Two of alpine skiing’s biggest stars, Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin, will go head-to-head this weekend as the women’s speed season kicks off with back-to-back downhills and a Super-G in St. Moritz (Dec. 12–14), a critical early stop on the road to the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics.
At 41, Lindsey Vonn continues to defy age and gravity. The American speed legend, who returned to World Cup racing last season after a five-year retirement, opened her 2025-26 campaign in style with a silver medal in the Super-G finals at Sun Valley — becoming the oldest woman ever to podium at the elite level.
Vonn remains the most successful female downhill skier in history with 43 World Cup wins in the discipline and holds 28 Super-G victories. She is the 2010 Olympic downhill champion and took Super-G bronze at the same Vancouver Games. With the Cortina Olympics now just over a year away, the St. Moritz races mark the start of a pivotal speed campaign for the veteran.
Her fiercest rival this weekend will be compatriot Mikaela Shiffrin, the most decorated alpine skier of all time with 104 World Cup victories. While best known as a technical wizard, the 30-year-old has proven she belongs in speed as well: she is the only skier (male or female) to have won World Cup races in all six disciplines and claimed the Super-G crystal globe in 2019.
Friday and Saturday will feature two downhills (Dec. 12 at 4:15 a.m. ET / 1:15 a.m. PT and Dec. 13 at 4:45 a.m. ET / 1:45 a.m. PT), followed by a Super-G on Sunday. This will be Shiffrin’s first Super-G start since December 2023 and her first speed races of the season after a dominant early technical swing that included slalom wins in Levi, Gurgl, and Copper Mountain.
How to Watch the St. Moritz Speed Events
United States: Ski and Snowboard Live (subscription required)
Canada: CBC Sports
United Kingdom: Discovery+
U.K. start times: 9:15 a.m. (Friday DH), 9:45 a.m. (Saturday DH), Super-G time TBD
With Olympic seeding points on the line and both American superstars hungry to stamp their authority on the speed tour, St. Moritz promises high drama under the Swiss floodlights. Vonn is chasing one final Olympic chapter; Shiffrin is chasing history in every discipline. This weekend, the mountain will decide who strikes first.
