"Odi", Feller, crashes
The tops and flops of the World Cup season
The 2023/24 Alpine Ski World Cup is history. These were the tops and flops of the past season.
TOPS
Top Swiss skiers: Overall World Cup winners Marco Odermatt and Lara Gut-Behrami dominated the season - he took four and she three globes, meaning the Swiss duo won seven of the ten individual trophies between them. Odermatt was unrivaled on his way to a third title in a row, while Gut-Behrami took advantage of Mikaela Shiffrin's injury break to snatch a second major crystal globe eight years after her first.
Slalom king Manuel Feller: It was the 31-year-old Tyrolean's season. He won four of the ten slaloms and never finished lower than fifth. His first victory in the Slalom World Cup was deservedly the result.
Switzerland: For the fourth time in the past five years, the Nations Cup went to Switzerland, who were able to rely on their top performers such as Odermatt, Gut-Behrami, Loic Meillard and Michelle Gisin. However, their lead over Austria shrank by almost 1,000 points from 2,589 last year to 1,595.
ÖSV speed women: Cornelia Hütter, Stephanie Venier, Mirjam Puchner and Christina Ager took 15 podium places - four victories, six second places and five third places - in 17 races. The last time the speed specialists were this good was in 2018/19. There were also 15 podium places in 14 races back then. Roland Assinger could also see himself as a winner. He lifted the Nations Cup in his debut season as head coach.
ÖSV and climate: The ski association is no longer closing its eyes and ears to the climate crisis. By the summer, the ÖSV wants to develop a future program under the motto "Protect the climate, save the winter" - former ski star Felix Neureuther as an admonisher and Greenpeace are on board with their expertise.
FLOPS
Series of injuries: Numerous top stars had to end their season prematurely or sit out for a while. Without Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, Mikaela Shiffrin, Marco Schwarz, Petra Vlhova, Sofia Goggia, Alexis Pinturault, Wendy Holdener and Nina Ortlieb, the glamor factor in the ski circus suffered. And ultimately there was also a lack of excitement - especially when it came to the men's overall World Cup.
Victory tally for the Norwegians: The much-praised Norwegians once again took some top places, but Ragnhild Mowinckel and Timon Haugan only managed two wins this season after 16 last year. The retirement of slalom discipline winner Lucas Braathen, the withdrawal of speed ace Aleksander Aamodt Kilde due to injury and Henrik Kristoffersen's equipment problems all played their part.
ÖSV construction sites: Austria's downhill skiers went without a single downhill win in the pre-World Championship winter for the first time since 2015/16. Not only the balance sheet, but also the future prospects are bleak: apart from Vincent Kriechmayr, the ÖSV currently has no other winning skier in the fastest discipline. The fact that there was only a quartet at the start of the Wengen downhill due to injury and illness was the negative highlight. Austria's giant slalom skiers, who missed out on a podium place for the fourth year in a row, have been in the doldrums for longer.
Calendar planning: Winters are getting shorter in Central Europe, but in Scandinavia and North America there is still guaranteed snow at the beginning and end of the season. And not every glacier is as lucky with the weather as Sölden in October. The FIS will have to take this into account in the future if it doesn't want to provoke possible race cancellations at the planning stage. Situations such as the almost five-week race breaks for the speed skiers must also be avoided. The athletes want a schedule that is as balanced as possible and includes the classics on proven dates.
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