The men's downhill in the 2024 FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup consisted of eight events. The season had been planned with thirteen downhills, but two scheduled downhills on 11/12 November 2023 on the Matterhorn, running from Switzerland (Zermatt) into Italy (Cervinia), were canceled for the second straight year, this time due to heavy snowfall and high winds (unlike the year before, when the cancellation was due to lack of snow), and only one has been rescheduled (at Val Gardena on 12 December).[1][2] The two downhill races after that, scheduled in the U.S. at Beaver Creek, Colorado, were also cancelled for the same reason, although they still may be rescheduled—meaning that the downhill season had not completed a race as of early December despite having had four scheduled, with the next attempt being the rescheduled race at Val Gardena/Gröden. One of the Beaver Creek races was rescheduled at Wengen on 11 January 2024.[3] As described in the season summary, two February downhills at Chamonix, France were cancelled later in the season, reducing the total races in the discipline to nine. In the last race of the World Cup season, the final was also cancelled, meaning that seven men's downhills were cancelled during the season and only two of those were rescheduled.[4]
After the cancellations, the season began with the make-up at Val Gardena/Grõden, which was won (in a huge upset) by American Bryce Bennett (who did not start in the top 30), edging out two-time defending discipline champion Aleksander Aamodt Kilde from Norway and two-time overall champion Marco Odermatt from Switzerland.[5] In the next race, on the Stelvio in Bormio, overall World Cup leader Marco Schwarz of Austria suffered a season-ending knee injury, and Switzerland's Marco Odermatt, who finished second, took over first place in the discipline for the season.[6] The season then became a battle between Odermatt and French skier Cyprien Sarrazin, who won both of the downhills in Kitzbühel, Austria to move into second, just six points behind Odermatt, who had previously won the two downhills in Wengen, Switzerland.[7]
However, just when a French skier moved into contention for the discipline title, the upcoming two races in France (at Chamonix, 2-3 February) had to be cancelled due to a lack of snow and a too-warm forecast, which left just two more downhills on the discipline schedule for the season -- one in Norway in February, and then the season finals in March.[8] And then Sarrazin was injured during training and had to miss the downhill in Kvitfjell, Norway, which was won by Niels Hintermann of Switzerland, while his teammate Odermatt finished seventh and opened a 42-point lead over Sarrazin with just the season finals remaining.[9]
The season final was scheduled to take place on 24 March at Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria. For the first time since the finals began in 1993, the downhill was the last event of the finals instead of the first, with the women's race being held on Saturday and the men's on Sunday. Only the top 25 in the downhill standings and the downhill gold medalist at the Junior World Championships (Livio Hiltbrand of Switzerland) were eligible to compete in the downhill finals, with the exception that any skier who has earned at least 500 points in the overall standings was eligible to compete in any discipline, regardless of his standing in the downhill for the season. Due to the reduced field, only the top 15 earned points. Because Hiltbrand was competing in (and winning, despite starting the final in fifth place) the European Cup downhill season championship this week,[10] he and the injured Kilde and Florian Schieder of Italy did not enter finals, while one 500-point skier (Loïc Meillard) did, setting the race field at 25.
However, on race day heavy snow and wind caused the final to be delayed by two hours and then cancelled (and not postponed, as it was scheduled for the same day as the season-ending ceremonies). Accordingly, Odermatt, who was leading by 42 points, won the season crown, giving him the overall title and three discipline titles for the season.[4]
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