Races are held primarily at ski resorts in the Alps in Europe, with regular stops in Scandinavia, North America, and east Asia. Competitors attempt to achieve the best time in four disciplines: slalom, giant slalom, Super G, and downhill. The fifth event, the combined, employs the downhill and slalom. The World Cup originally included only slalom, giant slalom, and downhill races. Combined events (calculated using results from selected downhill and slalom races) were included starting with the 1974–75 season, while the Super G was added for the 1982–83 season. The current scoring system was implemented in the 1991–92 season. For every race points are awarded to the top 30 finishers: 100 points to the winner, 80 for second, 60 for third, winding down to 1 point for 30th place. The racer with the most points at the end of the season in mid-March wins the Cup, with the trophy consisting of a 9 kilogram crystal globe. Sub-prizes are also awarded in each individual race discipline, with a smaller 3.5 kg crystal globe. (See the section on scoring system below for more information.)
The World Cup is held annually, and is considered the premier competition for alpine ski racing after the quadrennial Winter Olympics. Many consider the World Cup to be a more valuable title than the Olympics or the biennial World Championships, since it requires a competitor to ski at an extremely high level in several disciplines throughout the season, and not just in one race.
Lower competitive circuits include the NorAm Cup in North America and the Europa Cup in Europe.
| Name | Country | Career | Overall World Cups | Discipline World Cups | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downhill | Super G | GS | Slalom | Combined | ||||
| Marc Girardelli | 1980–1996 | 5 | 2 | - | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Gustav Thöni | 1969–1980 | 4 | - | - | 3 | 2 | - | |
| Pirmin Zurbriggen | 1981–1990 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Hermann Maier | 1996–active | 4 | 2 | 5 | 3 | - | - | |
| Ingemar Stenmark | 1973–1989 | 3 | - | - | 8 | 8 | - | |
| Phil Mahre | 1975–1984 | 3 | - | - | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
| Name | Country | Career | Overall World Cups | Discipline World Cups | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downhill | Super G | GS | Slalom | Combined | ||||
| Annemarie Moser-Pröll | 1969–1980 | 6 | 7 | - | 3 | - | 2 | |
| Petra Kronberger | 1987–1992 | 3 | - | - | - | 1 | - | |
| Vreni Schneider | 1984–1995 | 3 | - | - | 5 | 6 | - | |
| Janica Kostelić | 1998–2006 | 3 | - | - | - | 3 | 4 | |
For a complete list of winners in each discipline, see Alpine Skiing World Cup Men and Alpine Skiing World Cup Women.
| Pos. | Name | Country | Career | Victories | Downhill | Super G | Giant Slalom | Slalom | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ingemar Stenmark | 1973–1989 | 86 | - | - | 46 | 40 | - | |
| 2 | Hermann Maier | 1996–active | 53 | 15 | 23 | 14 | - | 1 | |
| 3 | Alberto Tomba | 1986–1998 | 50 | - | - | 15 | 35 | - | |
| 4 | Marc Girardelli | 1980–1996 | 46 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 11 | |
| 5 | Pirmin Zurbriggen | 1981–1990 | 40 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 11 | |
| 6 | Bode Miller | 1997–active | 31 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 5 | |
| 7 | Benjamin Raich | 1997–active | 30 | - | - | 11 | 14 | 5 | |
| 8 | Stephan Eberharter | 1989–2004 | 29 | 18 | 6 | 5 | - | - | |
| 9 | Phil Mahre | 1975–1984 | 27 | - | - | 7 | 9 | 11 | |
| 10 | Franz Klammer | 1972–1985 | 26 | 25 | - | - | - | 1 | |
| 11 | Peter Müller | 1977–1992 | 24 | 19 | 2 | - | - | 3 | |
| 11 | Gustav Thöni | 1969–1980 | 24 | - | - | 11 | 9 | 4 | |
| 13 | Michael Von Grünigen | 1989–2003 | 23 | - | - | 23 | - | - | |
| 14 | Kjetil André Aamodt | 1989–2006 | 21 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 8 |
| Pos. | Name | Country | Career | Victories | Downhill | Super G | Giant Slalom | Slalom | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Annemarie Moser-Pröll | 1969–1980 | 62 | 36 | - | 16 | 3 | 7 | |
| 2 | Vreni Schneider | 1984–1995 | 55 | - | - | 20 | 34 | 1 | |
| 3 | Renate Götschl | 1993–active | 46 | 24 | 17 | - | 1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Anja Pärson | 1998–active | 38 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 18 | 1 | |
| 5 | Katja Seizinger | 1989–1998 | 36 | 16 | 16 | 4 | - | - | |
