Industry News
Mikaela Shiffrin has clinched the 22/23 overall Crystal Globe, the trophy awarded to the most successful skier across all alpine disciplines. Mikaela Shiffrin is currently at 1,828 points across all disciplines, while the next runner-up, Lara Gut-Behrami, is on a mere 1,007 points. There are only two events left, a Giant-Slalom and a Slalom event in Åre, Sweden on March, 11-12, 2023, meaning it is impossible for Gut-Behrami — or any other skier — to catch up to the American.
Mikaela extended her leadership positions last weekend at the FIS Alpine World Cup at Kvitfjell, Norway. The races consisted of a Downhill and two Super-G races where Shiffrin placed in the top 7 in each race, earning valuable FIS points towards cementing her lead in the overall standings. It is Shiffrin’s fifth big Crystal Globe. Only Austria’s Marcel Hirscher and Annemarie Moser-Pröll have won more Overall World Cup titles in their skiing careers, having won 8 and 6 big Crystal Globes respectively.
On Friday, March 3, 2023, the first Super-G was held, which was won by Austrian Cornelia Hütter, with Elena Curtoni in second place and Lara Gut-Behrami in third place. The Austrian pipped the Italian speed specialist by a mere one-hundredth of a second. Curtoni is the leader in the Super-G FIS ranking for the 22/23 season, while Hütter is in third place behind Lara Gut-Behrami.
On Saturday, March 4, 2023, the Downhill was held, which was won by Norway’s Kajsa Vickhoff Lie, with Italy’s Sofia Goggia in second place and Switzerland’s Corinne Suter in third place. It was Kajsa’s first career World Cup victory and it is the first-ever Norwegian Downhill win. Despite being relegated to second place, Sofia Goggia still remains at the top of the Downhill rankings and is with a lead of more than 200 points out of reach for any competitor, thus securing her the Downhill Crystal Globe for the 22/23 season.
On Sunday, March 5, 2023, the second Super-G was held and the podium was entirely in Austrian hands, with first place going to Nina Ortlieb, second place to teammate Stephanie Venier and third place to Franziska Gritsch. The Austrian triple-podium came as a bit of an upset, as their race bibs were 31, 29, and 26 respectively and their starting time happened in a clear period of the otherwise snowy racing day. Sofia Goggia had held the fastest speed for quite a while and most believed the race to be decided until the startlingly strong performance by the three Austrian skiers.
The last Women’s events will be held this coming weekend, March, 11-12, 2023, in Åre, Sweden. The weekend will consist of a Giant Slalom and a Slalom event. The 22/23 season ends with the Finals in Soldeu, Andorra from March 15-19, 2023. The finals are only open to the top-25 seated ski racers in each respective discipline and the Junior World Champion. This means, following the last women’s speed races, the following US skiers are eligible for the Finals: Downhill: Mikaela Shiffrin (7th), Breezy Johnson (13th), and Isabella Wright (21st), Super-G: Mikaela Shiffrin (6th). For Alpine Canada, Marie-Michele Gagnon is the only eligible skier in Super-G alone.
