The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France and the USA. It was soon backed by International Ski Federation president Marc Hodler during the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1966 at Portillo, Chile, and became an official FIS event in the spring of 1967 after the FIS Congress at Beirut, Lebanon.
Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event during the 1983 season and was added to the official schedule of the World Championships in 1987 and the Winter Olympics in 1988.
Hermann Maier is an Austrian former World Cup champion alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. Nicknamed the "Herminator", Maier ranks among the greatest alpine ski racers in history, with four overall World Cup titles, two Olympic gold medals, and three World Championship titles. His 54 World Cup race victories – 24 super-G, 15 downhills, 14 giant slaloms, and 1 combined – rank third on the men's all-time list behind Ingemar Stenmark's 86 victories and Marcel Hirscher's 67 victories. Until 2023 he held the record for the most points in one season by a male alpine skier, with 2000 points from the 2000 season. From 2000–2013 he also held the title of most points in one season by any alpine skier, until Tina Maze scored 2414 points in the 2013 season.
Kjetil André Aamodt is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Norway, a champion in the Olympics, World Championships, and World Cup. He is one of the most successful alpine ski racers from Norway.
Marc Girardelli is an Austrian–Luxembourger former alpine ski racer, a five-time World Cup overall champion who excelled in all five alpine disciplines.
The 40th World Cup season began in October 2005 and concluded at the World Cup finals in Åre, Sweden, in March 2006. The schedule included a nearly month-long break in February for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.
Benjamin Raich is an Austrian former World Cup champion alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. With 14 medals won at Winter Olympics and World Championships, 36 World Cup race victories, one first place and five second places in the World Cup overall ranking, three victories of the slalom World Cup, three victories of the combined World Cup, two victories of the giant slalom World Cup and the highest score of career World Cup points, he is considered among the best alpine racers in World Cup history.
Theodore Sharp Ligety is a retired American alpine ski racer, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and an entrepreneur, having cofounded Shred Optics. Ligety won the combined event at the 2006 Olympics in Turin and the giant slalom race at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. He is also a five-time World Cup champion in giant slalom. Ligety won the gold medal in the giant slalom at the 2011 World Championships. He successfully defended his world title in giant slalom in 2013 in Schladming, Austria, where he also won an unexpected gold medal in the super-G and a third gold medal in the super combined.
The 29th World Cup season began in November 1994 in Park City, USA, and concluded in March 1995 at the World Cup finals in Bormio, Italy. The overall champions were Alberto Tomba of Italy and Vreni Schneider of Switzerland.
The 17th season of World Cup competition began in December 1982 in Switzerland and concluded in March 1983 in Japan. For the first time, the overall titles were both won by Americans, Tamara McKinney and Phil Mahre. Mahre won his third consecutive overall World Cup title; McKinney became the first American woman to win the overall title.
Franck Piccard is a French former Alpine skier. A native of Les Saisies, Piccard won a total of four Alpine Skiing World Cup races. At the 1988 Olympics in Calgary he won a gold medal in the Super-G competition and a bronze medal in the downhill. At the 1992 Olympics in Albertville he won a silver medal in the downhill. He also could achieve a bronze-medal in the Super-G-Race at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships 1991.
Bjarne Solbakken is a retired Norwegian alpine skier from Stranda. He won three national titles in giant slalom, and competed at the Olympics, World Championships and the World Cup.
Kjetil Jansrud is a Norwegian former World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic champion. He competed in all alpine disciplines apart from slalom, and his best event was the giant slalom where he has six World Cup podiums and an Olympic silver medal. Since 2012, he had concentrated on the speed events, where all but two of his World Cup victories had come. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, he won the super-G and placed third in the downhill. At the World Championships in 2019 at Åre, Jansrud won gold in the downhill.
The 44th World Cup season began on 24 October 2009, in Sölden, Austria, and concluded on 14 March 2010, at the World Cup finals in Garmisch, Germany.
The 45th World Cup season began on 23 October 2010, in Sölden, Austria, and concluded on 20 March 2011, at the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
The 47th World Cup season began on 27 October 2012, in Sölden, Austria, and concluded on 17 March 2013, at the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. The overall titles were won by Marcel Hirscher of Austria and Tina Maze of Slovenia.
Nils Mani is a Swiss former alpine ski racer. Mani specialized in the speed events of Downhill and Super-G. Mani made his World Cup debut on 15 December 2012 in Val Gardena, Italy finishing in 40th place.
Marco Odermatt is a Swiss World Cup alpine ski racer who races in giant slalom, super-G and downhill. He is considered one of the best alpine ski racers of his generation. In addition to the World Cup, Odermatt has competed for Switzerland at two Junior World Championships, three World Championships, and the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Johannes Strolz is an Austrian World Cup alpine ski racer. He won the gold medal in the combined at the 2022 Olympics. He specializes in the technical events of slalom and giant slalom. He is the son of Hubert Strolz, the gold medalist in Combined at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. He and his father became the first father-son duo to win gold in Alpine skiing at the Olympics.
