Kostelic wasn't the only succesful skier during the two weeks of alpine competition. Men's World Cup overall points leader Stephan Eberharter (AUT) won a medal of each color, capping his Olympics with a dominating performance in winning the giant slalom. He claimed a bronze behind teammate Fritz Strobl (AUT) in the Games' most prestigious event, the men's downhill, then settled for silver behind record-setting Kjetil Andre Aamodt (NOR), who also won the combined gold to push his unprecedented medal haul to seven.

Bode Miller (USA) provided much of the best slalom skiing during the Games. A scintillating second run of slalom moved him up to a silver-medal finish in the combined, and a strong second run gave him a second silver in the giant slalom behind Eberharter.

The men's downhill set the tone for the six events staged at Snowbasin -- all were dramatic and all were staged before huge crowds under brilliant sunshine.

Strobl (AUT), who started immediately after Eberharter had posted the fastest run so far, rode quiet skis into first place. Eberharter was bumped to third by Lasse Kjus (NOR), who claimed downhill silver for the second straight Olympics. It was Kjus' fourth Olympic medal.

Strobl's victory was the sixth in the men's Olympic downhill for Austria, which had previously gained the title with Sailer (1956), Egon Zimmerman (1964), Franz Klammer (1976), Leonhard Stock (1980) and Patrick Ortlieb (1992).

On the women's side, Austria hasn't been so fortunate, last winning the ladies' downhill in 1980 with Annemarie Moser-Proll (AUT). The streak remains intact for another four years after Carole Montillet (FRA) surprised the favorites and gave France its first-ever ladies' downhill title. The previous best by a French woman was Isabelle Mir's second in the 1968 Games at Grenoble.

Left behind by Montillet were the pre-race favorites: Isolde Kostner (ITA), the World Cup downhill points leader; Renate Goetschl (AUT), second in the downhill standings; and Hilde Gerg (GER), third in the World Cup points chase. Kostner settled for silver as Montillet won the first race of her career, Goetschl earned bronze and Gerg was forced to accept the worst place in Olympic racing, fourth.

Aamodt became the winningest alpine racer in Olympic history by holding off Miller in the combined, which for the first time in Olympic history was staged as a three-run event on one day. Aamodt led after the downhill potion and after the first run of slalom, then held on after Miller blitzed the field by 1.18 seconds in the second slalom run. The bronze went to Benjamin Raich (AUT).

It was Aamodt's sixth Olympic medal and second gold, the former breaking a tie with Alberto Tomba (ITA), Katja Seizinger (GER) and Vreni Schneider (SUI) at five.

The women's combined figured to become a showcase for Austria's amazing depth but instead became the first step in a march into history by Kostelic, the 2001 World Cup overall champion who was still recovery from knee surgery when the season began. Kostelic surprised herself and everyone else when, after dominating both slalom runs, she posted the third-best downhill time to win the gold by a gaudy 1.49 seconds. It was a pattern she would repeat later.

Goetschl, winner of both World Cup combined events this season, won the downhill portion and claimed overall silver and Martina Ertl (GER) shook off a disappointing World Cup performance to win the bronze, giving her a medal in each of the last three Olympics.

Aamodt pushed his Olympic medal total to seven by surprising Eberharter in the super-G. Aamodt was standing at the bottom of the hill as Eberharter posted faster fractions at every intermediate timing station. The gold appeared to be his until he came to a difficult gate on the finishing pitch, where his skis skidded and he lost valuable tenths of seconds. He finished a mere .10 seconds behind the Norwegian, who won super-G gold 10 years after winning the super-G title for his first Olympic title.

Andreas Schifferer (AUT), a former World Cup downhill champion still traveling the steep road back to the top after a devastating knee injury, grinned like a gold medalist after winning the bronze.

Kostelic's juggernaut moved into high gear in the women's super-G, an event in which she'd had indifferent results this season in World Cup competition. In the Olympics, however, it took a brilliant effort by Daniela Ceccarelli (ITA) to keep the Croatian from a second gold. Ceccarelli won by a mere .05 seconds, with Karen Putzer (ITA) taking third. Like Montillet in the downhill, the Olympic gold was the first career victory for Ceccarelli.

Kostelic overcame a spirited challenge from World Cup slalom leader Laure Pequegnot (FRA) to win her second gold, the slalom. Kostelic led the Frenchwoman by a mere .18 seconds after the first run and the margin was down to .07 after the second. Anja Paerson (SWE) won the bronze, becoming the first Swedish woman to win a medal in slalom.

After two close calls, Eberharter was brilliant in the men's giant slalom, taking charge in the first run by a gaudy .74 seconds and was only .03 slower than the brilliant Miller in the second. Eberharter's margin over the American was .88 seconds, a huge margin in the micro-timing world of ski racing.

Kjus got the bronze, his fifth Olympic medal, a figure surpassed only by his boyhood buddy from Oslo, Aamodt. The two have combined for a stunning 32 Olympic and world championships medals.

Kostelic emphatically raced into history in the giant slalom, coming out of the 19th starting position to lead the first heat by .73 seconds and then rolled to the gold with a margin of 1.32 seconds over Paerson and Sonja Nef (SUI), whose bronze kept proud Switzerland from being shut out of the alpine medals.

In men's slalom a tough course set tested the best and the French wound up with an unexpected gold/silver finish from Jean-Pierre Vidal (FRA) and Sebastien Amiez. It was the first time the French had gone one-two in an Olympic race since Jean-Claude Killy and Guy Perrilat accomplished the feat in downhill in 1968 at Grenoble. Picking up Great Britain's first-ever Olympic medal in alpine skiing was Alain Baxter. The previous best result by a British skier in an Olympic race was a fourth by Gina Hathorn in the giant slalom at Grenoble in 1968.

--Hank McKee