Whether Mikaela Shiffrin can win Alpine skiing’s World Cup overall title again is less rhetorical in the upcoming season than it has been for many years.
asserted
it → win → years
This weekend, the Olympic slalom champion ventures into what she calls her “exploration season,” reducing the number of starts in her strongest discipline and putting more focus on giant slalom and super-G.
“It makes me feel more inspired about what I can do in the next years and to see how much more I have to give to the sport,” Shiffrin says.
asserted
Shiffrin → venture → sport
Last season, the American’s star’s sixth overall title equalled the women’s record set in the 1970s by Austrian great Annemarie Moser-Pröll.
asserted
title → equal → Pröll
Shiffrin’s changed approach is one of the main talking points ahead of ski racing’s 2026-27 campaign, which starts in Austria with a pair of giant slaloms on the Rettenbach glacier in Sölden.
asserted
which → change → Sölden
The women race on Saturday, and the next day Swiss standout Marco Odermatt starts the chase for his sixth straight overall title in the men’s GS.
asserted
Odermatt → start → GS
The first season under the leadership of newly elected FIS President Alexander Ospelt includes 40 women’s and 43 men’s races through March, interrupted by the world championships in Crans-Montana in the first two weeks of February.
asserted
season → elect → February
The World Cup travels to North America twice: The men race in Copper Mountain and Beaver Creek in late November and early December, while the women travel to Killington, Tremblant and, a week after the men’s races, to Beaver Creek.
asserted
women → travel → Creek
Also, Sun Valley hosts the World Cup Finals for both genders in March.
asserted
Valley → host → March
Shiffrin’s shift opens doors
Next after Sölden are two weekends of slalom racing in Finland and Austria, but Shiffrin will sit those out, planning to open her slalom season in Killington on Nov. 29.
asserted
Shiffrin → open → Nov.
Racing less in her favourite discipline seems a bold move by Shiffrin, who has won 73 races in slalom and 110 overall — both World Cup records.
asserted
who → race → slalom
The American’s last win in a GS came nearly three years ago, in December 2023; her last super-G triumph was a year before that.
asserted
triumph → come → that
Her 22 career victories in GS remain the women’s record.
asserted
victories → remain → GS
Shiffrin used to race and win in all disciplines but she has been reducing her schedule in recent years since terrifying crashes in a downhill in Cortina in early 2024 and a GS in Killington 10 months later.
asserted
she → use → Killington
“GS has been such a crazy journey over the last three, four years for me now,” she says.
asserted
she → say → me
“I have really big questions whether I can win again.”
asserted
I → have → questions
The same applies to super-G, she adds.
asserted
she → apply → G
“I have no idea: Could I podium, could I not?
uncertain
I → have → idea
I’m just interested to draw that curtain a little bit and that’s what’s kind of driving me so much.”
asserted
what → ’m → me
Shiffrin racked up nine slalom wins last season, earning her 980 points of her total of 1,410, and giving her the edge over all-event skier Emma Aicher of Germany.
asserted
Shiffrin → rack → Germany
Aicher finished just 87 points behind in the overall standings, by far the smallest margin of any of Shiffrin’s six overall titles.
asserted
Aicher → finish → titles
“I regret that Mikaela plans to skip a few slaloms, she is the face of our sport,” Aicher says.
asserted
Aicher → regret → sport
“But, for sure, when she starts, she is still the benchmark for all of us.”
asserted
she → start → us
Aicher plans to push out of as many start gates as possible again this season: “As long as I have fun skiing all four disciplines, I will keep doing so.”
asserted
I → plan → disciplines
Finishing third behind Shiffrin and Aicher last season was Camille Rast of Switzerland, the only other skier who passed the 1,000-point mark, though the 2025 slalom world champion has been dealing with a persistent hip issue.
asserted
champion → finish → issue
While Shiffrin’s choice might put a question mark on her status as the favorite for the women’s overall title, there is no such doubt on the men’s side.
uncertain
choice → put → side
Odermatt can become only the second skier, male or female, to win the biggest crystal globe for the sixth season in a row, after Austrian standout Marcel Hirscher won it eight consecutive times from 2012-19.
asserted
Hirscher → become → 2012
However, a muscle injury in late August forced Odermatt to skip the first week of a training camp in Chile with the dominant Swiss team, which includes Franjo von Allmen, the three-time Olympic gold medalist, and Loic Meillard, the slalom champion from the Milan-Cortina Games.
asserted
which → force → Games
“Racing three disciplines means you always have to divide your time by three.
asserted
you → race → three
I always have fewer days in each discipline than the specialists,” Odermatt says.
asserted
Odermatt → have → specialists
His biggest threat could again be last season’s runner-up Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who switched from the Norway team to give Brazil its first World Cup win and Olympic title in ski racing.
uncertain
who → switch → racing
Pinheiro Braathen still trailed Odermatt by a massive 568 points in the overall standings, though he did beat his Swiss rival to the giant slalom title.
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asserted
he → trail → title
The Aporia
