Downhill is a form of alpine skiing competition. Whereas the other alpine skiing events emphasize turning and technique, downhill emphasizes "the six components of technique, courage, speed, risk, physical condition and judgement", according to the FIS "International Ski Competition Rules (ICR)". Speeds of up to 130 km/h (81 mph) are common in international competition. Athletes must have an aerodynamically efficient tuck position to minimize drag and increase speed.
Marc Girardelli is an Austrian–Luxembourger former alpine ski racer, a five-time World Cup overall champion who excelled in all five alpine disciplines.
Lasse Kjus is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Norway. He won the overall World Cup title twice, an Olympic gold medal, and several World Championships. His combined career total of 16 Olympic and World Championship medals ranks second all-time behind fellow Norwegian Kjetil André Aamodt.
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 41st World Cup season was scheduled to begin on 28 October 2006, but cancellation of the opening races in Sölden delayed the season's start by two weeks. A very poor snowpack in the Alps, along with stormy weather in January, caused numerous races to be moved and rescheduled throughout the winter. The schedule included a mid-season break during the first 3 weeks of February for the World Championships in Åre, Sweden. The season concluded on 18 March 2007, at the World Cup Finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
Natko Zrnčić-Dim is a Croatian alpine ski coach and retired World Cup skier. He won a bronze medal in super combined at the World Championships in 2009 at Val-d'Isère, France, and is a member of SK Medveščak.
The 43rd World Cup season began in late October 2008 in Sölden, Austria, and concluded in mid-March 2009, at the World Cup finals in Åre, Sweden.
Thomas Mermillod-Blondin is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from France. Born in Annecy, Haute-Savoie, he primarily competed in super-G, but his best results were in the super combined event: he took five of his six World Cup podiums in combined, with the other coming in super-G. Mermillod-Blondin made his World Cup debut in 2007 and represented France at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the 2011 World Championships. He made a total of 179 World Cup starts in his career. In February 2019 Mermillod-Blondin announced that he would retire from competition following a combined race in Bansko, Bulgaria that month.
The 46th World Cup season began on 22 October 2011, in Sölden, Austria, and concluded on 18 March 2012, at the World Cup finals in Schladming, Austria.
Patrick Küng is a Swiss former World Cup alpine ski racer. He specialised in the speed events of Downhill and Super G and made his World Cup debut at Wengen in 2009.
The 48th World Cup season began on 26 October 2013, in Sölden, Austria, and concluded on 16 March 2014 at the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. The defending overall champions from the 2013 season were Marcel Hirscher of Austria and Tina Maze of Slovenia. The overall titles were won by Hirscher and Anna Fenninger, also of Austria. The season was interrupted by the 2014 Winter Olympics that took place from 7 to 23 February in Sochi, Russia, with the alpine events at Rosa Khutor.
The 49th World Cup season began on 25 October 2014, in Sölden, Austria, and concluded on 22 March 2015 at the World Cup finals in Meribel, France. The defending overall champions from the 2014 season - Marcel Hirscher and Anna Fenninger, both of Austria, defended their titles successfully. The season was interrupted by the World Championships in February, in the United States at Vail/Beaver Creek, Colorado. Combined events were not awarded as a discipline trophy.
Ralph Weber is a Swiss alpine ski racer. Weber specializes in the speed events of Downhill and Super-G also skiing in the Alpine Combined discipline. Weber was the Junior World Champion in Super-G in 2012, making his World Cup debut in the same year on 15 March, 2012 in Schladming, Austria at the age of just 18.
Vincent Kriechmayr is an Austrian World Cup alpine ski racer and specializes in the speed events of super-G and downhill.
The International Ski Federation (FIS) Alpine Ski World Cup was the premier circuit for alpine skiing competition. The inaugural season launched in January 1967, and the 2017–18 season marked the 52nd consecutive year for the FIS World Cup.
The International Ski Federation (FIS) Alpine Ski World Cup, the premier circuit for alpine skiing competition, began in January 1967, and the 2019–20 season marked the 54th consecutive year for the FIS World Cup. As it had every year since 2006, the season began in Sölden, Austria in October. The season was supposed to end with the World Cup finals in March, which were to be held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy for the first time since they began in 1993, but the finals were cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy.
The International Ski Federation (FIS) Alpine Ski World Cup was the premier circuit for alpine skiing competition. The inaugural season launched in January 1967, and the 2020–21 season marked the 55th consecutive year for the FIS World Cup. As it had every year since 2006, the season began in Sölden, Austria in October, and it ended with the World Cup finals in March, which were held in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many changes to the original racing schedule. Among them were the following:
The men's overall in the 2021 FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup consisted of 35 events in 5 disciplines: downhill, Super-G, giant slalom, slalom, and parallel. The sixth discipline, Alpine combined, had all three of its events in the 2020–21 season cancelled. The tentative season schedule contained 43 events, but the final schedule cut the season back to 38 events. The continuing danger of the COVID-19 pandemic caused the three Alpine combineds to be canceled in order to keep the speed skiers and the technical skiers separated during the season; additionally, two of the three parallels and the second team parallel (Lech/Zürs) were canceled so that other events could take their place and reduce travel. Ultimately, only three of those final 38 races were canceled -- two downhills and a Super-G -- and two of those were canceled by snowstorms during World Cup finals week, as discussed below.
The Men's combined in the 2019 FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup involved two events. The only skier to podium in both was Alexis Pinturault of France, who edged out overall World Cup leader Marcel Hirscher for the title in the second race and thus won the season championship. At this time, combined races were not included in the season finals, which were scheduled in 2019 in Soldeu, Andorra.
