How the Winter Season Became a Record-Breaking Year for the ÖSV

How the Winter Season Became a Record-Breaking Year for the ÖSV

The 32-year-old woman from Ticino celebrated her first World Cup victory when many of her current competitors were still children. Back in December 2008, aged just 17, Lara Gut achieved her first Super-G victory in St. Moritz. Her most recent World Cup victory, under the double name Gut-Behrami, was the 44th and came in February 16th in the Crans Montana downhill.

There is a gap of 15 years, 1 month, 3 weeks, and 6 days between these two victories, setting a new record in the Ski World Cup. Renate Götschl, the previous record holder, secured her first World Cup victory in December 1993, and her last in March 2007.

Just last weekend, a snowboarder made history. No snowboarding winner has ever been older than Andreas Prommegger, who was 43 years and 106 days old when he won the parallel giant slalom in Fount, Poland. This record may not last long, however, as Prommegger, the world champion in 2023, has no plans to retire.

This winter, Stefan Kraft from Salzburger soared to the top of the World Cup leaderboard. No other ski jumper has reached the podium as often as Kraft, who has surpassed Finnish legend Janne Ahonen with 113 podium finishes. He is aiming for his third victory in the overall World Cup, and may even beat Gregor Schlierenzauer’s record of 53 World Cup victories. Currently third with 40 victories, 30-year-old Kraft has no plans to retire soon.

This season in Chamonix, Swiss slalom specialist Daniel Yule made an historic comeback. He slipped into the second round in 30th place, then stormed to a sensational victory. Despite benefiting from deteriorating piste conditions, his victory was historic: he is the first racer to win from 30th place.

If Eva Pinkelnig didn’t exist, she would need to be invented. The career of the Vorarlberg native is both unique and unusual: she made her first jump at 24, nearly retired due to a traumatic brain injury and ruptured spleen, and at 34, she became the overall World Cup winner and Austrian female athlete of the year. Recently, she added another achievement to her list by winning the home World Cup in Hinzenbach. At 35 years, 8 months, 4 weeks, and one day, Pinkelnig is the oldest winner of a World Cup ski jumping event.

The German biathlete Strelow is a true master marksman, and has managed to hit the target with 147 cartridges while shooting prone across various seasons – a record that may well stand forever. The previous record was held by Simon Eder with 109 hits.

Japanese ski jumper Noriaki Kasai started his career using old parallel technology. He made his World Cup debut in December 1988, when the Berlin Wall was still standing. Decades later, Kasai is still competing. A few weeks ago, the 51-year-old finished 30th at the World Cup in Sapporo, becoming the oldest jumper to reach a final round.