The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup 2022/2023 just recently completed on February 19 of this year, and the next Ski World Cup will commence on October 29, 2023, in Soelden, Austria. The Ski World Cup will be held in different places across Europe and North America, and the winners from last year’s competition will have to defend their titles once again. The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions that was created in 1966 by the founders’ Serge Lang, Honore Bonnet and Bob Beattie.
Alpine Ski World Cup 2022/2023 Results and Tallies
During the mixed team parallel event, Norway defeated Switzerland to win the World Cup finals and became the champions in the team discipline of the competition. This once-in-a-season event during the World Cup tour saw Norway’s national ski team, namely Thea Louise Stjernesund, Timon Haugan, Therese Maria Tviberg and Rasmus Windingstad, finish the race with flying colours on Friday, the 17th of February. Meanwhile, the Austrian ski team booted the German team from what was supposed to be their third place in the World Cup.
The Highlights:
Norway edged out Switzerland in the mixed team parallel event at the World Cup finals in Soldeu on Friday. The finals was closely fought between Norway’s Thea Louise Stjernesund and France’s Marie Lemure, while Austria’s Livio Simonet won in the heat event. On the other hand, Swiss skier Andrea Ellenberger left Norwegian World Cup alpine ski racer Therese Maria Tviberg scouring the mountainside in the third heat, which forced her teammate, Timon Haugan, to win during his heat event.
In the World Championships individual parallel event, Haugan snatched the bronze medal by beating Swiss skier, Semyel Bissig and gave Norway another victory. Only Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Italy, Germany, and Andorra participated in the individual parallel event, as other countries decided that their skiers needed some rest in order to recover from the fatigue. Being the top two countries in the Nations Cup standings, Switzerland and Austria automatically qualified for the semi-final round.
The Italian ski team members Marta Bassino and Federica Brignone, and Corrado Barbera lost to the German team 3-1 in the quarter-finals. In the other quarter-final competition, Team Norway Stjernesund, Haugan, Tviberg and Rasmus Windingstad won their head-to-head event against Andorra, giving them a 4-0 tally result.
Meanwhile, in the semi-finals, Switzerland and Germany battled it out to make it to the final round, but Switzerland’s team was just too strong for the German skiers. The fight was close, and the judges decided to declare the winner via the time tie-breaker. The decision came after computing the total lap times of all the males and females’ fastest times, and the team that has the fastest combined lap time wins.
Although Linus Strasser won the fourth head, which tied their scores at 2-2, his lap time was not enough to help win the team, as Switzerland’s total lap time was just 0.21 seconds faster than that of Germany. American women’s champion skier, Mikaela Shiffrin, made an impression when she won the gold medal in the giant slalom! But the rest of the team did not perform so well, and the United States came at the 5th place in the Alpine Ski World Cup. Switzerland, Austria and Norway took the first, second and third place. We will have to see if the teams will train harder to make it to the top 3 spots in the 2024 Alpine Ski World Cup this coming October.
Which Team Will Shine in the 2024 Ski World Cup?
There were 15 countries that participated in the 2022/2023 Alpine Ski World Cup. This year, the International Ski Federation (FIS) is also expecting all teams from these countries to return and vie for the top spots in the World Cup. The top 5 countries that won the most gold, silver and bronze medals include:
- Switzerland
- Norway
- United States
- Italy, and
- Austria
These countries trained some of the most proficient snow skiers in the world! With the likes of Marco Odermatt and Mikaela Shiffrin returning to once again prove themselves to the world, the teams from other countries need to train harder if they want to usurp these champions from their thrones.
The snow-covered mountains in different parts of the world where these winter athletes will compete are unforgiving places, but once they’ve mastered it, it can help them secure the title of being the best in the skiing sport. Germany, France, Sweden, Canada and Great Britain better start training early, or they will fall back again to their current places if they’re complacent. It would be amazing to see the other underdog teams rise to glory in the next Ski World Cup too! Nothing is impossible; after all, if they just put their minds and hearts into it, they can achieve victory.
Venue Changes and Updates
There have been a number of changes done in the 2023/2024 Alpine Skil World Cup competition that the ski pros may find a bit challenging to adjust to. Well, it wouldn’t be called the world ski competition if it was easy to compete in it, now, would it?
The first of these changes to know about is the glacier in Sölden, where the competition traditionally starts has been delayed by a week than in previous years due to the climate conditions.
The Saalbach-Hinterglemm – a prime skiing location, where the season finale will be held, is also extended for two weeks (until the end of March 2024) for the first time in the Alpine Ski World Cup tournament. The unfortunate cancellation of the speed opening in Zermatt made pro skiers and fans alike less than happy with the Ski World Cup, but, this coming November, The Swiss government is delighted to announce that the speed opening in Zermatt is a go! The men’s first World Cup slalom competition will be held in Hochgurgl shortly afterwards, while the two women’s giant slalom races will happen in December at Mont Tremblant in Canada.
The International Ski Federation (FIS) will also test a new discipline in the World Cup in the next winter with the team combined. Under the ruleset of this event, each country’s top technical and speed skiers will compete against other countries as a team. This competition category doesn’t have a name yet, but for discussion’s sake, we will call it the “Team Duo Event.” The men’s team duo event is going to take place in Kitzbühel, and the women’s race will take place in Crans, Montana.
All parallel competitions for the Ski World Cup 2023/2024 will be completely cancelled, and this includes the Lech-Zürs races as well as the team competitions during the finals. The International Ski Federation (FIS) has maintained its stance on banning Russian and Belarusian athletes because of their government’s participation in the Ukraine war.
