Michael Poettoz (born August 21, 1998) [1] is an alpine skier representing Colombia. Poettoz was born in Cali and was adopted by a French family when he was aged 21 months. Poettoz grew up and learned how to ski in Les Carroz d'Araches, France. [2]
Poettoz became the first Colombian to compete in the Winter Youth Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. [2] In the slalom event, Poettoz did not finish the first run. In the giant slalom, Poettoz finished 35th in the first run with a time of 1:24.70. Poettoz, however, did not finish the second run.
In 2017, Poettoz became the first ever person to be born in Colombia to qualify for the Winter Olympics. [3]
Poettoz competed for Colombia at the 2022 Winter Olympics. [4]
Alpine skiing has been contested at every Winter Olympics since 1936, when a combined event was held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
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.
Šárka Strachová is a retired Czech World Cup alpine ski racer. Born in Benecko, she specializes in the slalom event. Strachová is the first alpine racer representing the Czech Republic to medal at the Winter Olympics and at the World Championships and just the second Czech alpine skier ever to medal in the Olympics.
Thomas Fanara is a former French World Cup alpine ski racer.
Marcel Hirscher is an Austrian-born Dutch 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.
Ornella Oettl Reyes is a German-Peruvian alpine skier who was part of the first Peruvian delegation to the Winter Olympics. She specializes in slalom and giant slalom and has competed in six World Championships and two Winter Olympics.
David Ryding is an English World Cup alpine ski racer who specialises in slalom. Widely considered to be the greatest British skier of all time, he has competed for Great Britain in four Olympics, seven World Championships, and won the Europa Cup. Ryding's best World Cup result was a victory in the 2022 Kitzbühel slalom, the first victory for any British athlete at that level in Alpine skiing.
Thailand competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia from 7 to 23 February 2014. The Thai team consisted of two athletes, Vanessa Vanakorn and Kanes Sucharitakul, both competing in alpine skiing. This was Thailand's third appearance at a Winter Olympic Games, and their first since 2006, having missed the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Alessia Afi Dipol is an Italian-Togolese alpine skier who competed for Togo at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics in the slalom and giant slalom. Dipol also originally competed for India between 2011 and 2013, but she later switched to compete for Togo even though she has no familial connections to the country, so she could qualify to compete at the 2014 Winter Olympics. She also chose to represent the country because her father owns a clothing factory in Togo.
Ester Ledecká is a Czech snowboarder and alpine skier. At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Ledecká won gold medals in the super-G in alpine skiing and in the parallel giant slalom in snowboarding, becoming the first person to not only compete in the Winter Olympics using two different types of equipment but to go further and win two gold medals and do so at the same Winter Olympics. She was the second woman to win an Olympic gold in two separate disciplines but the first to do so at the same Winter Olympics. She was the first Czech to win the parallel giant slalom in snowboarding at the FIS Snowboard World Cup.
Petra Vlhová is a Slovak World Cup alpine ski racer who specialises in the technical events of slalom and giant slalom. Vlhová won the World Cup overall title in 2021 and the gold medal in the 2022 Winter Olympics in the slalom event, becoming the first Slovak skier to achieve these feats.
Michelle Gisin is a Swiss World Cup alpine ski racer and competes in all disciplines. A two-time Olympic gold medalist, she won the Women's combined event in 2018 Winter Olympics, and Women's combined at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Born in Samedan, Graubünden, Gisin is the younger sister of alpine ski racers Marc and Dominique Gisin.
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.
Itamar Biran is an Israeli Olympic alpine ski racer who represents Israel in international competitions. He competes in giant slalom, super-G, slalom and Combined.
Malta sent a delegation to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 25 February 2018, with one competitor, alpine skier Élise Pellegrin. It was the country's second Winter Olympic appearance, after the 2014 Winter Olympics. Pellegrin was designated as the flag bearer for both the parade of nations during the opening ceremony, and the closing ceremony. She was disqualified from the giant slalom, and finished 50th in the slalom.
Colombia competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 25 February 2018. The country returned to the Winter Olympics after last competing in 2010, which also marked its debut. The Colombian team consisted of three males and one female, competing in three different sports.
The Philippines competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 25 February 2018. The country was represented by two male athletes, a figure skater and an alpine skier.
Shannon-Ogbnai Abeda is an Eritrean-Canadian alpine skier and Ski Cross athlete. Abeda competed for Eritrea at the 2018 Winter Olympics in the alpine skiing events. Abeda became the first athlete to compete for Eritrea at the Winter Olympics. He finished 61st in the giant slalom event in 2018, did not finish the first run of the slalom event and finished 39th at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Abeda's parents fled the Eritrean War of Independence in the 1980s and emigrated to Canada. Abeda also represented the country at the inaugural Winter Youth Olympics in 2012 in Innsbruck, Austria. Abeda originally announced his intentions to take the 2018/2019 season off and attend university after the 2018 Winter Olympic Games however announced his retirement and change to bobsleigh. He hinted that he would return for the 2022 Winter Olympics games, but also at the possibility of retirement. In 2021, his FIS status indicated that he competed in two races in April 2021 confirming his return to Alpine and in September 2021, he officially came out of retirement and announced his intentions to qualify for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. On December 21, 2021, Abeda qualified for the 2022 Winter Olympics; shortly after his event, he announced his retirement from Alpine skiing. However, as of 2023, his FIS license is active, and he has stated on his social media that he would return for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Alice Robinson is a New Zealand World Cup alpine ski racer. At age sixteen, she competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in giant slalom and slalom. She represented New Zealand in the giant slalom event at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
The women's giant slalom World Cup 2021/2022 consisted of 9 events including the final. Overall World Cup leader Mikaela Shiffrin from the United States, who started out in the early lead in this discipline, contracted COVID-19 at the end of 2021 and missed the post-Christmas giant slalom, then Shiffrin lost the lead in this discipline to Sara Hector of Sweden in the first race in 2022.