Alpine Skiing

Alpine skiing is a downhill racing discipline in which athletes descend a fixed course of gates on skis, with the fastest time winning. Its five events are Downhill (the longest course and highest speeds), Super-G (super giant slalom), Giant Slalom, Slalom (the shortest and most technical) and the Alpine Combined, which pairs a speed run with a slalom. Races are staged on prepared, marked pistes with vertical drops of hundreds of metres; downhill runs regularly exceed 130 km/h. Athletes compete in men's and women's fields, and both the FIS World Cup circuit and the biennial FIS Alpine World Ski Championships are considered the pinnacles of the discipline outside the Olympics.

Athletes are typically selected on the basis of their FIS points (a lower score is better), their performance in national championships and their results on the FIS, Continental Cup and World Cup circuits. For senior international nomination, associations generally require valid FIS licensing, medical and anti-doping clearance under WADA, and a defined minimum result in each event contested. National teams also consider potential, coach recommendations and, for junior athletes, U16/U18/U21 age-category benchmarks. Final selection sits with the national association's technical committee.

Alpine skiing debuted at the Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1936. The first FIS Alpine World Ski Championships were held in 1931 with downhill and slalom. Iconic names include Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden — long the standard for total World Cup wins — Alberto Tomba, Marcel Hirscher (eight overall World Cup titles) and Hermann Maier. Among women, Annemarie Moser-Pröll, Vreni Schneider, Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin defined eras; Shiffrin took a record-tying sixth overall World Cup title in 2026 and holds the all-time World Cup win record. India's Alpine skiers have competed at multiple Winter Olympics, and the discipline is central to the country's presence at winter sports.