other at points, and Gisin manages to make up ground with a huge jump—something that, according to conventional wisdom, slows a skier down. Maze also appears to follow a narrower apex in the turns, but the extra distance Gisin travels is made up for by an increase in potential momentum.

[CBC/NBC/FranceSport]