The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships are organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS).
The first world championships in alpine skiing were held in 1931. During the 1930s, the event was held annually in Europe, until interrupted by the outbreak of World War II, preventing a 1940 event. An event was held in 1941, but included competitors only from nations from the Axis powers or nations not at war with them. The results were later cancelled by the FIS in 1946 because of the limited number of participants, so they are not considered official. [1]
Following the war, the championships were connected with the Olympics for several decades. From 1948 through 1982, the competition was held in even-numbered years, with the Winter Olympics acting as the World Championships through 1980, and a separate competition held in even-numbered non-Olympic years. The 1950 championships in the United States at Aspen were the first held outside of Europe and the first official championships separate of the Olympics since 1939.
The combined event was dropped after 1948 with the addition of the giant slalom in 1950, but returned in 1954 as a "paper" race which used the results of the three events: downhill, giant slalom, and slalom. During Olympic years from 1956 through 1980, FIS World Championship medals were awarded in the combined, but not Olympic medals. The combined returned as a separately run event in 1982 with its own downhill and two-run slalom, and the Super-G was added to the program in 1987. (Both were also added to the Olympics in 1988.)
There were no World Championships in 1983 or 1984 and since 1985, they have been scheduled in odd-numbered years, independent of the Winter Olympics. A lack of snow in southern Spain in 1995 caused a postponement to the following year.
Rank | Nation | Total | Downhill | Slalom | Combined | Giant slalom | Super-G | Parallel giant slalom |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Austria | 56 | 17 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 5 | — |
2 | Switzerland | 35 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 3 | — |
3 | France | 26 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 4 | — | 1 |
4 | Norway | 24 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 3 | — |
5 | Italy | 15 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | — |
6 | United States | 13 | 1 | — | 4 | 5 | 3 | — |
7 | Germany | 9 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | 1 |
8 | Sweden | 6 | — | 4 | — | 2 | — | — |
9 | Canada | 4 | 2 | — | — | — | 2 | — |
Luxembourg | 4 | — | 1 | 3 | — | — | — | |
11 | Croatia | 1 | — | 1 | — | — | — | — |
Finland | 1 | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | |
Liechtenstein | 1 | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | |
Spain | 1 | — | 1 | — | — | — | — |
Rank | Nation | Total | Downhill | Slalom | Combined | Giant slalom | Super-G | Parallel giant slalom |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Austria | 42 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 1 |
2 | Switzerland | 36 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 2 | — |
3 | Germany | 25 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 1 | — |
4 | France | 20 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 1 | — |
5 | United States | 17 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | — |
6 | Canada | 12 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | — | — |
7 | Sweden | 11 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — |
8 | Italy | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
9 | Slovenia | 6 | 3 | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | — |
10 | Croatia | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — |
11 | Great Britain | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — |
Liechtenstein | 4 | — | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | — | |
13 | Norway | 2 | — | 1 | — | — | — | 1 |
14 | Australia | 1 | — | 1 | — | — | — | — |
Czech Republic | 1 | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | |
Slovakia | 1 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | |
Yugoslavia | 1 | — | 1 | — | — | — | — |
* won gold medals as reserve skiers
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.
Tina Maze is a retired Slovenian World Cup alpine ski racer.
Alpine skiing at the 1968 Winter Olympics consisted of six events, held 9–17 February at Chamrousse, southeast of Grenoble, France. Jean-Claude Killy of France won all three men's events, repeating Toni Sailer's triple-gold of 1956. Since Killy's feat, no male alpine ski racer has won three gold medals in a single Olympics..
Alpine skiing at the 1964 Winter Olympics consisted of six events, held near Innsbruck, Austria, from January 30 to February 8, 1964.
Alpine skiing at the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley, California, United States, consisted of six events. Competitions took place at Squaw Peak, KT-22, and Papoose Peak.
Alpine Skiing at the 1976 Winter Olympics consisted of six alpine skiing events. Similar to the 1964 games, the men's downhill was held on Patscherkofel, the other five events at Axamer Lizum. The events began on 5 February and ended on 13 February 1976.
Alpine Skiing at the 1980 Winter Olympics consisted of six alpine skiing events. The races were held February 14–23 at Whiteface Mountain in Wilmington, New York, northeast of host Lake Placid.
Alpine skiing at the 1984 Winter Olympics consisted of six alpine skiing events, held 13–19 February in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. The men's races were at Bjelašnica and the women's at Jahorina. Due to weather delays, both downhill races were postponed several days and run after the giant slalom races.
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships is an alpine skiing competition organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS).
Alpine skiing at the 1972 Winter Olympics consisted of six events, held February 5–13 near Sapporo, Japan. The downhills were held at Mount Eniwa, and the four technical events at Teine.
Chimene Mary "Chemmy" Crawford-Alcott is an English former World Cup alpine ski racer. She competed in all five disciplines: downhill, super G, giant slalom, slalom and combined.
At the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, the six alpine skiing events were held from Friday, 27 January to Friday, 3 February.
At the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway, the six alpine skiing events were held from Thursday, 14 February, to Wednesday, 20 February. The downhill and giant slalom events were held at Norefjell in Krødsherad, Buskerud, and the slalom events at Rødkleiva in Oslo.
Alpine skiing has been contested at every Winter Olympics since 1936, when a combined event was held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
Combined is an event in alpine ski racing. The event format has changed within the last 30 years. A traditional combined competition is a two-day event consisting of one run of downhill and two runs of slalom; each discipline takes place on a separate day. The winner is the skier with the fastest aggregate time. Until the 1990s, a complicated point system was used to determine placings in the combined event. Since then, a modified version, called either a "super combined" or an "Alpine combined", has been run as an aggregate time event consisting of two runs: first, a one-run speed event and then only one run of slalom, with both portions held on the same day.
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2007 were the 39th FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, held 2–18 February in Åre, Sweden. Åre previously hosted the world championships in 1954, and often hosts late season World Cup events.
Alpine skiing at the 2010 Winter Olympics was held in Canada at Whistler Creekside in Whistler, British Columbia, north of Vancouver. The ten events were scheduled for 13–27 February; weather delayed the first event, the men's downhill, two days until Monday, 15 February.
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2015 were the 43rd FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, held from 2–15 February in the United States at Vail / Beaver Creek, Colorado.
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2017 were the 44th FIS Alpine World Ski Championships and were held from 6 to 19 February 2017 at Piz Nair in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The host city was selected at the FIS Congress in South Korea, on 31 May 2012. The other finalists were Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, and Åre, Sweden.