As the winter sports calendar wraps up 2025 with high-stakes action, American superstar Mikaela Shiffrin headlines the final women’s Alpine Skiing World Cup races of the year in Semmering, Austria. The two-time Olympic gold medalist enters the weekend on an unprecedented hot streak, aiming to extend her dominance in slalom while building momentum in giant slalom ahead of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.
Shiffrin has stormed through the season with five consecutive World Cup slalom victories — including four this campaign — all by commanding margins exceeding one second. This run marks the most dominant slalom stretch in history, surpassing any previous streaks by men or women. Semmering has been a happy hunting ground for her, with seven wins in her last nine giant slalom and slalom starts there (last raced in 2022).
Saturday features the giant slalom, where Shiffrin shows strong progress in her recovery from a 2024 crash. She posted fourth-place finishes twice this season amid steady improvement. Sunday’s slalom offers her chance to cap 2025 with another statement win against rising rivals like Lara Colturi and Camille Rast.
On the men’s side, Livigno — host venue for 2026 Olympic freestyle and snowboarding — makes its Alpine World Cup debut with a super-G on Saturday. Swiss phenom Marco Odermatt, the reigning super-G world champion and multi-year discipline leader, enters as the favorite. American Ryan Cochran-Siegle, the 2022 Olympic silver medalist, looks sharp early in this Olympic cycle with top-10 results.
Cross-country skiing ramps up with the iconic Tour de Ski, a grueling multi-stage event akin to cycling’s Tour de France, kicking off Sunday and running through January 4 across Italian venues. Jessie Diggins, the only North American to ever win the Tour (in 2021 and 2024), leads the World Cup standings and chases another title in her farewell season before retirement.
This post-Christmas weekend delivers must-watch Olympic sport drama as stars fine-tune form for the fast-approaching 2026 Winter Games.
