Alpine skiing at the Olympics is a high-speed, technical sport where athletes race down snow-covered slopes on alpine skis. The sport features multiple disciplines, each testing a combination of speed, precision and agility. Competitors navigate through a series of gates, with the fastest times determining the winners.
Alpine skiing made its Olympic debut at the Olympic Winter Games Garmisch Partenkirchen 1936 in Germany, with the combined event featuring both downhill skiing and slalom. Over the years, additional disciplines were introduced, expanding the sport’s presence at the Games.
Team USA first competed in alpine skiing at the Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 Winter Olympics in its debut year. Gretchen Fraser was the first Team USA athlete to win the gold medal in this sport at the Olympic Winter Games St. Moritz 1948, in the women’s alpine slalom category. Since then, American skiers have won multiple medals, with legends such as Lindsey Vonn, Bode Miller and Mikaela Shiffrin achieving success on the Olympic stage.
Alpine skiing at the Winter Olympics consists of five individual events: downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom and the combined event. Each discipline varies in course layout, speed and technical difficulty. The mixed team event, introduced in 2018, adds a head-to-head element to the program. The team combined event is a new addition to the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 and will make its first appearance at the 2025 FIS World Alpine Ski Championships.
Follow along the alpine skiiers' road to the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
Check out all the events Team USA athletes will be competing in on the road to Milano Cortina 2026.
| name | sport | Education | hometown | age | Medals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Erik Arvidsson Sport: Alpine Skiing Education: Middlebury College '20, History Hometown: Woodside, CA Age: 29 | Alpine Skiing | Middlebury College '20, History | Woodside, CA | 29 | |||||
 Bryce Bennett Olympian 2018, 2022, 2026 Sport: Alpine Skiing Education: Westminster College Hometown: Palisades Tahoe, CA Age: 33 Qualified | Milano Cortina 2026 | Alpine Skiing | Westminster College | Palisades Tahoe, CA | 33 | |||||
 | Alpine Skiing | University of Vermont | Keene, NY | 37 | |||||
EB Elisabeth Bocock Sport: Alpine Skiing | Alpine Skiing | ||||||||
 Mary Bocock Olympian 2026 Sport: Alpine Skiing Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT Age: 22 Qualified | Milano Cortina 2026 | Alpine Skiing | Salt Lake City, UT | 22 | ||||||
VB Virginia Boyd Sport: Alpine Skiing | Alpine Skiing | ||||||||
 Keely Cashman Olympian 2022, 2026 Sport: Alpine Skiing Education: University of Utah Hometown: Strawberry, CA Age: 26 Qualified | Milano Cortina 2026 | Alpine Skiing | University of Utah | Strawberry, CA | 26 | |||||
 David Chodounsky Olympian 2014, 2018 Sport: Alpine Skiing Education: Crested Butte Academy (Crested Butte, Colo.) ‘03 Dartmouth College '08, Engineering and Earth Sciences Hometown: Crested Butte, CO Age: 41 | Alpine Skiing | Crested Butte Academy (Crested Butte, Colo.) ‘03 Dartmouth College '08, Engineering and Earth Sciences | Crested Butte, CO | 41 | |||||
 Ryan Cochran-Siegle Olympian 2018, 2022, 2026 Sport: Alpine Skiing Education: University of Vermont Hometown: Starksboro, VT Age: 33 Number of olympic medals this Athlete has won
Qualified | Milano Cortina 2026 | Alpine Skiing | University of Vermont | Starksboro, VT | 33 | Number of olympic medals this Athlete has won
| ||||
 Stacey Cook Olympian 2006, 2010, 2014 Sport: Alpine Skiing Education: University of Reno, Nevada; DeVry University Hometown: Mammoth Lakes, CA Age: 41 | Alpine Skiing | University of Reno, Nevada; DeVry University | Mammoth Lakes, CA | 41 | |||||
Alpine skis vary by discipline, with longer skis used for speed events like downhill and shorter skis for technical events like slalom. Athletes also wear helmets, goggles, and specialized suits designed for aerodynamics and protection.
Courses are designed with specific gradients, gates and technical elements suited to each event. Slalom and giant slalom courses feature tightly spaced gates, while downhill skiing focuses on long, sweeping turns at high speeds.
Alpine skiing made its Olympic debut at the 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Olympic Winter Games. Both men and women competed in slalom and downhill, but the only medals awarded were for the downhill and slalom combined. When the Olympic Winter Games resum...
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