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Austrian alpine skier competing 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 during the 1983 season and was added to the official schedule of the World Championships in 1987 and the Winter Olympics in 1988.

Much like downhill, a super-G course consists of widely set gates that racers must pass through. The course is set so that skiers must turn more than in downhill, though the speeds are still much higher than in giant slalom (hence the name). Each athlete only has one run to clock the best time. In the Olympics, super-G courses are usually set on the same slopes as the downhill, but with a lower starting point.

History

Super-G was run as a World Cup test event during the 1982 season, with two men's races and a women's race that did not count in the season standings.^[1] Approved by the International Ski Federation (FIS) that summer, it was first officially run at the World Cup level in December 1982 at Val-d'Isère, France; the winner was Peter Müller of Switzerland. The first official women's super-G was run a month later in early January 1983, with consecutive events at Verbier, Switzerland. The first winner was Irene Epple of West Germany, and Cindy Nelson of the United States won the next day on a different course.^[2] These were the only two races for women in super-G during the 1983 season; the men had three. The event was not universally embraced during its early years,^[3] which included a boycott by two-time defending overall champion Phil Mahre in December 1982.^[4][5]

For the first three seasons, super-G results were added into the giant slalom discipline for the season standings; it gained separate status for a crystal globe for the 1986 season with five events for both men and women; the first champions were Markus Wasmeier and Marina Kiehl, both of West Germany.

It was added to the World Championships in 1987, held at Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Swiss skiers Pirmin Zurbriggen and Maria Walliser won gold medals to become the first world champions in the event. Super-G made its Olympic debut in 1988 in Calgary, where Franck Piccard of France and Sigrid Wolf of Austria took gold at Nakiska.

Top racers

Hermann Maier of Austria (nicknamed 'The Herminator') is widely regarded as the greatest male super-G racer, with 24 World Cup victories and five World Cup titles (1998–2001, 2004). He won the world championship in 1999 and an Olympic gold medal in 1998, three days after a crash in the downhill. Maier's proficiency in super-G was attributed to his thorough course inspection and his aggressive course tactics; he opted for the most direct and dangerous line down the hill. A serious motorcycle accident in August 2001 nearly resulted in an amputation of his lower right leg and sidelined him for the 2002 season, including the 2002 Olympics. After his return to the World Cup circuit in January 2003, Maier won eight more World Cup super-G events and his fifth season title in 2004.

Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway is second on the list with 15 wins in World Cup super-G races, Pirmin Zurbriggen third with his 10 wins. Svindal won Olympic gold in 2010 and his fifth season title in 2014, while Zurbriggen won four consecutive season titles (1987–90) and the first world championship in 1987. Another notable specialist was Kjetil André Aamodt of Norway, a triple gold medalist in Olympic super-G races, winning in 1992, 2002 and 2006. Aamodt won five World Cup races and two world championship medals (silver and bronze) in the discipline. Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg, a five-time overall World Cup champion, won nine World Cup super-G events. He won season titles in every discipline except super-G, where he was a runner-up three times. Girardelli was the silver medalist in the super-G at the 1987 World Championships and the 1992 Olympics.

On the women's side, Lindsey Vonn of the U.S. leads with 27 World Cup victories in super-G and has won five season titles (2009–2012, 2015). Katja Seizinger of Germany won five season titles in the 1990s, with 16 World Cup wins in the discipline. While neither won gold in the super-G in the Olympics (both won a bronze), they both won a world title, Vonn in 2009 and Seizinger in 1993. Renate Götschl of Austria won 17 World Cup events in super-G, three season titles (four as runner-up), and two medals (silver and bronze) in the world
championships.

Course

The vertical drop for a Super-G course must be between 350–650 m (1,150–2,130 ft) for men, 350–600 m (1,150–1,970 ft) for women, and 250–450 m (820–1,480 ft) for children. In the Olympic Winter Games, FIS World Ski Championships, and FIS World Cups, minimums are raised to 400 m (1,300 ft) for both men and women. Courses are normally at least 30 m (98 ft) in width, but sections with lower widths are permissible if the line and terrain before and after allow it. Higher widths can also be required if deemed necessary. Gates must be between 6 m (20 ft) and 8 m (26 ft) in width for open gates, and between 8 m (26 ft) and 12 m (39 ft) in width for vertical gates. The distance between turning poles of successive gates must be at least 25 m (82 ft). The number of direction changes must be at least 7% of the course drop in meters (6% for Olympic Winter Games, FIS World Ski Championships and FIS World Cups).^[6]

Equipment

In an attempt to increase safety, the 2004 season saw the FIS impose minimum ski lengths for the super-G for the first time: to 205 cm (80.7 in) for men, 200 cm (78.7 in) for women. The minimum turning radius was increased to 45 m (148 ft) for the 2014 season.