| 6 | Hanni Wenzel | 1972–1984 | 33 | 2 | - | 12 | 11 | 8 | |
| 7 | Erika Hess | 1978–1987 | 31 | - | - | 6 | 21 | 4 | |
| 8 | Janica Kostelić | 1998–2006 | 30 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 6 | |
| 9 | Michela Figini | 1983–1990 | 26 | 17 | 3 | 2 | - | 4 | |
| 10 | Maria Walliser | 1980–1990 | 25 | 14 | 3 | 6 | - | 2 | |
| 10 | Michaela Dorfmeister | 1991–2006 | 25 | 7 | 10 | 8 | - | - | |
| 12 | Pernilla Wiberg | 1990–2002 | 24 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 3 | |
| 12 | Marie-Theres Nadig | 1971–1981 | 24 | 13 | - | 6 | - | 5 | |
| 12 | Lise-Marie Morerod | 1973–1980 | 24 | - | - | 14 | 10 | - | |
| 15 | Carole Merle | 1981–1994 | 22 | - | 12 | 10 | - | - | |
| 16 | Hilde Gerg | 1993–2005 | 20 | 7 | 8 | - | 2 | 3 | |
| 16 | Marlies Schild | 2001-active | 20 | - | - | 1 | 18 | 1 |
| Name | Country | Career | Victories | Downhill | Super G | Giant Slalom | Slalom | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marc Girardelli | 1980–1996 | 46 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 11 | |
| Pirmin Zurbriggen | 1981–1990 | 40 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 11 | |
| Bode Miller | 1997–active | 31 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 5 | |
| Kjetil André Aamodt | 1989–2006 | 21 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 8 | |
| Jean-Claude Killy | 1967–1968 | 18 | 6 | NA | 7 | 5 | NA | |
| Günther Mader | 1982–1998 | 14 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
| Henri Duvillard | 1967–1973 | 6 | 3 | NA | 2 | 1 | NA |
| Name | Country | Career | Victories | Downhill | Super G | Giant Slalom | Slalom | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annemarie Moser-Pröll | 1969–1980 | 62 | 36 | NA | 16 | 3 | 7 | |
| Anja Pärson | 1998–active | 38 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 18 | 1 | |
| Janica Kostelić | 1998–2006 | 30 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 6 | |
| Pernilla Wiberg | 1990–2002 | 24 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 3 | |
| Petra Kronberger | 1987–1992 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |
| Nancy Greene | 1967–1968 | 14 | 3 | NA | 8 | 3 | NA | |
| Françoise Macchi | 1968–1972 | 10 | 2 | NA | 6 | 2 | NA |
| Name | Country | Season | Victories | Downhill | Super G | Giant Slalom | Slalom | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ingemar Stenmark | 1978–79 | 13 | - | NA | 10 | 3 | - | |
| Hermann Maier | 2000–1 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | - | - | |
| Jean-Claude Killy | 1967 | 12 | 5 | NA | 4 | 3 | NA | |
| Ingemar Stenmark | 1979–80 | 11 | - | NA | 6 | 5 | - | |
| Marc Girardelli | 1984–85 | 11 | - | 2 | 2 | 7 | - | |
| Pirmin Zurbriggen | 1986–87 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 3 | - | 2 | |
| Alberto Tomba | 1994–95 | 11 | - | - | 4 | 7 | - | |
| Ingemar Stenmark | 1976–77 | 10 | - | NA | 3 | 7 | - | |
| Ingemar Stenmark | 1980–81 | 10 | - | NA | 6 | 4 | - | |
| Hermann Maier | 1997–98 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | 1 | |
| Hermann Maier | 1999–2000 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | - | - | |
| Stephan Eberharter | 2001–2 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | - | - |
| Name | Country | Season | Victories | Downhill | Super G | Giant Slalom | Slalom | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vreni Schneider | 1988–89 | 14 | - | - | 6 | 7 | 1 | |
| Annemarie Moser-Pröll | 1972–73 | 11 | 8 | NA | 3 | - | NA | |
| Anja Pärson | 2003–4 | 11 | - | - | 5 | 6 | - | |
| Annemarie Moser-Pröll | 1974–75 | 10 | 2 | NA | 5 | - | 3 |
Starting with the 1979–80 season, points were awarded to the top 15 finishers in each race. After 1980–81, the formula for the overall title stabilized for several years, counting the best 5 results in the original disciplines (slalom, giant slalom, and downhill) plus the best 3 results in combined. When Super G events were introduced for the 1982–83 season, the results were included with giant slalom for the first three seasons, before a separate discipline Cup was awarded starting in 1985–86 and the top 3 Super G results were counted towards the overall. The formula for the overall was changed yet again the following season, with the top 4 results in each discipline counting, along with all combined results (although the combined was nearly eliminated from the schedule, reduced to only 1 or 2 events per season).
