World Cup skiing kicks off as Mikaela Shiffrin approaches 100 wins

Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde crashed during the World Cup downhill race in Wengen, Switzerland, on January 13. Following a series of significant accidents last season, measures are being taken to protect racers. Alessandro Trovati/Associated Press

SOELDEN, Austria – A series of major accidents this past alpine ski season cast a shadow over the start of the new World Cup campaign this weekend, as many of the injured skiers have yet to recover.

Former overall champions Alexis Pinturault and Petra Vlhova have postponed their comebacks until December, the return of Austrian Marco Schwarz is still uncertain and even Norwegian standout Aleksander Aamodt Kilde will be sidelined for the entire season.

Still, two giant slaloms on a glacier in Austria, with women competing on Saturday and men competing on Sunday, will kick off a pre-Olympic season that offers ski racing fans plenty to look forward to.

American star Mikaela Shiffrin needs three more wins to clinch a career-high 100th World Cup victory; Marco Odermatt aims for his fourth consecutive overall title; Lucas Pinheiro Braathen and Marcel Hirscher return from retirement, switching their allegiances to Brazil and the Netherlands respectively.

Shiffrin, who doesn’t usually follow the numbers and statistics behind her accomplishments closely, admits that approaching the 100th win means a lot to her.

“Whether you’re talking about records or statistics, adding energy to sports is never a bad thing. I feel energized by people reaching 100 right now. I think it’s amazing that people still follow this journey and are excited about it,” the two-time Olympic champion said.

Adding to her tally of 97 wins, Shiffrin is expected to be among the main contenders for the overall title again, although she will skip the lows this season.

Shiffrin, a five-time world major winner, was 340 points ahead in the rankings when a crash on the 2026 Olympic downhill course in Cortina d’Ampezzo in January forced the American to take a six-week break from racing, allowing Lara Gut-Behrami to pass. He crowned his strong finish to the season with the overall championship, which was the Swiss star’s second place.

This meant a double Swiss victory as Odermatt dominated the men’s competition with a massive 874-point lead in the final standings.

One of Odermatt’s standout performances was winning two downhills in three days on home snow at Wengen; It’s a feat he won’t be able to repeat this season because no World Cup venue will run more than one downhill race in a single weekend to reduce the risk of accidents. and injuries.

Last season, Val Gardena and Kitzbuehel, as well as Cortina and Crans-Montana on the women’s side, also hosted two races in the fastest and most physically demanding discipline of the sport.

However, as fatigue and exhaustion set in for speed racers competing in such a tight schedule, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation has spread nine downhill tracks for men and eight for women across many different venues.

In other steps to make the sport safer, the FIS has made airbags mandatory under racing suits in all speed events, more than a decade after a system similar to one long used in motorcycle racing was first introduced to ski racing in 2013.

As of the 2025-26 season, cut-resistant underwear will become mandatory, and skiers who have an accident will be prevented from being injured by the sharp edges of their skis.

The airbag inflates as soon as the skier loses control and can reduce the impact of a collision on the upper body and neck, but opinion remains divided among racers.

“I see the airbag as positive, but the airbag alone will not be the future,” said 2021 downhill and super-G world champion Vincent Kriechmayr from Austria.

“We must see that we have made the sport safer in many aspects, but skiing, especially downhill skiing, will never be safe. “There will always be danger, but that’s the excitement.”

American all-rounder River Radamus described the airbags as a “good innovation”. Kilde and Pinturault and all the speeding accidents we’ve had lately are a reminder of how dangerous what we do is. “If we can make these terrible, devastating injuries a little less possible, that can only be a good thing for the sport.”

However, Gut-Behrami did not care about this system and would prefer to keep it that way.

“We talked to our supplier and they still don’t have a regulation. So why would I install an airbag when I don’t know what it’s protecting?” Gut-Behrami posed and added that he initially supported the system.

“I’m completely convinced and I thought safety was the most important thing, but now there are a lot of questions and I prefer not to wear them. I researched this in MotoGP, there are rules that airbags must protect, but we don’t have those rules. Is the airbag installed in three seconds or in half a second?” “I don’t know whether it has been opened or not, which just creates uncertainty.”

Italian skier Elena Curtoni, who has not raced since injuring her knee in a super-G accident in December, has been wearing airbags from the beginning.

“If there is something extra at the security level, why not use it?” Curtoni asked, adding that he was already wearing cut-resistant underwear.

“The truth is that I really feel safer,” the Italian said. “We go out there with knives under our feet.”

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