FIS Alpine Ski World Cup

Alpine Ski World Cup
Austrian alpine skier Marcel Hirscher
Genre	Alpine skiing
Location(s)	Europe Canada United States Japan (rarely) Russia (rarely) Australia (rarely) Argentina (rarely) South Korea (rarely) New Zealand (rarely)
Inaugurated	5 January 1967 (5 January 1967) (men) 7 January 1967 (7 January 1967) (ladies)
Founder	Serge Lang Honore Bonnet Bob Beattie
Organised by	International Ski Federation
People	Chief race Directors Markus Waldner (men) Peter Gerdol (ladies)
Sponsor	Audi Quattro

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 (Honore Bonnet) and the USA (Bob Beattie).^[1] 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. The first World Cup ski race was held in Berchtesgaden, West Germany, on January 5, 1967. Jean-Claude Killy of France and Nancy Greene of Canada were the overall winners for the first two seasons.

Rules[edit]

Competitors attempt to achieve the best time in four disciplines: slalom, giant slalom, super G, and downhill. The fifth event, the combined, employs the downhill and slalom. The World Cup originally included only slalom, giant slalom, and downhill races. Combined events (calculated using results from selected downhill and slalom races) were included starting with the 1974–75 season, while the Super G was added for the 1982–83 season. The current scoring system was implemented in the 1991–92 season. For every race points are awarded to the top 30 finishers: 100 points to the winner, 80 for second, 60 for third, winding down to 1 point for 30th place. The racer with the most points at the end of the season in mid-March wins the Cup, with the trophy consisting of a 9 kilogram crystal globe.^[2] Sub-prizes are also awarded in each individual race discipline, with a smaller 3.5 kg crystal globe. (See the section on scoring system below for more information.)

The World Cup is held annually, and is considered the premier competition for alpine ski racing after the quadrennial Winter Olympics. Many consider the World Cup to be a more valuable title than the Olympics or the biennial World Championships, since it requires a competitor to ski at an extremely high level in several disciplines throughout the season, and not just in one race.^[3]

Races are hosted primarily at ski resorts in the Alps in Europe, with regular stops in Scandinavia, North America, and east Asia, but a few races have also been held in the Southern Hemisphere. World Cup competitions have been hosted in 25 different countries around the world: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.^[4] (Note that all World Cup races hosted in Bosnia were held when it was still part of Yugoslavia.)

Lower competitive circuits include the NorAm Cup in North America and the Europa Cup in Europe.

Overall winners[edit]

Multiple individual overall World Cup winners are marked with (#).

Individual[edit] Season Men Ladies Name Country Name Country 1967 Jean-Claude Killy  France Nancy Greene  Canada 1968 Jean-Claude Killy (2)  France Nancy Greene (2)  Canada 1968–69 Karl Schranz  Austria Gertrud Gabl  Austria 1969–70 Karl Schranz (2)  Austria Michèle Jacot  France 1970–71 Gustav Thöni  Italy Annemarie Pröll  Austria 1971–72 Gustav Thöni (2)  Italy Annemarie Pröll (2)  Austria 1972–73 Gustav Thöni (3)  Italy Annemarie Pröll (3)  Austria 1973–74 Piero Gros  Italy Annemarie Pröll (4)  Austria 1974–75 Gustav Thöni (4)  Italy Annemarie Moser-Pröll (5)  Austria 1975–76 Ingemar Stenmark  Sweden Rosi Mittermaier West Germany 1976–77 Ingemar Stenmark (2)  Sweden Lise-Marie Morerod    Switzerland  1977–78 Ingemar Stenmark (3)  Sweden Hanni Wenzel  Liechtenstein 1978–79 Peter Lüscher    Switzerland  Annemarie Moser-Pröll (6)  Austria 1979–80 Andreas Wenzel  Liechtenstein Hanni Wenzel (2)  Liechtenstein 1980–81 Phil Mahre  United States Marie-Theres Nadig    Switzerland  1981–82 Phil Mahre (2)  United States Erika Hess    Switzerland  1982–83 Phil Mahre (3)  United States Tamara McKinney  United States 1983–84 Pirmin Zurbriggen    Switzerland  Erika Hess (2)    Switzerland  1984–85 Marc Girardelli  Luxembourg Michela Figini    Switzerland  1985–86 Marc Girardelli (2)  Luxembourg Maria Walliser    Switzerland  1986–87 Pirmin Zurbriggen (2)    Switzerland  Maria Walliser (2)    Switzerland  1987–88 Pirmin Zurbriggen (3)    Switzerland  Michela Figini (2)    Switzerland  1988–89 Marc Girardelli (3)  Luxembourg Vreni Schneider    Switzerland  1989–90 Pirmin Zurbriggen (4)    Switzerland  Petra Kronberger  Austria 1990–91 Marc Girardelli (4)  Luxembourg Petra Kronberger (2)  Austria 1991–92 Paul Accola    Switzerland  Petra Kronberger (3)  Austria 1992–93 Marc Girardelli (5)  Luxembourg Anita Wachter  Austria 1993–94 Kjetil André Aamodt  Norway Vreni Schneider (2)    Switzerland  1994–95 Alberto Tomba  Italy Vreni Schneider (3)    Switzerland  1995–96 Lasse Kjus  Norway Katja Seizinger  Germany 1996–97 Luc Alphand  France Pernilla Wiberg  Sweden 1997–98 Hermann Maier  Austria Katja Seizinger (2)  Germany 1998–99 Lasse Kjus (2)  Norway Alexandra Meissnitzer  Austria 1999–00 Hermann Maier (2)  Austria Renate Götschl  Austria 2000–01 Hermann Maier (3)  Austria Janica Kostelić  Croatia 2001–02 Stephan Eberharter  Austria Michaela Dorfmeister  Austria 2002–03 Stephan Eberharter (2)  Austria Janica Kostelić (2)  Croatia 2003–04 Hermann Maier (4)  Austria Anja Pärson  Sweden 2004–05 Bode Miller  United States Anja Pärson (2)  Sweden 2005–06 Benjamin Raich  Austria Janica Kostelić (3)  Croatia 2006–07 Aksel Lund Svindal  Norway Nicole Hosp  Austria 2007–08 Bode Miller (2)  United States Lindsey Vonn  United States 2008–09 Aksel Lund Svindal (2)  Norway Lindsey Vonn (2)  United States 2009–10 Carlo Janka    Switzerland  Lindsey Vonn (3)  United States 2010–11 Ivica Kostelić  Croatia Maria Riesch  Germany 2011–12 Marcel Hirscher  Austria Lindsey Vonn (4)  United States 2012–13 Marcel Hirscher (2)  Austria Tina Maze  Slovenia 2013–14 Marcel Hirscher (3)  Austria Anna Fenninger  Austria 2014–15 Marcel Hirscher (4)  Austria Anna Fenninger (2)  Austria 2015–16 Marcel Hirscher (5)  Austria Lara Gut    Switzerland  2016–17 Marcel Hirscher (6)  Austria Mikaela Shiffrin  United States 2017–18 Marcel Hirscher (7)  Austria Mikaela Shiffrin (2)  United States 2018–19 Marcel Hirscher (8)  Austria Mikaela Shiffrin (3)  United States 2019–20 Aleksander Aamodt Kilde  Norway Federica Brignone  Italy 2020–21 Alexis Pinturault  France Petra Vlhová  Slovakia

