With 7,760 points in the FIS Brand Ranking, HEAD once again confirms its leading position in the Alpine Ski World Cup in the 2023/24 season.
Lara Gut-Behrami’s performance is outstanding – the Swiss athlete wins the Crystal Globe for the overall World Cup and two more Crystal Globes in the Giant Slalom and Super-G. The Downhill Crystal Globe goes to Cornelia Hütter from Austria.
In total, the HEAD Worldcup Rebels stood on top of the podium 17 times this season. The HEAD team also notched up a further 22 second places and 17 third places.
“This has been an exceptionally successful season for us,” says HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber.
“Lara Gut-Behrami was outstanding in the way she confidently won the overall World Cup and two of the disciplines. Cornelia Hütter also more than deserved to win the Crystal Globe in the Downhill with her brilliant victory in the final race in Saalbach.
In the women’s Downhill and Super-G, there were even more athletes in our team who closely competed for the Crystal Globe.
We were also among the front runners in the Slalom. The women’s team were supreme. With the men’s team, we knew what to expect following the retirement of many of our athletes before the season got underway.
In the technical disciplines, losing Alexis Pinturault hurt us a lot, of course. Still, we were not far away from victory in the Slalom, and we also reached the podium in the Giant Slalom.
In the speed disciplines, things were close, and luck was not always on our side. Vincent Kriechmayr’s two Super-G victories were excellent. Everything considered, the men’s team also had a very satisfactory season.”
📷 GEPA pictures
Lara Gut-Behrami: “It’s a fantastic feeling”
Lara Gut-Behrami staged an awesome season in the snow. The Swiss athlete won the overall World Cup for the second time since 2015/16 with a total of eight victories this season and another eight podium finishes.
The 32-year-old also won the Giant Slalom World Cup for the first time in her career. The Super-G Crystal Globe also went to the exceptionally talented skier.
“I didn’t expect to win three Crystal Globes this season. For me, this is more than incredible. It is a fantastic feeling that I was able to win the World Cup Crystal Globe again.
The Giant Slalom globe means a lot to me. For me, it’s all about the Giant Slalom. If you are fast in this discipline, you can also do well in the other disciplines.
The Super-G is a special discipline for me. The fact that I’ve been able to win this globe five times makes me proud,” says a delighted Lara Gut-Behrami.
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Cornelia Hütter: “That was a gripping finish!”
Three HEAD Worldcup Rebels were in the running for the Downhill Crystal Globe in the final race of the season in Saalbach: Lara Gut-Behrami, Stephanie Venier and Cornelia Hütter.
Cornelia Hütter raced to her sixth World Cup victory, her second win in the Downhill, which took her to the top of the overall ranking. 28 points behind the Austrian, Lara Gut-Behrami from Switzerland finished the Downhill World Cup in second place.
“I was nervous and felt as though I was slow. I saw the number one displayed as I crossed the line, it was such a gripping finish!
You can see how emotional, exciting and fun racing is. It’s unbelievable,“ is how Cornelia Hütter analysed the event.
“I know that I am still holding back a bit in the Downhill, so I’m very proud that I’ve managed to achieve this result over the whole season.”
In the final Downhill ranking Cornelia Hütter, Lara Gut-Behrami and Austrian athlete Stephanie Venier came first, second and fourth.
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Four HEAD Worldcup Rebels in the top 5 in the Super-G
The HEAD team did just as well in the Super-G. Chasing the winner Lara Gut-Behrami, three more HEAD Worldcup Rebels finished in the top five in the overall ranking with Cornelia Hütter in third place, Stephanie Venier fourth and Kajsa Vickhoff Lie from Norway finishing fifth.
A special highlight was the event in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee where HEAD celebrated a brilliant triple victory in the first Super-G with Cornelia Hütter, Kajsa Vickhoff Lie and Lara Gut-Behrami taking all three places on the podium.
That was followed with a double victory by Lara Gut-Behrami and Cornelia Hütter in the second Super-G.
📷 GEPA pictures
📷 GEPA pictures
Lena Dürr finishes second in the Slalom
In the Giant Slalom, Sara Hector took third place overall. The Swedish athlete won the Giant Slalom race at the event in Jasna.
There was also a HEAD Worldcup Rebel on the podium in the Slalom overall ranking: Lena Dürr came second.
The German athlete has notched up three-second places and one third place in the Slalom this season.
A J Hurt enjoyed an impressive season with the first two World Cup podium finishes in her career. The US athlete was third in both the Slalom in Kranjska Gora and the Giant Slalom in Soldeu.
📷 GEPA pictures
📷 GEPA pictures
Vincent Kriechmayr second in the Super-G ranking
In the HEAD men’s team, it was Vincent Kriechmayr who was the number one in the speed disciplines this season.
The Austrian athlete won the two Super-G races in Val Gardena and in Kvitfjell and came second in the overall ranking in this discipline.
In the Downhill, the 32-year-old finished in fourth place overall. Guglielmo Bosca was delighted to end the season in fifth place in the Super-G overall ranking.
At the competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the Italian athlete came second to bag his first World Cup podium so far.
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The young Swiss athlete Franjo von Allmen also attracted attention by finishing third in the Super-G in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, his first podium in the World Cup.
Joan Verdu scores first-ever podium for Andorra
Joan Verdu and Andorra celebrated a historic World Cup season. The 28-year-old athlete finished third to take a World Cup podium for the first time in his career in the Giant Slalom in Val d’Isere.