This perennial tweaking of the scoring formula was a source of ongoing uncertainty to the World Cup racers and to fans. The need for a complete overhaul of the scoring system had grown increasingly urgent with each successive year, and in 1987–88 the FIS decided to fully simplify the system: all results would now count in each discipline and in the overall. This new system was an immediate success, and the practice of counting all results has been maintained in every subsequent season. With the ongoing expansion of the number and quality of competitors in World Cup races over the years, a major change to the scoring system was implemented in the 1991–92 season. The top 30 finishers in each race would now earn points, with 100 for the winner, 80 for second, 60 for third, and then decreasing by smaller increments for each lower place. The point values were adjusted slightly the following season (to reduce the points for places 4th through 20th), and the scoring system has not been changed again since that year. The table below compares the point values under all five scoring systems which have been in use:
| Place | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current System 1993– | 100 | 80 | 60 | 50 | 45 | 40 | 36 | 32 | 29 | 26 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 1992 System 1992 | 100 | 80 | 60 | 55 | 51 | 47 | 43 | 40 | 37 | 34 | 31 | 28 | 26 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Top 15 System 1980–1991 | 25 | 20 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| 1979 System † 1979 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Original System 1967–1979 | 25 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
The tables below contain a brief statistical analysis of the overall World Cup standings during the first 15 seasons after the Top 30 scoring system was implemented in 1991–92. In general, over 1000 points are needed to contend for the overall title. At least 1 man and 1 woman has scored 1000 points in each of these seasons, but no more than 5 men's or women's racers have crossed that threshold in any single season. Of the 30 men's and women's overall champions in these years, 28 scored over 1200 points, 21 had over 1300 points, 14 reached 1500 points, and 4 amassed more than 1700 points during their winning seasons. As for the runners-up, 26 of the 30 second-place finishers scored over 1000 points, 12 had over 1300 points, and only 2 reached 1500 points yet failed to win. Most overall titles have been won quite convincingly, by more than 300 points in 16 of 30 cases, while only 7 margins of victory have been tighter than 50 points.
| Men's Overall World Cup | ||||||||
| Races Completed | 1st Place Points | Margin of Victory | 2nd Place Points | 3rd Place Points | Number of Skiers per Season: | |||
| > 1000 Pts | > 500 Pts | > 200 Pts | ||||||
| Maximum | 38 | 2000 | 743 | 1454 | 1307 | 5 | 19 | 43 |
| Average | 34.5 | 1473 | 318 | 1155 | 991 | 2.5 | 14 | 40 |
| Minimum | 30 | 1130 | 23 | 775 | 760 | 1 | 8 | 37 |
| Women's Overall World Cup | ||||||||
| Races Completed | 1st Place Points | Margin of Victory | 2nd Place Points | 3rd Place Points | Number of Skiers per Season: | |||
| > 1000 Pts | > 500 Pts | > 200 Pts | ||||||
| Maximum | 39 | 1970 | 536 | 1662 | 1391 | 5 | 19 | 45 |
| Average | 33.1 | 1522 | 247 | 1275 | 1098 | 3 | 13 | 38 |
| Minimum | 30 | 1248 | 3 | 931 | 904 | 1 | 10 | 32 |
| Men's and Women's Overall World Cups: Total Numbers Across 15 Seasons | ||||||||
| > 1700 Pts | > 1500 Pts | > 1300 Pts | > 1200 Pts | > 1100 Pts | > 1000 Pts | > 900 Pts | > 800 Pts | |
| First Place | 4 | 14 | 21 | 28 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
| Second Place | - | 2 | 12 | 16 | 19 | 26 | 28 | 29 |
| Third Place | - | - | 3 | 4 | 9 | 18 | 25 | 29 |
| > 600 Pts | > 500 Pts | > 400 Pts | > 300 Pts | > 200 Pts | > 100 Pts | >= 50 Pts | < 50 Pts | |
| Margin of Victory | 2 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 19 | 21 | 23 | 7 |
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The early years of the World Cup were largely dominated by the French ski team, as reflected in their Nations Cup wins in 5 of the first 6 years. The Austrian team then took over throughout the rest of the 1970s, followed by Swiss superiority during most of the 1980s. A resurgent Austrian team charged back to the top in 1990, beginning a long streak of consecutive Nations Cup triumphs. Austrian dominance reached its zenith in the late 1990s and 2000s, when their point total regularly doubled that of the second place finisher, and was capped in the 1999–2000 and 2003–4 seasons with totals that tripled those of runner-up Italy. Their 17927 point total in 1999–2000 is a Nations Cup record, as is their 12066 point margin of victory in 2003–4.
