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Alpine skiing at the Winter Olympics facts for kids

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Alpine skiing at the Winter Olympics
Alpine skiing pictogram.svg
Governing body FIS
Events 11 (men: 5; women: 5; mixed: 1)
Games
  • 1924
  • 1928
  • 1932
  • 1936
  • 1948
  • 1952
  • 1956
  • 1960
  • 1964
  • 1968
  • 1972
  • 1976
  • 1980
  • 1984
  • 1988
  • 1992
  • 1994
  • 1998
  • 2002
  • 2006
  • 2010
  • 2014
  • 2018

  • Medalists

Alpine skiing has been contested at every Winter Olympics since 1936, when a combined event was held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

From 1948 to 1980, the Winter Olympics also served as the World Championships in Olympic years, with separate competitions held in even-numbered non-Olympic years. During this period, the Olympic medalists received an additional medal of the same metal from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

The giant slalom was introduced at the 1950 World Championships and at the Olympics in 1952; both programs dropped the combined event, but it returned in 1954 at the World Championships as a "paper" race, using the results of the slalom, giant slalom, and downhill. At the Olympics from 1956 through 1980, World Championship medals were awarded by the FIS in the combined event. It returned as a stand-alone event (one run of downhill, two runs of slalom) at the Olympics in 1988, which also debuted the one-run super-G. The combined event was run on an FIS points system at the Olympics through 1992, then was changed to total time of the three runs. The super combined debuted in 2010, which reduced the slalom portion to one run and the event to one day.

Since 1985, the World Championships have been scheduled every odd-numbered year, independent of the Winter Olympics. At the World Championships, the combined returned as a stand-alone event in 1982 and the super-G debuted in 1987. The combined event went from points to a total time in 1996 (postponed from 1995), and changed to super combined in 2007.

The event is traditionally dominated by Alpine countries; as of 2022, Austria has a commanding lead in total medals with 128 and in gold medals with 40.

Hosts

Year City Nation Additional designation Events
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen  Germany 2
1948 St. Moritz   Switzerland FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1948 6
1952 Oslo  Norway FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1952 6
1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo  Italy FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1956 6
1960 Squaw Valley  United States FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1960 6
1964 Innsbruck  Austria FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1964 6
1968 Grenoble  France FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1968 6
1972 Sapporo  Japan FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1972 6
1976 Innsbruck  Austria FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1976 6
1980 Lake Placid  United States FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1980 6
1984 Sarajevo  Yugoslavia 6
1988 Calgary  Canada 10
1992 Albertville  France 10
1994 Lillehammer  Norway 10
1998 Nagano  Japan 10
2002 Salt Lake City  United States 10
2006 Torino  Italy 10
2010 Vancouver  Canada 10
2014 Sochi  Russia 10
2018 Pyeongchang  South Korea 11
2022 Beijing  China 11
2026 Cortina d'Ampezzo  Italy 11

Events

Men's

Event 24 28 32 36 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 94 98 02 06 10 14 18 22 Years
Combined     12
Downhill         20
Slalom         20
Giant slalom           19
Super-G                             10
Total events       1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Women's

Event 24 28 32 36 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 94 98 02 06 10 14 18 22 Years
Combined     12
Downhill         20
Slalom         20
Giant slalom           19
Super-G                             10
Total events       1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Mixed

Event 24 28 32 36 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 94 98 02 06 10 14 18 22 Years
Team event                                             2
Total events                                             1 1

Medal table

NOCs in italics no longer compete at the Winter Olympics.
Sources (after the 2022 Winter Olympics):
Accurate as of 2022 Winter Olympics.