World Cup podiums

Men

The following table contains the men's Super-G (from 2007 Super combined) World Cup podiums since the first edition in 1986.

Season	1st	2nd	3rd
1986	Markus Wasmeier	Pirmin Zurbriggen	Marc Girardelli
1987	Pirmin Zurbriggen	Marc Girardelli	Markus Wasmeier
1988	Pirmin Zurbriggen	Markus Wasmeier	Franck Piccard
1989	Pirmin Zurbriggen	Lars-Börje Eriksson	Franck Piccard
1990	Pirmin Zurbriggen	Günther Mader	Lars-Börje Eriksson
1991	Franz Heinzer	Stephan Eberharter	Atle Skaardal
1992	Paul Accola	Marc Girardelli	Günther Mader
1993	Kjetil-Andre Aamodt	Günther Mader	Franz Heinzer
1994	Jan Einar Thorsen	Marc Girardelli	Tommy Moe
1995	Peter Runggaldier	Günther Mader	Werner Perathoner
1996	Atle Skaardal	Hans Knauß	Lasse Kjus
1997	Luc Alphand	Josef Strobl	Andreas Schifferer
1998	Hermann Maier	Hans Knauß	Stephan Eberharter
1999	Hermann Maier	Stephan Eberharter	Andreas Schifferer
2000	Hermann Maier	Werner Franz	Fritz Strobl
2001	Hermann Maier	Christoph Gruber	Josef Strobl
2002	Stephan Eberharter	Didier Cuche	Fritz Strobl
2003	Stephan Eberharter	Marco Büchel	Didier Cuche
2004	Hermann Maier	Daron Rahlves	Stephan Eberharter
2005	Bode Miller	Hermann Maier	Daron Rahlves
2006	Aksel Lund Svindal	Hermann Maier	Daron Rahlves
2007	Bode Miller	Didier Cuche	John Kucera
2008	Hannes Reichelt	Didier Cuche	Benjamin Raich
2009	Aksel Lund Svindal	Werner Heel	Didier Defago
2010	Erik Guay	Michael Walchhofer	Aksel Lund Svindal
2011	Didier Cuche	Georg Streitberger	Ivica Kostelic
2012	Aksel Lund Svindal	Didier Cuche	Beat Feuz
2013	Aksel Lund Svindal	Matteo Marsaglia	Matthias Mayer
2014	Aksel Lund Svindal	Kjetil Jansrud	Patrick Küng
2015	Kjetil Jansrud	Dominik Paris	Matthias Mayer
2016	Aleksander Aamodt Kilde	Kjetil Jansrud	Aksel Lund Svindal
2017	Kjetil Jansrud	Hannes Reichelt	Aleksander Aamodt Kilde
2018	Kjetil Jansrud	Vincent Kriechmayr	Aksel Lund Svindal
2019	Dominik Paris	Vincent Kriechmayr	Mauro Caviezel

Women

Season	1st	2nd	3rd
2017	Tina Weirather	Ilka Štuhec	Lara Gut
2018	Tina Weirather	Lara Gut	Anna Veith
2019	Mikaela Shiffrin	Nicole Schmidhofer	Tina Weirather

