Alpine skiing at the 2026 Winter Olympics officially gets underway Saturday, Feb. 7, in Bormio with the men’s downhill event.

The Olympic downhill, widely considered the most prestigious race in the sport, takes place at the Stelvio Ski Centre.

The course boasts a 2,493-foot vertical drop and stretches over a mile and a half in length. Depending on conditions, athletes can reach 90 miles per hour and typically cross the finish line in a little under two minutes.

Downhill dynamo Marco Odermatt (SUI) has deemed racing the Stelvio “a fight for survival” because of its dark and icy nature, as well as its mix of steep jumps and tricky turns.

That’s coming from a man who enters Bormio as the gold-medal favorite. Odermatt has dominated the World Cup circuit, earning four straight Crystal Globes — awarded to the best skier on the planet — and currently leads this season’s Cup standings.

"Odi" struck Olympic gold in 2022, winning the first of his career in the giant slalom (GS). He’ll be tough to beat, and not just in the downhill. The 28-year-old is a strong contender in the super-G and GS as well.

Odermatt’s fellow countryman Franjo von Allmen (SUI) is hungry for hardware himself. The reigning downhill world champion has shot up the world rankings in the last two seasons and shown that he is completely unafraid to let it rip on any course.

Ryan Cochran-Siegle (USA) was the only American to earn a medal in Alpine skiing at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. A previous World Cup victor in Bormio, RCS returns to Stelvio confident and perhaps even comfortable.

“I could run the full downhill right now in my head, even knowing how the course deteriorates,” he told NBC Sports in January. “Having that familiarity, knowing where you need to be pushing, whether it’s line, aerodynamics, physicality, those types of things will be important in trying to put down the best run of my life.”

That familiarity already showed through when Cochran-Siegle posted the fastest time in the first official men’s downhill training event on Wednesday. 

The 33-year-old’s mom, Barbara Cochran, won gold in slalom at the 1972 Sapporo Games.

Joining Ryan on the downhill piste are Team USA compatriots Bryce Bennett, Kyle Negomir and Sam Morse.

Milan Cortina will be Bennett’s third and final Winter Olympics, as he confirmed to NBC Sports. Meanwhile, Negomir and Morse are Olympic first-timers.

The Italians carve into the Games with a formidable “big three” of downhillers. Dominik Paris (ITA) is a seven-time Cup winner in Bormio, which is more than twice as many as any other skier. The 36-year-old figures to be a prominent player on Saturday.

Giovanni Franzoni (ITA) has come on strong as of late, collecting the first two Cup victories of his career in January, including at the iconic (and scary) “Streif” in Kitzbuhel. 

Florian Schieder (ITA) is also primed for some home cooking on the Stelvio snow. He ranks 5th in downhill on the World Cup circuit.

"I’m going Dominik Paris. He’s experienced, he loves this hill. You’ve got to have an Italian in the mix in one of these events, and this is the place where he can make that difference. Some home-field advantage."

Catch the excitement of the men’s downhill live Saturday at 5:30 a.m. ET on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.