The 41st

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 name is ...

season was scheduled to begin on 28 October 2006, but cancellation of the opening races in

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. Wit ...

delayed the season's start by two weeks. A very poor snowpack in the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

, along with stormy weather in January, caused numerous races to be moved and rescheduled throughout the winter. The schedule included a mid-season break during the first 3 weeks of February for the

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 ...

Åre Åre () is a Urban areas in Sweden, 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 Järpe ...

, Sweden. The season concluded on 18 March 2007, at the World Cup Finals in

Lenzerheide Lenzerheide ( Romansh: ''Lai'') is a mountain resort in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland at the foot of the Parpaner Rothorn. The village lies in the municipality Vaz/Obervaz in the district of Albula, sub-district Alvaschein. Th ...

, Switzerland.

Summary

The top two finishers from last season,

Benjamin Raich Benjamin Raich (born 28 February 1978 in Arzl im Pitztal, Tyrol) is an Austrian former World Cup champion alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. With 14 medals won at Winter Olympics and World Championships, 36 World Cup race victories (in ...

of Austria and

Aksel Lund Svindal Aksel Lund Svindal (born 26 December 1982) is a Norwegian former World Cup alpine ski racer. Born in Lørenskog in Akershus county, Svindal is a two-time overall World Cup champion (2007 and 2009), an Olympic gold medalist in super-G at the 20 ...

of Norway, at the top of the standings for most of the season. With consistent podium performances in the speed races, which won him the Cup title in downhill,

Didier Cuche Didier Cuche (born 16 August 1974) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Switzerland. Career Born in Le Pâquier, Neuchâtel, he competed in the downhill and super-G, along with the giant slalom. He won the World Cup downhill and super- ...

of Switzerland finished a solid third overall. The

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

overall champion and last year's third-place finisher, American

Bode Miller Samuel Bode Miller ( ; born October 12, 1977) is an American former FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer. He is an Winter Olympic Games, Olympic and List of Alpine Skiing world champions, World Championship gold me ...

, won four speed events but struggled in the technical events, keeping him from the top spots in the overall standings throughout the season. Before the final four individual races of the season, these four athletes still had a mathematical chance to win the overall World Cup title. The strongest newcomer was

Jens Byggmark Jens Byggmark (born 22 August 1985) is a Swedish former World Cup alpine ski racer who specialised in the technical events of slalom and giant slalom. Byggmark was born in Örebro but was raised in Tärnaby. He raced for Tärna IK Fjällvind ...

of Sweden, who won the first two races of his career on consecutive days in late January to vault temporarily into the top ranks in the slalom standings. Also in slalom,

Mario Matt Mario Matt (born 9 April 1979) is an Austrian former World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. Slalom racing career Born in Zams, Tyrol, Matt made his World Cup debut in December 1999. He claimed 15 World Cup victories: 14 in sl ...

of Austria came back to win three races in 2007, regaining his top form from the

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

seasons. Matt ultimately lost the slalom title to Raich by just 5 points. The early season on the women's side was led by

Marlies Schild Marlies Raich (née Schild, born 31 May 1981) is a retired Austrian FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer. She specializes in the technical disciplines of Slalom skiing, slalom and giant slalom. Schild won four Alpi ...

of Austria, who won six slaloms and a

super combined Combined is an event in alpine ski racing. The event format has changed within the last 30 years. A traditional combined competition is a two-day event consisting of one run of downhill and two runs of slalom; each discipline takes place on a s ...

, clinching both of these Cups early. But the biggest story of the season's first half was the resurgence of Austria's

Renate Götschl Renate Götschl (born 6 August 1975) is an Austrian former alpine ski racer. She is a two-time individual World Champion in the combined (1997) and downhill (1999), and has won a total of 9 World Championships medals. She also won two Olympi ...

, who was coming off a difficult

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

season which saw her drop to 19th in the overall standings, her worst finish since

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

. She rebounded to dominate the speed events, winning four races in

Super-G Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event ...

and three in downhill, securing the trophies in both of these events. American

Julia Mancuso Marie Mancuso (born March 9, 1984) is an American retired World Cup alpine ski racer, Olympic gold medalist and podcast host. She won the giant slalom at the 2006 Winter Olympics, and was the silver medalist in both downhill and combined i ...

, 2006 Olympic gold medalist, had a very strong season, scoring the first four World Cup wins of her career.

Nicole Hosp Nicole Hosp (; born 6 November 1983) is an Austrian former FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, World Cup Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer. She competed in all five disciplines and was a FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2007 – Women's giant slalom, worl ...

of Austria had a solid season with several podium positions, but few victories. Lindsey Kildow of the US celebrated three victories before she had to drop out after the

due to a knee injury. Entering the World Cup Finals, four women – Hosp, Götschl, Mancuso, and Schild – were within a 102-point range, and each of them had a realistic chance of winning the overall World Cup title. At the World Cup Finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, both the men's and women's overall titles came down to the technical events. On the men's side, the race came down to Raich and Svindal. Going into the technical events, Raich looked unbeatable but a DNF for him in GS meant that Svindal would have an opportunity to clinch the title on the final day in slalom, his weakest event. Svindal needed only to finish in the top fifteen and score points in order to win the title, and he achieved it in hair-raising fashion – by finishing 15th. Marlies Schild seemed a sure bet for the women's overall title after uncharacteristically strong performances in the speed events. But she skied disastrously in the slalom, the event that she had dominated all season long, and failed to score any points. That meant she needed both a strong performance in the GS and a weak one from her lone remaining rival, Nicole Hosp. But Hosp won the race while Schild managed just sixth place, ensuring the Cup title (and the GS globe) for Hosp.

Calendar

Men

Ladies

Nations team event

Men's standings

Overall

'' see complete table''

Downhill

'' see complete table''

Slalom

'' see complete table''

Giant slalom

'' see complete table''

Super G

'' see complete table''

Super combined

'' see complete table''

Ladies' standings

Overall

Downhill

Slalom

Giant slalom

Super G

Super combined

Nations Cup

Overall

Ladies

Men

Footnotes

References

External links

FIS-ski.com
– World Cup standings – 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:2006-07 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup FIS Alpine Ski World Cup

Summary

Calendar

Men

Ladies

Nations team event

Men's standings

Overall

Downhill

Slalom

Giant slalom

Super G

Super combined

Ladies' standings

Overall

Downhill

Slalom

Giant slalom

Super G

Super combined

Nations Cup

Overall

Ladies

Men

See also

Footnotes

References

External links