The men's downhill race at the 2022 Winter Olympics was originally scheduled to be held on February 6, but was postponed to February 7 due to strong winds. The venue was the Rock slope at the Xiaohaituo National Alpine Ski Center .
The reigning world champion Vincent Kriechmayr was the first runner to start the race with a time of 1:42.69 minutes. He was followed by start number 2, Dominik Schwaiger , the first of four German racers. Schwaiger fell into a safety net in the second half of the course, which led to a longer interruption of the race. After an examination at the hospital, a bruise on the left forearm/elbow was diagnosed. Christof Innerhofer , who started fourth , also fell and the following athletes were initially unable to beat Kriechmayer's time. After nine runners, Matthias Mayer , another Austrian, finally took the lead. After the following athletes Matthieu Bailet and medal favorite Aleksander Aamodt Kilde did not pose a threat to the leaders, Canadian James Crawford surprisingly managed to do so . This missed Mayer's time by 0.07 seconds. The Swiss Beat Feuz , who started after him, did better and finally secured the Olympic victory.