The journey that we started in Sölden in October will come to an end in March with the World Cup Finals in Saalbach Hinterglemm.
Since 1993 the International Ski Federation has hosted a World Cup Final at the end of each season in March. During the Finals, Men's and Women's races are held in four disciplines: Downhill, Super-G, Slalom, and Giant Slalom. Only a limited number of racers are invited to ski at the Finals, including the top 25 in the World Cup standings in each discipline, plus the current junior World Champions in each discipline, with World Cup points only awarded to the top 15 finishers in each race.
From 16 to 24 March, the Finals of the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup 2023-2024 will take place on the Zwölferkogel in Saalbach Hinterglemm, the venue for the 2025 Alpine World Ski Championships.
For the first time, the World Cup Finals will last for two weeks. The technical events will be held in the first week and the speed events in the second week.
Marco Odermatt comes to Saalbach as the winner of the Overall Crystal Globe. He has claimed the Overall World Cup title for the third consecutive season with a win in the Palisades Tahoe Giant Slalom.
After the last races of the season before the Finals in Saalbach, Lara Gut-Behrami leads the Overall standings with 1654 points. Federica Brignone, who scored 4 points thanks to a 27th place in the Slalom in Åre, is in second place 282 points behind Gut-Behrami. Mikaela Shiffrin is third with 1309 points. Shiffrin has announced that she is out of the fight for the Overall Crystal Globe. She will compete in the Slalom in Saalbach and also hopes to participate in the Giant Slalom.
Saalbach Tech Week
March 16th Giant Slalom / Men 1st run 9:00 - 2nd run 12:00 CET
Marco Odermatt claimed in Aspen the Giant Slalom World Cup title for the third consecutive season(2021-2022, 2022-2023, and 2023-2024).
The 26-year-old skier became the third Swiss male skier to win the Giant Slalom World Cup standings at least three times, after Michael von Grüningen (4) and Pirmin Zurbriggen (3).
Odermatt has won each of the nine World Cup Giant Slalom races this season. Only Ingemar Stenmark (all 10 in 1978-1979) has had a longer winning streak from the beginning of a season in Men's World Cup Giant Slalom.
March 16th Slalom / Women 1st run 10:30 - 2nd run 13:30 CET
Mikaela Shiffrin made her comeback in Åre after a 6-week injury break to score her 96th World Cup victory, 83rd Slalom podium, 59th Slalom victory, and 6th Slalom win of the season. Shiffrin clinched in the Swedish ski resort her 8th Slalom Crystal Globe.
March 17th Giant Slalom / Women 1st run 9:00 - 2nd run 12:00 CET
Lara Gut-Behrami (745 points) leads Federica Brignone (650) by 95 points in the Giant Slalom standings. Gut-Behrami has finished on the podium in seven of the ten Giant Slalom events this season including four victories.
March 17th Slalom / Men 1st run 10:30 - 2nd run 13:30 CET
Manuel Feller secured the Slalom Crystal Globe after the race in Kranjska Gora was canceled. It´s his first World Cup Slalom title.
Feller finished in the Top-5 in all nine Men's World Cup Slalom events this season, including four victories in Gurgl, Adelboden, Wengen, and Palisades Tahoe. He is the first man to win four World Cup Slalom events in a single season since Marcel Hirscher won five times in 2018-2019.
Saalbach Speed Week
March 22nd Super-G / Women 10:00 CET
In the Super-G standings, Lara Gut-Behrami (540 points) leads Cornelia Hütter (471) by 69 points with 100 points up for grabs in the remaining event. Federica Brignone is third with 466 points, 74 points behind.
The skier from Ticino has finished on the podium in six of the eight Super-G events this season including three victories (she DNF in Val d'Isère and finished in 6th place in Crans Montana).
March 22nd Super-G / Men 11:30 CET
Marco Odermatt leads the Super-G standings with 450 points. Vincent Kriechmayr is second with 369 points, 81 behind the Swiss.
Odermatt can become the first male skier to win the Super-G Crystal Globe in successive seasons since Kjetil Jansrud won it in 2016-2017 and 2017-2018. The only Swiss man to have topped the Super-G World Cup standings more than once was Pirmin Zurbriggen who has won it four times.
March 23rd Downhill / Women 11:15 CET
After the two Downhills held in Crans Montana, Lara Gut-Behrami took the lead in the Downhill standings 19 points ahead of injured Sofia Goggia. Austrian Stephanie Venier and Cornelia Hütter are 68 and 72 points behind Gut-Behrami.
The Swiss has won 13 women's World Cup Downhills and achieved 23 podiums in the discipline.
March 24th Downhill / Men 11:15 CET
Marco Odermatt leads the Downhill standings with 552 points, 42 points over Cyprian Sarrazin who missed the last Downhill in Kvitfjell after falling in the second training in the Olympiabakken.
Marco Odermatt is the benchmark of the Alpine Ski World Cup and this season also takes on the leading role in Downhill after achieving his first victory in the discipline in Wengen. Odermatt finished on the podium in the Downhill six times this season including a double win in Wengen.
Cyprien Sarrazin won both World Cup Downhill races on the Streif in January. Sarrazin was the 7th skier to achieve a double victory on the Streif in the same year. Previously Karl Schranz (1972), Pirmin Zurbriggen (1985), Peter Wirnsberger (1986), Franz Heinzer (1992), Luc Alphand (1995), and Beat Feuz (2021) had back-to-back wins on the Streif.
He finished on the podium in his last five World Cup Downhill starts including three victories in Kitzbühel and Bormio.
The Venue
The Zwölferkogel in Hinterglemm is the venue for all disciplines, providing optimal conditions for the athletes as well as the entire production team. The central location, with only one finish area, facilitates the coordination between sports and visitors. The already existing infrastructure is used in the best possible way. As far as the sports facilities are concerned, they have already been tested in various races following their adaptation, based on the most recent sports data. The reconstruction of the Zwölferkogel lift, which was started immediately after the end of the season in March 2019, will give the finish area a new character and will offer considerable advantages and a reduced workload for the sport in the future.
Saalbach-Hinterglemm is an Austrian Alpine resort town, in the district of Zell am See (Pinzgau region), in the state of Salzburg.
The Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn, with its 270 kilometers of slopes, 70 ski lifts, and more than 60 mountain huts, is one of the largest ski areas in Austria.
Saalbach-Hinterglemm is one of the regular venues for the Alpine Skiing World Cup. The ski resort had its premiere at the World Cup on December 19, 1972, with the celebration of a Women's Downhill event won by Austrian skier Annemarie Moser-Pröll.
In 1991 it hosted the World Championships and the FIS Council awarded on October 3, 2020, Saalbach Hinterglemm as the venue for the Alpine Ski World Championships 2025.
The 48th Alpine World Ski Championships will be held in Saalbach from February 4th to 16th, 2025. After the Olympic Games, this is the most important event in the world of skiing. The Alpine World Ski Championships bring together in one place the best skiers in all disciplines, male and female, for two weeks.