Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding competitive discipline. It involves racing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in slalom but less than in Super-G.
Alberto Tomba is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Italy. He was the dominant technical skier in the late 1980s and 1990s. At 182 cm and 90 kg, his powerful build was a contrast to the lighter, more traditional technical skiers who prioritised agility over muscle. Tomba was able to take advantage of the introduction of spring-loaded ski gates which replaced the older, solid gates in the early 1980s by using his power to maintain a faster, more direct line through courses. Tomba won three Olympic gold medals, two World Championships, and nine World Cup season titles: four in slalom, four in giant slalom, and one overall title. He was popularly called Tomba la Bomba.
Tina Maze is a retired Slovenian World Cup alpine ski racer.
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.
Gustav Thöni is an Italian retired alpine ski racer.
Massimiliano "Max" Blardone is a retired World Cup alpine ski racer from Italy. He specialized in the discipline of giant slalom. Since 2016 he has been a sports commentator for RAI.
Günther Mader is a former alpine ski racer and Olympic medalist from Austria. Born in Matrei am Brenner, Tyrol, he is one of only five men to have won World Cup races in all five alpine disciplines.
Manfred Mölgg is an Italian former World Cup alpine ski racer. He specialized in the technical events of slalom and giant slalom.
Tessa Worley is a French former World Cup alpine ski racer and non-commissioned officer. She previously competed in all five alpine disciplines and specialised in giant slalom.
Thomas Fanara is a former French World Cup alpine ski racer.
Carlo Janka is a Swiss former alpine ski racer. Born in Obersaxen, in the canton of Graubünden, he had the winter sports facilities right in front of his home. Janka has won gold medals at both the Winter Olympics and the World Championships, as well as one World Cup overall title, one discipline title and also, one unofficial alpine combined title.
Manuela Mölgg is a retired alpine ski racer from Italy, a specialist in the technical events of slalom and giant slalom.
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.
Anna Veith is an Austrian former alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. She was the overall World Cup champion for the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
Marcel Hirscher is an Austrian former World Cup alpine ski racer. Hirscher made his World Cup debut in March 2007. He competed primarily in slalom and giant slalom, as well as combined and occasionally in super G. Winner of a record eight consecutive World Cup titles, Hirscher has also won 11 medals at the Alpine Skiing World Championships, seven of them gold, a silver medal in slalom at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and two gold medals in the combined and giant slalom at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Due to his record number of overall titles and many years of extreme dominance of both slalom and giant slalom, he is considered by many, including his former rivals Henrik Kristoffersen, Kjetil Jansrud and Alexis Pinturault, to be the best alpine skier in history. He won a total of 67 World Cup races, ranking second on the male all-time list.
Viktoria Rebensburg is a German retired World Cup alpine ski racer and the 2010 Olympic gold medalist in the giant slalom. Born in Tegernsee, Bavaria, she has three World Cup season titles, all in giant slalom.
Mikaela Pauline Shiffrin is an American World Cup alpine skier who has the most World Cup wins of any alpine skier in history and is considered one of the greatest alpine skiers of all time. She is a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist. She is a five-time Overall World Cup champion, a four-time world champion in slalom and a seven-time winner of the World Cup discipline title in that event. Shiffrin is the youngest slalom champion in Olympic alpine skiing history, at 18 years and 345 days.
The Alpine Rockfest is an annual event held at Paganella Ski Resort (Andalo) in the Italian Dolomites. The Alpine Rockfest is a televised sports-entertainment event featuring a rock music concert combined with an exhibition ski race consisting of Olympic & World Cup Ski Stars who are invited to compete for the largest cash prize in ski racing. The festival is organized by former head coach of the U.S. Ski Team men’s alpine team Phil McNichol & Italian entrepreneur Marco Dallapiccola, and first took place in 2009.
Mathieu Faivre is a French World Cup alpine ski racer, and specializes in giant slalom. He has competed for France in two Winter Olympics and six World Championships. In 2021, he won two gold medals for world titles in giant slalom and parallel giant slalom.
Marta Bassino is an Italian World Cup alpine ski racer. She competes in all disciplines, with a focus in giant slalom, in which she has six World Cup wins.