Individual titles by country[edit] Nation Total Men Ladies  Austria 34 17 17    Switzerland  19 7 12  United States 13 5 8  Italy 7 6 1  Norway 6 6 –  Sweden 6 3 3  Luxembourg 5 5 –  Croatia 4 1 3  France 4 3 1  Germany 3 – 3  Liechtenstein 3 1 2  Canada 2 – 2  Slovakia 1 – 1  West Germany 1 – 1  Slovenia 1 – 1 Men overall titles[edit] The following skiers have at least three overall alpine World Cup titles. Name Career Overall Disciplines DH SG GS SL KB Marcel Hirscher 2007–2019 8 – – 6 6 – Marc Girardelli 1980–1996 5 2 – 1 3 4 Gustav Thöni 1969–1980 4 – N/A 3 2 –    Pirmin Zurbriggen 1981–1990 4 2 4 3 – 3 Hermann Maier 1996–2009 4 2 5 3 – – Phil Mahre 1975–1984 3 – – 2 1 4 Ingemar Stenmark 1973–1989 3 – N/A 8 8 – Ladies overall titles[edit] The following skiers have at least three overall alpine World Cup titles. Name Career Overall Disciplines DH SG GS SL KB Annemarie Moser-Pröll 1969–1980 6 7 N/A 3 – 2 Lindsey Vonn 2001–2019 4 8 5 – – 3 Mikaela Shiffrin 2011–active 3 – 1 1 6 – Petra Kronberger 1987–1992 3 – – – 1 –    Vreni Schneider 1984–1995 3 – – 5 6 – Janica Kostelić 1998–2006 3 – – – 3 4

Discipline titles[edit]

Top 10 Small Crystal Globe podiums[edit]

Most small globes per discipline[edit]

Combined crystal globe was officially awarded from 2007 to 2012. However, there are counted all season titles, both official and unofficial. The records for most World Cup titles in each discipline are as follows:

Men Discipline Country Titles Downhill Franz Klammer  Austria 5 Super-G Hermann Maier  Austria 5 Aksel Lund Svindal  Norway Giant Slalom Ingemar Stenmark  Sweden 8 Slalom Ingemar Stenmark  Sweden 8 Combined Alexis Pinturault  France 6 Women Discipline Country Titles Downhill Lindsey Vonn  United States 8 Super-G Katja Seizinger  Germany 5 Lindsey Vonn  United States Giant Slalom Vreni Schneider    Switzerland  5 Slalom Vreni Schneider    Switzerland  6 Mikaela Shiffrin  United States 6 Combined Brigitte Oertli    Switzerland  4 Janica Kostelić  Croatia

Men's season titles[edit]