Racers
Some of the early stars of Slalom racing were Henry Hester, Bobby Piercy and John Hutson. These skaters won many of the races of the 1970s. Immediately following the rebirth of the sport in the 2000s, with the organization of the 2001 World Championships of Slalom, put on by Jack Smith in Morro Bay, CA, racers such as Gary Cross, Paul Dunn, and Charlie Ransom dominated. In the following years some of the most successful racers were Kenny Mollica and Jason Mitchell in the US, Luca Giammarco (ITA) Maurus Strobel (SUI) and Dominik Kowalski (GER) in Europe for the men's division. In the women's division Lynn Kramer (USA), multiple World Champion, really stands out, winning more than 10 overall titles. Other top level racing women of this period include the 2003 World Champion, 1970's legend Judi Oyama (USA) and the Europeans Kathrin Sehl (GER) and Lienite Skaraine (LAT).
In recent years Joe McLaren (USA) has won more men's World Championship titles than any other previous racer, although he is regularly facing tough competition from Europeans such as Janis Kuzmins (LAT), Christopher and Michel Dupont (FRA) and the brothers Viking and Viktor Hadestrand (SWE). In North America the top contenders are currently Louis Ricard (CAN), Jonathan Harms (USA) and Joseph Kyle Smith (USA). Richy Carrasco (USA) a 1970s professional freestyle skateboarder and World Record holder of 360 spinning has also stayed a top contender and maintained a position in the top 10 Pro World Ranking for more than 11 years in a row between 2008 and 2019. Paul Price (of UK, now USA) has been a frequent traveler across Europe, North America and Australia and holds the record for the most races run.
Among the women Lynn Kramer still holds strong, but in 2018 Mare Erika Belta (LAT) won both the World Championship title in tight slalom as well as the World Champions Super Final tight slalom title, both times racing Lynn Kramer in the finals. The other women placing in the top three, in either of the three slalom disciplines, at the ISSA World Championships in Policka, Czech Republic, 2018 were Karolina Vojtova (CZE), Endija Ruja (LAT) and Alina Krasavina (RUS). As if 2018 was only a temporary exception, in 2019 Lynn top once again became the World Champion in all three main slalom disciplines: tight, hybrid and giant slalom.
To slalom is to zigzag between obstacles. It may refer to:
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.
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.
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.
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.
Longboarding is a variation of skateboarding typified by the use of longer boards ("decks") with longer wheelbases and softer wheels. While longboards vary widely in shape and size, compared to street skateboards longboards are designed to be more stable at speed and to have more traction due to larger wheel sizes and softer wheel durometers. While standard street skateboards may typically be between 28 and 34 inches long, longboards can range anywhere from 32 to 50 inches in length. Ride characteristics of longboards generally differ from that of street skateboards due to the use of specialized longboard trucks that have different properties than those typically used with skateboards; while street skateboards use "traditional kingpin" (TKP) trucks that are optimized for tight turning radii, ollie and flip tricks, slides, grinds, and transition skating, longboards are typically paired with "reverse kingpin" (RKP) trucks that are designed for increased stability at higher speeds, more "surfy" carving characteristics, and/or greater ride comfort for commuting over longer distances.
Street luge is an extreme gravity-powered activity that involves riding a street luge board down a paved road or course. Street luge is also known as land luge or road luge. Like skateboarding, street luge is often done for sport and for recreation.
Gareth Roe is a professional slalom skateboarder, skateboard designer and manufacturer from Seattle, Washington.
Michael Dong is a champion professional slalom skateboarder from Bothell, Washington, United States. Dong was ranked #5 in the world in 2005 and holds the 2003, 2004, and 2005 World Cyber Slalom titles.
Ivica Kostelić is a Croatian former alpine ski racer. He specialized in slalom and combined, but was also one of the few alpine World Cup ski racers able to score points in all disciplines. He is the brother of skiing champion Janica Kostelić. In his career he was coached by his father Ante Kostelić, as well as by Kristian Ghedina and Tomislav Krstičević.
Daniel Albrecht is a retired World Cup alpine ski racer from Switzerland. He was a world champion in super combined in 2007, but was severely injured in a training run in 2009.
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.
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 an "alpine combined" or a "super 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.
A skateboard style refers to the way a skateboarder can ride a skateboard. Styles of skateboarding have evolved and are influenced by a number of factors including sociocultural evolution, mass media, music, technology, and corporate influence.
Snowboard racing is a form of snowboarding where competitors attempt to obtain the fastest time down a course. Snowboard racing can be done against the clock, or by two or more competitors racing in a head-to-head format.
Lynn Kramer is an American skateboarder and snowboarder. She has been crowned 17 times as the world champion in slalom racing. Kramer was inducted into the USA Skateboarding Slalom Hall of Fame in 2023, and the SHoF Skateboarding Hall of Fame in 2024.
Dave “Hackman” Hackett is a professional skateboarder from Malibu, California.
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 men's parallel competition in the 2020 FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup was contested as a World Cup discipline separate from slalom for the first time in 2020. Prior to the season, FIS decided to combine parallel skiing events into a new discipline, joining the existing disciplines of downhill, Super-G, giant slalom, slalom, and combined. The discipline winner would receive a small crystal globe, similar to the other disciplines. However, at the same time, FIS decided to drop the city events to reduce the amount of travel required during the World Cup season, planning to replace them with more parallel events at regular venues.
Judi Oyama is an American professional skateboarder who excelled in slalom and downhill skateboarding. She was the Women's Slalom World Skateboard Champion in 2003 and was inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame in 2018.
