Special moments expected at the 2026 Alpine Finals in Norway! There are many signs up in the air that the upcoming Kvitfjell/Hafjell Alpine Ski World Cup Finals will be concluding one of the most exciting and surprising World Cup seasons in recent years – with records being possibly matched or even improved during the various award ceremonies planned in both sites after the speed and the technical events!
The great slalom dominator Mikaela Shiffrin aims to join Austria’s Annemarie Moser-Proell in capturing a sixth overall World Cup title since 2017 while Swiss Marco Odermatt has a strong chance to receive for the third consecutive times four globes including the bigger one during his stay in Norway. The last slalom may be decisive in the fight for the men’s slalom globe between Norway, the winner in 2025, and the French team which has not accomplished that feat since 2009!
Yet, one of the most remarkable – and also unexpected – happening could well be the 21st crystal globe that US veteran Lindsey Vonn may collect after the downhill, ten years after receiving her 8th and last downhill globe during the 2016 Finals at St. Moritz –after missing the chance to also grab her 5th overall World Cup title there following a bad crash in the previous weeks. Till then, she’ll be sharing the imposing record of 20 globes with Austria’s Marcel Hirscher, the 8-time-overall winner who was also excelling in giant slalom and slalom.
This exceptional opportunity is in fact the main - and only reason - for the 41-year-old skier from Vail to expand her career after the 2026 Olympics and the competitions at Cortina d’Ampezzo where she aims to clinch another gold medal 16 years (!) after her victory at Vancouver 2010.
On her way to Norway, Lindsey may even have the chance to reach another famous mark that she had been unsuccessfully pursuing for years – the legendary 86 victories of Sweden’s Skiing Legend Ingemar Stenmark. When she set a new women’s record of 63 victories at Cortina d’Ampezzo on January 19th
2015, it seemed to be quite possible for the American to reach the level of Stenmark that her teammate Mikaela Shiffrin did at Are three years ago! Nevertheless, Vonn health issues forced her afterwards to stop dreaming of it after winning her 82nd race during the 2018 Finals at Are, in Sweden. Strong pains at a knee obliged her to retire at 34 during the 2019 FIS World Championships after clinching a last bronze medal in downhill!
Yet here she is - back at the top, celebrating her 84th win last week at Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, clearly dominating the fourth downhill race of the season, claiming her fourth consecutive podium in the specialty this winter. Norway’s Kajsa Vickhoff Lie came in 2nd at 37/100 of a second enjoying her first podium of the season.
Even Lindsey's personal technical adviser, Norway’s legendary Aksel Lund Svindal, was impressed. "Lindsey really is an amazing athlete who works incredibly hard and well to move at her best level," Aksel said at Zauchensee. "We exchange a lot about her strategies. I'm each time admiring her way to follow her plans and make the best out of her choices on the slope, "he added." I didn't expect her to be so fast on race day after her weak first training and the challenging course conditions. Her confidence is incredibly high and allowed her to follow very aggressive lines. The most important thing is that we are having great fun working together and both like so much our sport."
Aksel helps me incredibly much, he sees things that I can't, and his advises are each time very precise
"Today, he gave me the key recommendations on the way to handle the first part of the course covered by soft snow, "she added. "He knows and understands everything, especially how to face your own pressure. He is exceptional!"
A 10-time-globe winner in total, Aksel got two downhill World Cup titles in his career in 2013 and 2014 besides his seven gold medals at Olympics and FIS World Championships. His 36 victories in four specialties on the World Cup circuit, including a Super-G at Kvitfjell in 2013 put him also very high in the list of great winners – his contribution to Vonn’s possible 21st globe would have been absolutely decisive!
