Top 10 Alpine Skiers Seeking to Win the Olympic Gold in Beijing

The 26year-old Mikaela Shiffrin is again on a quest for a gold medal. At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, she bagged a silver medal in the combined event and a gold medal in the giant slalom competition, becoming the only skier from the US team with a gold medal. Shiffrin is the youngest skier with an Olympic gold medal. She captured her first Olympic gold medal when she was 18 years old.

With one silver and two gold Olympic medals under her belt, Shiffrin is determined to add another Olympic medal to her collection of trophies. Apart from her achievements at the Olympic Games, Mikaela Shiffrin won the overall World Cup three times and became the world champion in slalom four times. Shiffrin is the second female skier with the most won slalom races. She won a total of 73 World Cup races across six different disciplines. At the moment, Shiffrin is the second US woman with the most World Cup victories. She is the only skier to have won 15 races during the same calendar year. Shiffrin is named the world’s best slalom skier.

Bookies have already started accepting bets on the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. At the moment, the odds show that Mikaela Shiffrin is the absolute favorite in the giant slalom discipline. The US female skier is +300. The odds for Shiffrin to bag the gold medal in women’s slalom stand at +140. Of course, the odds vary slightly between the different bookmakers.

The Czech snowboarder and alpine skier Ester Ledecka also has a good chance of leaving Beijing with a medal. At the 2018 Winter Olympics held in Pyeongchang, the female athlete notched the gold medal in the Alpine skiing Super-G discipline. She also took the Olympic gold in the snowboarding discipline parallel giant slalom. She became the first skier to win two gold medals at the same Winter Olympics in two different disciplines.

Ledecka also secured two FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championship titles (one in 2015 and another one in 2017). A curious fact is that the Czech alpine skier appeared at the Olympic Games for the first time on 19th February 2014 in Sochi. She participated in the snowboarding event parallel giant slalom and reached the quarter-final stage.

Ester Ledecka was born in Prague on 23rd March 1995. The first sport she started training as a child was ice hockey. At the age of 4, she put the skis on, and only a year later, she started snowboarding. Besides the winter sports, Ledecka enjoys playing volleyball and windsurfing.

At the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, sports fans will see Lara Gut-Behrami competing for the Olympic gold. Gut is a strong opponent in the speed events of downhill and Super-G. Football fans most likely know that Lara Gut is married to the Swiss professional footballer Valon Behrami. The female ski racer started her professional career when she was only 15 years old.

In 2007, Lara Gut-Behrami made her World Cup debut in giant slalom. The skier finished in 3rd place at her first World Cup downhill in 2008. On 20th December 2008, Lara Gut-Behrami won a World Cup Super-G race, becoming the youngest ski racer to do so (back then she was only 17 years old). At the 2009 World Championships, Gut took silver medals in the downhill and super combined events.

Up until now, Lara Gut-Behrami has won seven World Championship medals, out of which two are gold. Furthermore, she won a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in 2014 in Sochi. Lara-Gut Behrami has secured four career titles - one overall and three titles in the Super-G discipline.

Michelle Gisin was born on 5th December 1993 in Switzerland. In 2011, Gisin won a bronze medal at the 2011 Swiss Junior National Championship in a downhill event. In 2012, she bagged the bronze medal in the Super-G discipline and snagged victory in the super combined event. In the 2013 Junior World Championships, Gisin took the silver medal in slalom.

In the same year, Gisin made her debut at the senior World Championships and finished in 26th place in slalom. In 2017, the Swiss skier took a silver medal in the combined event at the World Championship, a bronze medal in the downhill event in Lake Louise, and a silver medal in the Super-G event in St. Moritz. Gisin’s great performance at the European Cup brought her three gold medals in slalom in 2014.

Gisin took part in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, competing only in the slalom event. She finished in 28th place. The Alpine skier participated in all events at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang. She won the gold medal in the combined discipline. Gisin finished in 8th place in downhill, 9th place in Super-G, and 16th place in slalom.

Born on 15th November 1992, Sofia Goggia is an Italian Alpine ski racer. Her career started back in 2011 when she made her World Cup debut. Since then, Goggia has secured many victories. She won her first World Cup title in March 2017. In 2018, the Italian Alpine skier secured two consecutive World Cup victories in the downhill discipline. The disciplines in which Goggia specializes include Alpine skiing combined, downhill, giant slalom, and Super-G.