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Austria (AUT) 40 44 44 128
2  Switzerland (SUI) 27 23 25 75
3  United States (USA) 17 21 10 48
4  France (FRA) 16 17 18 51
5  Italy (ITA) 14 11 11 36
6  Germany (GER) 12 8 7 27
7  Norway (NOR) 11 14 15 40
8  Sweden (SWE) 8 2 9 19
9  Croatia (CRO) 4 6 0 10
10  Canada (CAN) 4 1 7 12
11  West Germany (FRG) 3 5 1 9
12  Slovenia (SLO) 2 3 3 8
13  Liechtenstein (LIE) 2 2 6 10
14  United Team of Germany (EUA) 2 1 2 5
15  Czech Republic (CZE) 1 0 1 2
 Spain (ESP) 1 0 1 2
17  Slovakia (SVK) 1 0 0 1
18  Luxembourg (LUX) 0 2 0 2
 Yugoslavia (YUG) 0 2 0 2
20  Finland (FIN) 0 1 0 1
 Japan (JPN) 0 1 0 1
 New Zealand (NZL) 0 1 0 1
 Russia (RUS) 0 1 0 1
24  Australia (AUS) 0 0 1 1
 Czechoslovakia (TCH) 0 0 1 1
 Soviet Union (URS) 0 0 1 1
Totals (26 entries) 165 166 163 494
  • Germany has competed at the Winter Olympic Games under various names; all of which are listed separately. Banned from the 1948 games (as was Japan), they competed as Germany in 1952, though only represented by West Germany. From 1956 through 1964, they were known as the United Team of Germany (EUA), which included East Germany, the German Democratic Republic (GDR). From 1968 through 1988, separate Olympic teams were fielded and West Germany competed as the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). East Germany had only one competitor in alpine skiing (Eberhard Riedel in 1968), who did not win a medal. Following the reunification of 1990, they have competed at the Olympics as Germany, starting in 1992. Through 2018, Germany has a total of 40 medals in alpine skiing (17 gold, 13 silver, 10 bronze).

