U.S. Olympic skier Mikaela Shiffrin

clinched a gold medal in the giant slalom

race on Thursday in PyeongChang, South

Korea. On Friday, she fell short of medaling

in the slalom, typically her strongest event.

But she will go for gold again before the

Winter Olympics are over, competing in the

alpine combined race on Friday and

possibly the downhill on Wednesday.

“I’ve had a lot of people tell me, ‘Yeah,

sure, you’re good at slalom, but wait till

you get to the real events like downhill or

super-G.’ I don’t like hearing that,”

Shiffrin, 22, told the New York Times

before the Olympics, adding that her goal

was to “become not just the best slalom

skier in the world, but the best skier in the

world. Period.”

That’s impressive in large part because of

how different the alpine skiing disciplines

are. A gold-medal performance in one does

not necessarily translate to such skill in

another.

The four disciplines of alpine skiing

competition are slalom, giant slalom, super

giant slalom (super-G) and downhill. (A

fifth event — the alpine combined — is, as

its name suggests, a race that combines

downhill and slalom.) In each discipline,

the goal is to cross the finish line in less

time than other competitors, but they

require different techniques.

According to the rules and format of

Olympic alpine skiing, the downhill and

super-G are both speed events. “The

competitors generate high speeds because

the course is designed with longer runs

and greater distances between the gates,”

the format guide states. U.S. skier Lindsey

Vonn — who is known for her speed —

won an Olympic gold medal in the downhill

event and a bronze medal in the super-G

event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in

Vancouver.

Meanwhile, the giant slalom and slalom are

considered “technical events”

because the

courses involve more gates and turns.

Shiffrin won a gold medal in the slalom at

the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.

Here’s what to know about the difference

between the alpine skiing disciplines:

Downhill skiing

“A Downhill is characterised by the six

components of technique, courage, speed,

risk, physical condition and judgement,”

according to the competition rules of the

International Ski Federation.

While skiers participate in training runs

for the downhill event, the official

competition is based on only one run. The

course, which is longer than the others,

includes fewer turns and has the highest

vertical drop, which is what makes

downhill the fastest alpine skiing event.

Downhill skiers reach speeds of 80 to 95

miles per hour .

The men’s downhill event took place

Thursday, when athletes from Norway

earned gold and silver medals, followed by

a skier from Switzerland for bronze. The

women’s downhill event is set to take place

on Wednesday.

Slalom

The slalom competition consists of two

runs. A skier’s score is based on the

combined time of both runs.

The gates on a slalom course are the closest

together, requiring skiers to zig and zag

quickly, making turns with rapid speed. If

a skier misses a gate, he or she will be

disqualified.

The women’s slalom took place Friday,

with skiers from Sweden, Switzerland and

Austria earning gold, silver and bronze

medals, respectively. The men’s slalom

event is scheduled for Thursday.

Giant slalom

Like the slalom event, the giant slalom

consists of two runs, after which a skier’s

times are combined.

The giant slalom course at the 2018 Winter

Olympics was lined with 50 gates spaced

farther apart than the gates in the slalom

course, but not as far apart as the gates in

the super giant slalom, as Reuters reported .

The women’s giant slalom took place

Thursday, and the men are set to compete

in the giant slalom on Sunday.

Super giant slalom

Like the downhill event, the super-G is

decided by just one run. It has more gates

than the downhill course, but fewer than

in slalom or giant slalom.

Because the super-G is a speed event, it has

a higher vertical drop than either the

slalom or giant slalom courses.

Both men and women already competed in

the super-G race.