Sofia Goggia raced to the World Cup podium for the first time in 2016 and took a bronze medal in a giant slalom event. In 2019, Googia won a silver medal in the Super-G discipline at the World Championships held in Åre, Sweden. Unfortunately, Goggia had to miss most of the World Cup season in 2018 due to an injury. She returned in January 2019. A few months later, she was named an ambassador for Italy’s bid to host the 2016 Winter Olympic Games.

At the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, she took a gold medal in the downhill event. This year, Goggia will try to defend her gold medal. On 23rd January 2022, Sofia Goggia suffered a knee injury. But it will not stop the ski racer to compete for the Olympic gold in Beijing.

Corinne Suter is an Alipne ski racer, representing Switzarland. She was born on 28th September 1994. Her strength is the speed events of downhill and Super-G. In November 2011, she appeared for the first time in a World Cup event. At the 2019 World Championships, Suter took a bronze medal in the Super-G event and a silver medal in the downhill competition.

At the 2021 World Championships, the Swiss Alpine skier finished in 18th place in the giant slalom event. However, she did not leave the competition without medals. She won a silver medal in the Super-G competition. In the downhill discipline, Corinne Suter took her first gold medal. In 2020, the Alpine ski racer secured two titles in the Super-G and downhill disciplines. In an interview with Suter, she shared that her idol is the Olympic gold medallist Lindsey Vonn.

Corinne Suter competed at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in the Super-G and downhill events. She finished in 17th place in the Super-G competition and 6th place in the downhill event.

Petra Vlhova is a professional ski racer who represents her home country Slovakia. Vlhova was born on 13th June 1995 and made her World Cup debut in 2012. In the same year, Vlhova participated in the Winter Youth Olympics and won a gold medal. In December 2015, the ski racer secured a slalom win in Åre, Sweden. Three years later, Vlhova brought home the first World Cup trophy for Slovakia after winning in a giant slalom competition. Vlhova is the alpine skier that won the most World Cup trophies for Slovakia.

In January 2019, the Slovak alpine skier finished as a runner-up to the Olympic gold medallist Mikaela Shiffrin. In Flachau, the Slovak skier eliminated Shiffrin and won the slalom, bagging a prize of €70,000. This was her fifth win in classic slalom and one of her most significant achievements.

In the 2019 World Championships, Vlhova again eliminated Shiffrin and took the Giant Slalom Gold medal. The Slovak Alpine ski racer has 25 race victories in slalom, giant slalom, and parallel competitions. Although she made her Olympic Games debut in 2014, she could not win a medal so far. Maybe Beijing will be her lucky destination and she will finally win an Olympic medal for Slovakia from the Winter Games.

Mathieu Faivre is an Alpine ski racer who represents France. Born on 18th January 1992, Faivre made his first World Cup debut when he was only 18 years old. The French skier took his first career gold medal at the 2010 Junior World Championships in a giant slalom event. In 2016, the French Alpine skier raced to the World Cup podium. Only a month later, Faivre gained his second podium at the World Cup finals in Switzerland. In December 2016, Faivre secured his first career victory.

At the 2021 World Championships, Faivre bagged two gold medals in the parallel giant slalom and the giant slalom. A week later, Faivre won the World Cup in Bansko, Bulgaria. A curious fact from Faivre’s personal life is that he was in a relationship with the Olympic medallist Mikaela Shiffrin for two years. In 2019, the couple separated.

Alexis Pinturault is an Alpine ski racer who represents France. He is one of the French skiers with the most medals and victories. At the moment, he has three Olympic medals and six World Championships medals. He chose Alpine skiing over football in his boyhood. He made his World Cup debut In March 2009. Only two years later, he took his first career podium.

In December 2013, Pinturault won his first World Cup trophy in slalom. He missed the World Cup season in October 2012 due to an injury. At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, the skier won two bronze medals in the combined and giant slalom events. In 2019, Pinturault won a gold medal in alpine combined at the World Championships. He also took the World Cup crystal globe. The 2020-21 season was more than successful for Pinturault. Not only did he take the crystal globe in the giant slalom but also notched his first career World Cup title.

Vincent Kriechmayr is an Austrian ski racer. The speed events of Super-G and downhill are his specialty. The skier made his World Cup debut in 2010. It took him five years to reach his first career World Cup podium in Super-G. In 2017, Kriechmayr secured his first victory in the Super-G discipline. In 2019, he took his fourth World Cup victory in the classic downhill event.

At the 2021 Alpine Ski World Championships, the Kriechmayr emerged victorious in the Super-G and downhill events to become the third man in history to win the speed double in the same year. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, Kriechmayr finished in 6th place in the Super-G event and had 7th place in the downhill competition. At the 2022 Winter Olympics, Kriechmayr has a good chance to win his first career Olympic medal.