This is not only his first podium but also the first in the history of his country. Joan Verdu proved again that he is a top contender by finishing in second place in the final Giant Slalom of the season in Saalbach.
In recognition of his amazing performance, Joan Verdu was voted “Rebel of the Year”.
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Atle Lie McGrath just misses victory
Following his return to the World Cup, Atle Lie McGrath has shown this season that he is one of the best ski athletes in the world.
At the traditional Slalom event on the Chuenisbärgli run in Adelboden, the Norwegian athlete raced to second place.
The 23-year-old missed his third World Cup victory by just two-hundredths of a second.
In Wengen, he missed victory by just one-tenth of a second, having clocked the fastest time on the first run.
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Franjo von Allmen & Dzenifera Germane climb to the top
“Another very positive achievement this season was from the athletes that climbed their way up to finish among the best in the world,” says Rainer Salzgeber.
“This includes Dzenifera Germane in the women’s team, who has finished in the top 15 multiple times.
In the men’s team, it is Franjo von Allmen who, for me, stands out as having climbed the furthest this season.
There aren’t many athletes who manage to podium in their twelfth World Cup race. I don’t want to build up unreasonable expectations for next season, but we are looking forward to the future together with great anticipation.
I am also hoping that Lukas Feurstein and Moritz Zudrell will move up to the next level. Ilaria Ghisalberti, who won the Europa Cup overall ranking in the Giant Slalom, is also an athlete with a promising World Cup career ahead of them.”
📷 GEPA pictures
📷 GEPA pictures
Ragnhild Mowinckel and Christine Scheyer finish their careers
Ragnhild Mowinckel from Norway and Christine Scheyer from Austria will finish their careers at the end of this season.
Ragnhild Mowinckel won two Silver medals (Giant Slalom and Downhill) at the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang as well as Bronze at the 2019 World Championships in Aare in the Combined event, and Bronze at the 2023 World Championships in Courchevel/Méribel in the Giant Slalom.
She notched up a total of four World Cup victories, including Cortina, where this season she won the Downhill for the first time.
Christine Scheyer’s World Cup career highlight is winning the Downhill race in Zauchensee in 2017.
📷 GEPA pictures
📷 GEPA pictures
“Optimise as much as possible right now”
“In the week after the competitions in Saalbach, we want to start testing straight away,” says Rainer Salzgeber, looking ahead to the preparations for next season.
“We have been doing trials with a number of optimisations together with some of the athletes.
We want to try out which of these we will implement going forward. These tests are scheduled to run until the end of April.
We are going to optimise as much as possible right now for the next season.”
The HEAD Worldcup Rebels’ top results:
Crystal Globes 2023/24:
- Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI): World Cup overall, Giant Slalom, Super-G
- Cornelia Hütter (AUT): Downhill
World Cup victories 2023/24 (17)
- Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI, 8): Giant Slalom Sölden, Giant Slalom Killington, Super-G Altenmarkt, Super-G Cortina, Giant Slalom Kronplatz, Giant Slalom Soldeu, Downhill Crans-Montana, Super-G Kvitfjell
- Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT, 2): Super-G Val Gardena, Super-G Kvitfjell
- Stephanie Venier (AUT, 2): Downhill Cortina, Super-G Crans-Montana
- Cornelia Hütter (AUT, 2): Super-G Altenmarkt, Downhill Saalbach
- Sara Hector (SWE, 1): Giant Slalom Jasna
- Ragnhild Mowinckel (NOR, 1): Downhill Cortina
- Anna Swenn-Larsson (SWE, 1): Slalom Soldeu
Second places 2023/24 (22)
- Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI, 4): Giant Slalom Mont Tremblant, Giant Slalom Kranjska Gora, Downhill Cortina, Super-G Kvitfjell
- Cornelia Hütter (AUT, 4): Super-G St. Moritz, Super-G Altenmarkt, Super-G Kvitfjell, Downhill Crans-Montana
- Lena Dürr (GER, 3): Slalom Levi, Slalom Lienz, Slalom Kranjska Gora
- Kajsa Vickhoff Lie (NOR, 2): Super-G Val d’Isere, Super-G Altenmarkt
- Atle Lie McGrath (NOR, 2): Slalom Adelboden, Slalom Wengen
- Stephanie Venier (AUT, 2): Downhill Altenmarkt, Super-G Cortina
- Sara Hector (SWE, 2): Giant Slalom Kronplatz, Giant Slalom Aare
- Guglielmo Bosca (ITA, 1): Super-G Garmisch-Partenkirchen
- Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT, 1): Downhill Kvitfjell
- Joan Verdu (AND, 1): Giant Slalom Saalbach
Third places 2023/24 (17)
- Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI, 4): Super-G St. Moritz, Super-G Altenmarkt, Downhill Crans-Montana, Giant Slalom Aare
- Sara Hector (SWE, 2): Giant Slalom Lienz, Slalom Flachau
- A J Hurt (USA, 2): Slalom Kranjska Gora, Giant Slalom Soldeu
- Anna Swenn-Larsson (SWE, 2): Slalom Jasna, Slalom Saalbach
- Lena Dürr (GER, 1): Slalom Levi
- Wendy Holdener (SUI, 1): Slalom Killington
- Joan Verdu (AND, 1): Giant Slalom Val d’Isere
- Cornelia Hütter (AUT, 1): Downhill Val d’Isere
- Franjo von Allmen (SUI, 1): Super-G Garmisch-Partenkirchen
- Atle Lie McGrath (NOR, 1): Giant Slalom Aspen
- Kajsa Vickhoff Lie (NOR, 1): Super-G Saalbach