As of the end of the 2007–8 season, the Austrian team had won 19 consecutive Nations Cups, while topping the men's standings for 16 straight years and the women's for 10 in a row. In the midst of the ongoing Austrian juggernaut, the Swiss or Italian teams have usually held second place. The German team reached the runner-up spot for the first time in 1997–8, as did the Norwegians the next season. The USA enjoyed its best placings ever starting in 2004–5, grabbing second in the Nations Cup for two straight years.
Under the current scoring system (since 1992), the winning nation (Austria every year) has averaged over 13000 points, with an average of over 6400 for the runner-up, 5400 for third place, 4200 for fifth, and 1300 for tenth. The all-inclusive scoring system (simply adding together all World Cup points earned) favors national teams with great depth and many racers scoring World Cup points, and even teams with several top racers have no realistic chance of breaking the Austrian grip on the top spot, while a team with only one or two top-ranked racers will struggle to ever break the top five in the standings. There have been numerous calls for a revamped scoring system which would allow other nations to compete more readily for top spots in the Nations Cup, but no changes are likely to be made.
The total number of top-three placings for each nation in the Nations Cup (through the 2007–8 season) are summarized below:
| Nation | Total Standings | Men's Standings | Women's Standings | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First | Second | Third | First | Second | Third | First | Second | Third | |||
| 30 | 12 | - | 31 | 9 | 1 | 23 | 12 | 4 | |||
| 7 | 20 | 8 | 5 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 7 | |||
| 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 5 | |||
| - | 4 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 14 | - | 1 | 5 | |||
| - | 2 | 11 | - | 2 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 7 | |||
| - | 1 | 9 | - | - | 1 | 3 | 11 | 12 | |||
| - | 1 | - | - | 2 | 7 | - | - | - | |||
| - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | |||
| - | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | 1 | 1 | |||
| Nation | Total Victories | Victories by Discipline | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | Women | Both | Downhill | Super G | Giant Slalom | Slalom | Combined | ||
| 376 | 297 | 673 | 264 | 103 | 144 | 125 | 37 | ||
| 215 | 264 | 479 | 171 | 36 | 134 | 88 | 50 | ||
| 98 | 141 | 239 | 51 | 27 | 59 | 101 | 1 | ||
| 146 | 58 | 204 | 35 | 18 | 67 | 79 | 5 | ||
| 111 | 66 | 177 | 5 | 8 | 67 | 94 | 3 | ||
| 30 | 143 | 173 | 44 | 44 | 37 | 38 | 10 | ||
| 89 | 83 | 172 | 46 | 14 | 38 | 56 | 18 | ||
| 79 | 8 | 87 | 19 | 14 | 22 | 19 | 13 | ||
| 26 | 34 | 60 | 36 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 1 | ||
| 23 | 36 | 59 | 5 | 2 | 17 | 21 | 14 | ||
| 22 | 28 | 50 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 33 | - | ||
| 46 | - | 46 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 11 | ||
| 8 | 30 | 38 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 27 | 7 | ||
| 13 | 5 | 18 | - | - | 4 | 14 | - | ||
| 1 | 10 | 11 | - | - | 7 | 4 | - | ||
| - | 5 | 5 | - | - | - | 5 | - | ||
| - | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | ||
| 5 | - | 5 | 1 | - | 3 | 1 | - | ||
| 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | - | ||
| - | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | 2 | - | ||
| 1 | - | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | - | ||
| Totals | 1292 | 1218 | 2510 | 688 | 287 | 633 | 731 | 171 | |
A total of 22 countries have won World Cup races, with 19 different countries winning men's and women's races. As expected, the top 9 nations in this list match the 9 nations listed in the Nations Cup summary table.
Some interesting tidbits can be found in the data: Marc Girardelli accounted for all of Luxembourg's 46 wins, while Janica Kostelić has 30 of Croatia's 38 (her brother Ivica has the rest) and Ingemar Stenmark still has nearly one-half of Sweden's 177 wins more than a decade after his retirement. Some nations specialize in either speed (downhill and Super G) or technical (Slalom and GS) disciplines, while others are strong across the board. Among nations with 30+ wins, the Canadian team has won 70% of its races in speed events, while Yugoslavia/Slovenia has won 94% and Sweden 91% of their races in technical events, especially remarkable in Sweden's case given its huge total of 177 wins. Several nations with under 20 wins have 100% of them in technical events, led by Finland and Spain. In contrast Germany and Norway have the most even distribution without disproportionate strength or weakness in any one discipline. Some nations have strong teams in only one gender, as 91% of Norway's wins have come from their men and 83% of Germany's from their women, while the American total is split almost equally.