Participating nations

Nation 24 28 32 36 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 94 98 02 06 10 14 18 Years
 Albania (ALB)       1 1 1 2 4
 Algeria (ALG)       4 1 2
 Andorra (AND)       5 3 2 4 5 6 3 3 2 4 4 3 12
 Argentina (ARG)       6 8 5 6 5 2 5 6 10 10 6 9 1 5 5 5 6 2 18
 Armenia (ARM)       1 2 1 2 1 1 6
 Australia (AUS)       3 5 3 5 1 2 5 4 3 3 2 2 1 10 4 2 5 3 18
 Austria (AUT)       4 14 11 11 13 11 13 13 12 12 13 17 20 20 19 20 20 20 20 22 20
 Azerbaijan (AZE)       1 2 1 1 4
 Belarus (BLR)       1 2 2 2 4
 Belgium (BEL)       4 2 2 1 1 1 2 2 3 1 3 4 12
 Bolivia (BOL)       1 3 3 6 5 1 6
 Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH)       2 2 2 2 3 3 2 7
 Brazil (BRA)       7 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 8
 Bulgaria (BUL)       3 2 4 3 3 1 1 2 5 4 4 4 3 2 5 3 4 3 4 3 20
 Canada (CAN)       7 5 9 5 9 9 11 8 8 7 11 18 10 11 8 11 16 21 15 14 20
 Cayman Islands (CAY)       1 1 2
 Chile (CHI)       4 3 3 5 5 4 5 4 5 5 3 3 4 7 3 3 3 17
 China (CHN)       2 5 2 2 2 2 2 7
 Chinese Taipei (TPE)       4 1 2 5 3 2 6
 Colombia (COL)       1 1 2
 Costa Rica (CRC)       1 2 2 4 4
 Croatia (CRO)       1 1 4 4 11 10 8 10 8
 Cyprus (CYP)       3 5 3 4 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 11
 Czech Republic (CZE)       2 9 10 8 8 9 6
 Czechoslovakia (TCH)       7 6 4 2 3 4 2 4 5 4 10
 Denmark (DEN)       2 1 3 3 1 2 6
 East Germany (GDR)       1 1
 East Timor (TLS)       1 1 2
 Egypt (EGY)       1 1
 Eritrea (ERI)       1 1
 Estonia (EST)       1 1 2 2 2 2 6
 Fiji (FIJ)       1 1
 Finland (FIN)       2 4 2 2 2 1 1 2 5 4 4 4 4 2 14
 France (FRA)       3 13 8 13 10 11 11 12 12 7 14 18 19 17 18 18 17 22 17 22 20
 Georgia (GEO)       2 3 2 1 3 3 2 7
 Ghana (GHA)       1 1
 Germany (GER)       8 11 14 14 7 9 6 9 7 14 10
 Great Britain (GBR)       8 13 7 14 8 11 10 8 10 9 8 12 12 6 6 6 6 4 2 4 20
 Greece (GRE)       1 1 3 3 3 2 3 2 3 4 3 3 1 2 2 2 3 3 2 19
 Guatemala (GUA)       4 1
 Hungary (HUN)       4 7 2 1 1 6 5 3 2 2 3 3 4 13
 Iceland (ISL)       3 4 5 3 3 4 6 3 3 2 3 3 7 6 5 4 4 2 18
 India (IND)       1 1 3 2 2 1 1 7
 Iran (IRI)       3 4 4 4 4 1 1 1 3 3 2 11
 Ireland (IRL)       1 2 2 2 2 2 6
 Israel (ISR)       1 1 1 3
 Italy (ITA)       8 8 10 13 10 11 10 8 12 14 12 11 18 20 22 22 22 21 19 20 20
 Japan (JPN)       3 2 2 4 5 7 10 4 4 4 6 6 5 10 6 8 2 2 4 19
 Kazakhstan (KAZ)       2 2 2 2 2 3 2 7
 Kenya (KEN)       1 1
 Kosovo (KOS)       1 1
 Kyrgyzstan (KGZ)       1 1 1 1 4
 Latvia (LAT)       3 2 1 2 3 5 2 7
 Lebanon (LBN)       2 1 3 2 4 3 1 1 3 4 4 4 2 2 3 2 2 17
 Liechtenstein (LIE)       2 5 6 3 3 6 3 5 5 8 9 6 7 6 6 4 2 2 2 19
 Lithuania (LTU)       1 1 1 2 2 6
 Luxembourg (LUX)       1 1 1 1 1 5
 North Macedonia (MKD)       2 1 2 1 1 1 6
 Madagascar (MAD)       1 1 2
 Malaysia (MAS)       1 1
 Malta (MLT)       1 1 2
 Mexico (MEX)       1 4 10 1 1 1 2 7
 Moldova (MDA)       2 1 1 3
 Monaco (MON)       1 1 1 2 1 3 2 7
 Montenegro (MNE)       1 2 2 3
 Morocco (MAR)       5 4 3 9 1 2 1 7
 Netherlands (NED)       1 3 2
 New Zealand (NZL)       3 4 6 2 5 5 6 3 2 3 1 3 3 2 1 3 16
 North Korea (PRK)       2 3 2
 Norway (NOR)       7 10 12 10 5 6 7 7 3 7 1 3 11 12 12 12 7 6 10 11 20
 Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR)       5 1
 Pakistan (PAK)       1 1 1 3
 Peru (PER)       2 2 2
 Philippines (PHI)       2 1 1 3
 Poland (POL)       3 5 9 8 4 2 1 2 3 1 3 1 1 1 3 1 6 3 18
 Portugal (POR)       1 1 2 1 4
 Puerto Rico (PUR)       6 1 1 3
 Romania (ROU)       4 7 7 4 2 2 2 3 1 3 2 1 2 3 3 2 16
 Russia (RUS)       6 7 5 6 5 9 6
 San Marino (SMR)       2 2 4 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 10
 Senegal (SEN)       14 2 1 1 1 5
 Serbia (SRB)       3 2 3 3
 Serbia and Montenegro (SCG)       2 2 3 3
 Slovakia (SVK)       1 3 6 3 9 7 6
 Slovenia (SLO)       11 10 15 17 11 13 7 11 8
 South Africa (RSA)       1 1 1 1 1 5
 South Korea (KOR)       1 2 1 1 3 4 2 1 2 5 4 3 5 4 14
 Soviet Union (URS)       8 3 7 7 4 2 5 4 3 9
 Spain (ESP)       2 6 4 4 4 6 7 3 4 5 5 6 10 7 4 3 4 5 5 2 20
 Eswatini (SWZ)       1 1
 Sweden (SWE)       1 6 9 8 4 6 4 4 6 8 12 8 11 7 9 13 13 12 10 19
 Switzerland (SUI)       2 16 12 14 12 13 12 12 13 14 13 17 21 21 16 17 12 14 19 22 20
 Tajikistan (TJK)       1 1 1 1 4
 Thailand (THA)       2 2 2
 Togo (TOG)       1 1
 Turkey (TUR)       4 4 4 2 5 7 4 4 4 4 1 1 2 2 2 2 16
 Ukraine (UKR)       2 2 2 2 3 2 2 7
 Unified Team (EUN)       7 1
 United States (USA)       8 13 12 11 14 12 13 13 14 13 11 17 20 22 22 22 17 20 19 22 20
 United Team of Germany (EUA)       11 10 10 3
 Uruguay (URU)       1 1
 Uzbekistan (UZB)       1 2 1 2 2 1 6
 Venezuela (VEN)       1 1
 Virgin Islands (ISV)       1 2 1 3
 West Germany (FRG)       13 11 13 13 12 17 6
 Zimbabwe (ZIM)       1 1
 Yugoslavia (YUG)       4 7 2 4 6 4 1 4 8 13 9 9 12
Nations 26 25 28 29 22 31 33 27 33 30 42 43 50 45 49 57 60 71 74 80
Alpine skiers 103 174 183 133 174 188 144 181 174 225 271 321 250 249 278 287 309 327 322
Year 24 28 32 36 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 94 98 02 06 10 14 18