Top 10 Skiers to Watch Out for in 2024
The Ski World Cup 2022/2023 has produced some of the most incredible skiers of the decade. Finishing with impressive lap times and setting new world records, and being in the prime of their sports careers, the world will definitely be seeing more of them again in next year’s World Cup. They scale the mountainsides like mountain goats climbing 80-degree steep cliffs! Their skiing exploits are similar to those of noble heroes of myths and legends.
Here are the top 10 skiers who may come out on top again in the 2024 Ski World Cup:
- Marco Odermatt – This 25-year-old Swiss ski racer and gold medalist of the men’s giant slalom competition impressed the world with his 2:09.35 record time in completing the race. He’ll be a tough opponent to beat in next year’s World Cup. Odermatt has 24 World Cup wins, and 51 Podium wins in his career! This young man is a monster in ski racing! If contenders from other competing countries want to beat him, they’ll have to beat his record first.
- Žan Kranjec – Slovenian giant slalom silver medalist Žan Kranjec will also be an intimidating figure in the 2023/2024 Alpine Ski World Cup. Experts are expecting to see him contend for either of the gold, silver or bronze medals in various ski competitions again next year.
- Henrik Kristoffersen – Kristoffersen has been competing in the Ski World Cup since 2013, and he has won 3 gold medals in slalom events in 2016, 2020 and 2022. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he’ll surpass Marco Odermatt next year.
- Daniel Hemetsberger – Hemetsberger is a 32-year-old Austrian-born and European Cup downhill ski champion. He may seem like an underdog to the top 3 skiers in this list, but he is not to be underestimated. Who knows? More training and determination to win will probably turn him into a superskier athlete!
- James Crawford – a gold medal in the Ski World Championships and another bronze medal snatched during the Olympic Games; Crawford is a versatile skier who specializes in Super-G ski races. He has more time to prove himself in World Cup, as he has only been competing for 5 years since he started in 2019. But he is a tough contender to beat if newbie skiers ever tried to compete against him.
- Mikaela Shiffrin – This 28-year-old American Alpine champion skier bagged 7 gold medals in the slalom competition, 2 more gold medals in the giant slalom event, and an additional gold medal for the Super-G race in the World Cup! She is so far beyond all other women skiers that experts think she will hold the world champion title in skiing for probably a long time.
- Anna Swenn-Larsson – This Swedish Alpine ski racer is a silver medalist in the slalom race at the 2019 World Championships. While she doesn’t have a lot of medals and wins under her belt, she is still a top contender in the Alpine Ski World Cup Tournament.
- Petra Vlhová – Slovakian champion skier, Petra Vlhová, would give Mikaela Shiffrin a run for her money! With 28 gold medals, 20 silvers, and 18 bronze medals in World Cup race podiums, plus 7 more medals in international Competitions, she blasts past most skiers with the versatility of her skiing skills. It’s good to know that she’ll be coming back to compete in the 2023/2024 Alpine Ski World Cup Tournament.
- Wendy Holdener – Five-time Alpine World Cup champion, Swiss-born, Wendy Holdener, won 5 gold medals, 20 silvers, and 23 bronze medals in her sports career. This Swiss lady combines finess and skills in the ice like a swan swimming in the lake.
- Marta Bassino – Marta may be one of the prettiest champion skiers in the international skiing competition, but don’t let her looks fool you because she’s the most versatile skier in the women’s division. She can ace all disciplines, especially her favorite race – the giant slalom.
Where to Watch
Major TV networks that will cover the Alpine Ski World Cup 2023/2024 will include NBC, CNBC, Peacock, and Skiandsnowboard.live. Other sports TV networks may broadcast the competition but probably on reruns, unless they can secure broadcasting license for it. You may want to purchase your subscription early, or renew it if you’re already a subscriber to these sports TV networks.
Mobile Phone Apps
The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) has a mobile phone app where you can see the real-time official results, data and live coverage of the event. Additionally, the app heavily focuses on video material, including near-live clips and highlights for World Cup competitions. So download and install the FIS app on your iOS and Android phones now if you want to get daily updates of the events as they happen.
Date & Time of Event
The Alpine Ski World Cup Competitions will be held between October 29, 2023 to March 4, 2024 in various places all over the world. There will be individual and team competitions throughout the tournament. Defending champions and fresh blood challengers will battle it out in the ice and snow mountain caps to see who is the best of the best in the world!
Prediction
It’s a tough call but the athletes and their skills, plus previous winning records would cause us to heavily vote in their favor when it comes to predicting the outcome of the World Cup. However, nothing is certain and all skiers will eventually test their skills against each other on the ice and the underdogs could take the win, or the current champions will retain their honor.
Having said that, here are the top 5 countries that we think will win most races in the 2023/2024 Ski World Cup:
Countries
- Switzerland
- USA
- Austria
- Germany
- Croatia
As for the men’s and women’s competitions, here is our take about it:
Men
- Downhill – Marco Odermatt
- Super G – James Crawford
- Giant Slalom – Marco Schwarz
- Slalom – Clement Noel
- Parallel – Žan Kranjec
- Combined – River Radamus
Women
- Downhill – Ilka Stuhec
- Super G – Federica Brignone
- Giant Slalom – Mikaela Shiffrin
- Slalom – Wendy Holdener
- Parallel – Thea Louise Stjernesund
- Combined – Mikaela Shiffrin
OUR BEST TIPS
Our Expert Tipster Suggests:
Switzerland will get the most wins and gold medals in the Alpine Ski World Cup 2023/2024 again, beating the USA and Austria in a close fight.