Super G at the major competitions

Men

Competition	Course setter	1st	2nd	3rd
1987 WCH
1988 WOG		Franck Piccard	Helmut Mayer	Lars-Borje Eriksson
1989 WCH
1991 WCH
1992 WOG		Kjetil-Andre Aamodt	Marc Girardelli	Jan Einar Thorsen
1993 WCH
1994 WOG		Markus Wasmeier	Tommy Moe	Kjetil-Andre Aamodt
1996 WCH
1997 WCH		Atle Skårdal	Lasse Kjus	Günther Mader
1998 WOG		Hermann Maier	Didier Cuche	Hans Knauß
1999 WCH		Lasse Kjus Hermann Maier	None awarded	Hans Knauß
2001 WCH		Daron Rahlves	Stephan Eberharter	Hermann Maier
2002 WOG	F. Zueger	Kjetil-Andre Aamodt	Stephan Eberharter	Andreas Schifferer
2003 WCH	M. Arnesen	Stephan Eberharter	Bode Miller	Hermann Maier
2005 WCH	M. Arnesen	Bode Miller	Michael Walchhofer	Benjamin Raich
2006 WOG	A. Evers	Kjetil-Andre Aamodt	Hermann Maier	Ambrosi Hoffmann
2007 WCH	H. Flatscher	Patrick Staudacher	Fritz Strobl	Bruno Kernen
2009 WCH	G. L. Rulfi	Didier Cuche	Peter Fill	Aksel Lund Svindal
2010 WOG	G. L. Rulfi	Aksel Lund Svindal	Bode Miller	Andrew Weibrecht
2011 WCH	H. Flatscher	Christof Innerhofer	Hannes Reichelt	Ivica Kostelic
2013 WCH	T. Moger	Ted Ligety	Gauthier de Tessières	Aksel Lund Svindal
2014 WOG	P. Morisod	Kjetil Jansrud	Andrew Weibrecht	Bode Miller
2015 WCH	F. Winkler	Hannes Reichelt	Dustin Cook	Adrien Theaux
2017 WCH	A. Ghidoni	Erik Guay	Kjetil Jansrud	Manuel Osborne-Paradis
2018 WOG	A. Ghidoni	Matthias Mayer	Beat Feuz	Kjetil Jansrud
2019 WCH		Dominik Paris	Johan Clarey Vincent Kriechmayr	None awarded

Women

Competition	Course setter	1st	2nd	3rd
1987 WCH
1988 WOG		Sigrid Wolf	Michela Figini	Karen Percy
1989 WCH
1991 WCH
1992 WOG		Deborah Compagnoni	Carole Merle	Katja Seizinger
1993 WCH
1994 WOG		Diann Roffe Steinrotter	Svetlana Gladysheva	Isolde Kostner
1996 WCH
1997 WCH		Isolde Kostner	Katja Seizinger	Hilde Gerg
1998 WOG		Picabo Street	Michaela Dorfmeister	Alexandra Meissnitzer
1999 WCH		Alexandra Meissnitzer	Renate Götschl	Michaela Dorfmeister
2001 WCH		Regine Cavagnoud	Isolde Kostner	Hilde Gerg
2002 WOG	P. Endrass	Daniela Ceccarelli	Janica Kostelić	Karen Putzer
2003 WCH	B. Zobel	Michaela Dorfmeister	Kristen Clark	Jonna Mendes
2005 WCH	X. Fournier	Anja Pärson	Lucia Recchia	Julia Mancuso
2006 WOG	J. Graller	Michaela Dorfmeister	Janica Kostelić	Alexandra Meissnitzer
2007 WCH	J. Graller	Anja Pärson	Lindsey Vonn	Renate Götschl
2009 WCH	U. Emilsson	Lindsey Vonn	Marie Marchand-Arvier	Andrea Fischbacher
2010 WOG	J. Kriechbaum	Andrea Fischbacher	Tina Maze	Lindsey Vonn
2011 WCH	J. Kriechbaum	Elisabeth Görgl	Julia Mancuso	Maria Riesch
2013 WCH	D. Petrini	Tina Maze	Lara Gut	Julia Mancuso
2014 WOG	F. Winkler	Anna Fenninger	Maria Hoefl-Riesch	Nicole Hosp
2015 WCH	R. Assinger	Anna Fenninger	Tina Maze	Lindsey Vonn
2017 WCH	A. Ghezze	Nicole Schmidhofer	Tina Weirather	Lara Gut
2018 WOG	M. Tatschl	Ester Ledecká	Anna Veith	Tina Weirather
2019 WCH		Mikaela Shiffrin	Sofia Goggia	Corinne Suter

WOG - Winter Olympic Games, WCH - FIS World Ski Championships

See also

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Super-G skiing.

• 
  FIS-Ski.com^{[permanent dead link]} - results of first World Cup Super G race - Val-d'Isère- Dec-1982