Up-And-Coming Skiers to Watch Out This Alpine Skiing Season

The Audi FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup 2023/24 is here with its 58th edition. Defending legends Mikaela Shiffrin and Marco Odermatt have girded up for individual history-making displays. The event has already kicked off on October 29 with the women’s GS, where Lara Gut-Behrami clinched gold. After her stellar display at the 2022 Winter Beijing Olympics, her rivals moved aside this time.

On the other hand, wind forced the cancellation of the men’s Giant Slalom event scheduled for October 29. So, the next event for both men and women is scheduled for November 11. The men will contest in the Downhill discipline and the women in Slalom. All eyes are on both the title defenders to conclude the day with a medal finish. Across four disciplines (Slalom, Giant Slalom, Downhill, and Super-G), the skiers will participate in a total of 90 events.

In Saalbach-Hinterglemm, the grand alpine circuit will conclude on March 24, 2024, with the men’s Downhill finals. But this time, a few alterations have been made to this version of the Alpine Skiing World Cup. Below are some of the changes you may need to note.

Hype ahead of a great season

Besides the skiers preparing to smash records, the entire format has seen some modifications. North America has secured four stops this year, three of which are in the USA. Beaver Creek, Palisades Tahoe, and Killington are the most well-known alpine ski stops in the US. Lake Louis, situated in Hamlet, Canada, has never missed a single winter skiing World Cup event since 1993. But this time, the iconic venue has been ruled out of the schedule.

On the other hand, Mont-Tremblant, the Canadian resort in Québec, will host two women’s GS events as a debut stop in 2023. Last year, at the same Alpine Skiing World Cup event, the harsh weather conditions of Zermatt didn’t allow a history-making moment. Otherwise, the downhills of both men and women would have been the inaugural cross-border races in the history of the World Cup. However, this time, the decision board is making another attempt.

Having said that, the concluding event, which usually gets done in one week, will see a stretch across two weekends. Moreover, scheduled at Kitzbuehel and Crans Montana, the combined team events debut has been rescheduled. Another rule out of this year is the parallel and the individual combined events.

The defending champions of the alpine skiing world

The Swiss Olympian Marco Odermatt has recently broken the 23-year-old record by earning the maximum points in a World Cup season. Named as ‘Mr. Consistency’, Odermatt is a speed discipline racer specializing in giant Slalom. In addition to his accolades, he won five gold medals across four events at the 2018 Junior World Championships in Davos. The 26-year-old is currently the owner of nine podium finishes and thirteen victories across three disciplines.

Next comes Mikaela Shiffrin, the alpine skiing GOAT, who smashed Ingemar Stenmark’s 86 World Cup win record at a 2023 slalom event in Are. Currently, she stands with 99 career wins and 88 World Cup wins. The slalom specialist has earned two Olympic gold medals and five all-around World Cup championships wins. Moreover, in 2023, she secured a spot among the top 100 most influential people in the world. In the 2023 World Championships, she was the GS gold medal winner and podium finisher in Slalom and Super-G. To sum up, Shiffrin has stepped foot at the ongoing World Cup event to win her 100th career win and her sixth big Crystal Globe.

In addition to both the greats, Alexander Aamodt Kilde won the Downhill Globe in 2022. Having stood at 2nd overall, the 31-year-old needs to bring his A-game in the speed disciplines. In order to make up for his GS losses, he is coming back stronger. With Lucaas Brathen’s pre-season retirement, Henrik Kristoffersen is rooting for the slalom title this year. Besides the 8-season top 3 finisher, Austrian Marco Schwarz, with 3 World Cup podiums and impressive Super-G and Downhill history, is also a worthy rival.

Among the women, Petra Vlhova and Wendy Holdener and Italian skiers Federica Brignone and Lara Gut-Behrami are the ones to look out for. Having said that, Vlhova is the 2022 Beijing gold medalist, and Behrami has already won the Giant Salom gold this season and the Slalom gold in 2022.

Alongside these legends, there are some Gen-Z stars to cheer for in the 2023 World Cup season.

Young skiers to challenge the pros in the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup

This is the list of the budding stars who can pose threats to the alpine greats in the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup. 

Hanna Aronsson Elfman

Hanna Aronsson Elfman made a World Cup slalom podium finish as the fastest skier after her 16th run-one finish last December. Competing alongside Shiffrin, Vlhova, and Holdener, the 20-year-old came to be known as the rising star. The Swedish-born made her impressive World Cup inauguration in February 2022. Hailing from the family of the great Olympic free skier Marja von Stedingk, Elfan participated in the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Her wall of fame boasts the 2023 junior slalom and giant slalom World Champion titles. In 2021, she won the same GS title.

Lara Colturi

On October 22, Lara Colturi made her World Cup at just 15 years of age. In 47 years, nobody as young as Colturi had made an alpine skiing World Cup appearance. She is the owner of several Italian titles in the U14 and U16 categories. Last year, before gracing the Austrian slopes for the first time, she said, “The race in Sölden is special for me.” Walking in the footsteps of Mikaela Shiffrin, the 16-year-old has some secret mantras for her game this time. She also belongs to a family of alpine ski athletes.

Zrinka Ljutic

The 19-year-old Croatian alpine skier Zrinka Ljutic has slalom and giant slalom expertise. The teenage rising star debuted in December 2020 and credited a great deal of her growing up to Janica and Ivica Kostelic. Coming from a comparatively warmer country with barely any slow-clad slopes, Ljutic travels a lot. She won fifth place at the World Cup Finals in Meribel and a gold finish at the 2020 Junior Junior World Championships in Canada. She gets constant support from her family, especially her father, the former coach of a Croatian ski club.

Livio Hiltbrand

The Bernese Oberlander Livio Hiltbrand made his debut at the European Cup. In the January edition of the Junior World Championships in St. Anton, Hiltbrand clinched a gold medal in the Super-G and a bronze medal in the Downhill. As per his statements, his strength lies in the Downhill discipline. The world awaits his entry into this World Cup circuit as well.

Beatrice Sola

The 20-year-old Beatrice Sola is coming with a strong routine this time at the 2023 Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup 2023/24. She is the slalom winner of the South American Cup in Argentina, which was held in September.

Stefanie Grob

The 19-year-old Stefanie Grob is one of the Gen-Z contestants with an impressive ski history. She finished 8th in the GS discipline at the South American Cup in September.

READ MORE: Who Are Mikaela Shiffrin’s Parents? All You Need to Know About Skiing Legend’s Family

With the list of young skiers placed alongside the defending legends, the 6-month long World Cup season is going to be one-of-a-kind.

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