Medals per year

Key
NOC did not exist or did not participate in alpine skiing events # Number of medals won by the NOC NOC did not win any medals
  • bolded numbers indicate the highest medal count at that year's Olympic Games.
Nation 24 28 32 36 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 94 98 02 06 10 14 18 Total
 Australia (AUS)           1 1
 Austria (AUT)       6 7 9 5 7 5 4 2 4 1 6 8 3 11 9 14 4 9 7 121
 Canada (CAN)       1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 11
 Croatia (CRO)                               4 3 2 1 10
 Czechoslovakia (TCH)             1               1
 Czech Republic (CZE)                                   1 1 2
 Finland (FIN)                   1 1
 France (FRA)       1 5 3 6 8 2 1 1 3 2 3 2 4 2 2 3 48
 Germany (GER)       4   4                   1 4 6 1 3 3 26
 Italy (ITA)       2 1 3 4 1 2 5 4 2 3 1 2 2 32
 Japan (JPN)         1 1
 Liechtenstein (LIE)         2 4 2 1 1 10
 Luxembourg (LUX)                           2           2
 New Zealand (NZL)               1 1
 Norway (NOR)       1 3 4 5 4 4 1 4 3 7 36
 Russia (RUS)                                 1   1
 Slovenia (SLO)                               3 2 2 7
 Soviet Union (URS)             1               1
 Spain (ESP)       1 1 2
 Sweden (SWE)       1   1 2 1 1 1 1 2 4 2 2 18
 Switzerland (SUI)       6 4 2 3 6 3 3 4 11 1 4 2 1 3 3 3 7 66
 United Team of Germany (EUA)             1 3 1                             5
 United States (USA)       2 2 3 4 2 1 1 5 2 4 1 2 2 8 5 3 47
 West Germany (FRG)                   3 2 4                 9
 Yugoslavia (YUG)         1 1               2
Year 24 28 32 36 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 94 98 02 06 10 14 18

Age records

Several age-related records were recently set in 2014:

  • Bode Miller (36) oldest medalist in Olympic alpine skiing; bronze in super-G.
  • Mikaela Shiffrin (18) youngest gold medalist in slalom in Olympic alpine skiing; gold in slalom.
  • Mario Matt (34) oldest gold medalist in Olympic alpine skiing; gold in slalom.
  • Henrik Kristoffersen (19) youngest male medalist in Olympic alpine skiing; bronze in slalom.

These records continue:

  • Michela Figini (17) youngest gold medalist in Olympic alpine skiing; gold in downhill in 1984.
  • Traudl Hecher (16) youngest medalist in Olympic alpine skiing; bronze in downhill in 1960.
  • Toni Sailer (20) youngest male gold medalist in Olympic alpine skiing; won slalom, giant slalom, and downhill in 1956.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Esquí alpino en los Juegos Olímpicos para niños

  • Alpine skiing at the Winter Paralympics
  • Alpine skiing at the Youth Olympic Games
  • Alpine Skiing World Cup
  • FIS Alpine World Ski Championships
  • World Para Alpine Skiing Championships
  • List of Olympic venues in alpine skiing
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