Successful World Championships close in Cortina

After two weeks of top-level action, the 2021 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Cortina d’Ampezzo (ITA) closed on Sunday, 21st February. During the 13 competitions, many nations had a chance to shine.

Altogether, 10 nations won medals as Austria led the way in the medals table on the strength of five gold medals, one silver and two bronze. Switzerland was close behind with nine total medals, three gold, one silver and five bronze. France and Germany also exceeded expectations with their medal count.

It was also a World Championship filled with many multiple medallists. Mikaela Shiffrin topped all athletes with four total medals, but the list of multiple medalists goes far beyond the American.

On the men’s side, earning multiple medals were: Mathieu Faivre (2G), Vincent Kriechmayr (2G), Marco Schwarz (1G, 1B), Alexis Pinturault (1S, 1B), Loic Meillard (2B).

The women’s side was equally impressive: Mikaela Shiffrin (1G, 1S, 2 B), Lara Gut-Behrami (2G, 1B), Katharina Liensberger (2G, 1B), Corinne Suter (1G, 1S), Petra Vlhova (2S).

After many retirements at the last edition of the World Championships, this year was a side open two weeks of action, giving many young guns the chance to establish themselves on Alpine Skiing’s biggest stage. Athletes like Sebastian Foss-Solevaag, Katharina Lienberger, Marco Schwarz and Mathieu Faivre were unexpected gold medallists, establishing themselves for the future with their strong performances.

It was truly a changing of the guard as not one single World Champion from 2019 defended their title in Cortina.

It was also a completely different picture from Are 2019, where just four athletes managed to earn more than one medal.

The Cortina Local Organising committee persevered through one of the most challenging lead-up to any FIS World Championship with weekly changes to Covid-19 rules and regulations. But the Cortina LOC greeted every challenge with optimism and still hosted extremely memorable World Championships. Even Mother Nature couldn’t dampen the Cortina spirit as the full 13 races were able to be staged, despite very difficult weather conditions with too much snow in the first week and too much sun in the second week.

FIS would like to thank the Cortina LOC for their unwavering efforts and hard, the athletes and teams for their hard work and dedication and the fans of our sport for their unwavering support.

The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2023 will be held in Courchevel-Meribel (FRA).