Alexis Pinturault () (born 20 March 1991) is a French

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

alpine ski racer and

Olympic medalist This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad. Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports Winter Olympic sports A. Including military patrol e ...

. With 34 World Cup victories, Pinturault is the most successful French skier in World Cup history. He represented France at six

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and three

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

, with four bronze medals in the giant slalom. He was the overall World Cup champion in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

. Pinturault was the world champion in combined in 2019, the world champion in the team event in 2017, and a two-time world junior champion in giant slalom in 2009 and 2011.

Early years

Born in

Moûtiers Moûtiers (; Arpitan: ''Motiérs''), historically also called Tarentaise, is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. In 2018, it had a population of 3,511. Moûtiers is the main access point ...

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population of ...

, Pinturault grew up in

Annecy Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nicknamed ...

. His mother, Hege Wiig Pinturault, is from

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, and he spent many of his childhood summers in Norway at Hestnesøy, near

Grimstad Grimstad () is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It belongs to the geographical region of Sørlandet. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of Grimstad. Some of the villages in Grimstad include Eide, Espenes, Fevik, ...

. He has

dual citizenship Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on ...

.https://www.nrk.no/sport/verdens-beste-alpinist-kunne-kjort-for-norge-1.15368955 "Moren hans kommer fra Bergen, og alpinisten har tilbrakt mye tid i Norge. Men ikke bare det, han har også statsborgerskap i begge land."

Ski racing career

A week before his 18th birthday, Pinturault made his World Cup debut in March

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Åre Åre () is a locality and one of the leading Scandinavian ski resorts situated in Åre Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 3,200 inhabitants in 2018. It is, however, not the seat of the municipality, which is Järpen. 25% of the local eco ...

, Sweden. His first podium came two years later in March

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, a runner-up finish in giant slalom in

Kranjska Gora Kranjska Gora (; german: Kronau) is a town in northwestern Slovenia, on the Sava Dolinka River in the Upper Carniola region, close to the Austrian and Italian borders. It is the seat of the Municipality of Kranjska Gora. Name Kranjska Gora was f ...

, Slovenia. That fall, he was also a runner-up at

Sölden Sölden is a municipality in the Ötztal valley of Tyrol, Austria. Geography At c. , it is the largest municipality in the country. The population of 3,449 (as of 2003) is outnumbered by tourists, of which 15,000 can be accommodated. With tou ...

in October

and gained his first World Cup victory in February 2012, in the parallel slalom in Moscow, Russia.

2013 season

Pinturault was unable to make the season start in Sölden in October

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, as he injured his ankle while playing tennis and had to pause for three months. In December, he won his second World Cup race in slalom at

Val-d'Isère Val-d'Isère (, literally ''Valley of Isère'') is a commune of the Tarentaise Valley, in the Savoie department (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region) in southeastern France. It lies from the border with Italy. It is on the border of the Vanoise Nationa ...

, where he thrilled the home fans with a brilliant second run under the floodlights to rise from sixth place. He convincingly beat Germany's

Felix Neureuther Felix Neureuther (; born 26 March 1984) is a German retired World Cup alpine ski racer and former World champion. Early life Born in Munich-Pasing, Neureuther is the son of former World and Olympic champion Rosi Mittermaier and Christian Neur ...

by half a second and future World Cup champion

Marcel Hirscher Marcel Hirscher (born 2 March 1989) is an Austrian former World Cup alpine ski racer. Hirscher made his World Cup debut in March 2007. He competed primarily in slalom and giant slalom, as well as combined and occasionally in super G. Winner of ...

, who led by 0.57 seconds after the first run. Pinturault's third win was at the super-combined in

Wengen Wengen () is a mountain village in the Bernese Oberland of central Switzerland. Located in the canton of Bern at an elevation of above sea level, it is part of the Jungfrauregion and has approximately 1,300 year-round residents, which swells to ...

, Switzerland, where his superior slalom skills were key. After placing 22nd in the downhill portion, he finished 1.15 seconds ahead of

Ivica Kostelić Ivica Kostelić (; born 23 November 1979) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Croatia. He specialized in slalom and combined, but was also one of the few alpine World Cup ski racers able to score points in all disciplines. He is the br ...

of Croatia. The training run for the downhill portion was his first time on downhill skis for months, as he missed pre-season speed training after surgery on his left ankle in August to repair ligaments damaged while playing tennis. Pinturault did not medal at the world championships in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

but had four top-six finishes. A week later, he claimed a fourth World Cup win, his first in giant slalom, at

Garmisch Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the O ...

, Germany. Being second after the first run, Pinturault's total time was 0.60 seconds ahead of runner-up Hirscher. On 15 March, he was honored as the 2013

Longines Compagnie des Montres Longines, Francillon S.A., or simply Longines (), is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. Founded by Auguste Agassiz in 1832, the company has been a subsidiary of the Swiss Swatch Group and its predec ...

Rising Star, as the top young racer (under 23) of the season. Pinturault changed equipment after the 2014 season, from Salomon to

Head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

World Cup results

Season titles

* 7 titles – (1 overall, 1

Giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline. It involves skiing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant slalom and slalom make up t ...

, 4 Combined, 1

Parallel Parallel is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Computing * Parallel algorithm * Parallel computing * Parallel metaheuristic * Parallel (software), a UNIX utility for running programs in parallel * Parallel Sysplex, a cluster of ...

) : :

Season standings

Race victories

Podiums

Including both parallel slalom and parallel giant slalom. Two parallel events have been classified in the sk-db.com results as classic events (the City Event slalom on 23/02/16 and the parallel GS on 18/12/17). They are shown here as parallel events.

World Championship results

Olympic results

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pinturault, Alexis 1991 births French male alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic alpine skiers of France Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in alpine skiing Olympic silver medalists for France Olympic bronze medalists for France French people of Norwegian descent Norwegian people of French descent Sportspeople from Savoie Living people Université Savoie-Mont Blanc alumni