A very popular snow discipline at the FISU World University Games, Alpine Skiing had its premiere at the event’s first edition in Chamonix, France, in 1960. Alpine Skiing has the highest country participation of any sport at the FISU Games, with 37 countries having participated at the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games in the United States.

History of Alpine Skiing in FISU

A very popular snow discipline at the FISU World University Games, Alpine Skiing had its premiere at the event’s first edition in Chamonix, France, in 1960. Alpine skiing had previously been on the programme of the traditional International Winter Weeks which were held in 1951 in Bad Gastein, 1953 in Saint Moritz, 1955 in Yugoslavia, 1957 in Oberammergau and 1959 in Zell am See. From the first edition, the following races have been organised for men and women: Slalom Special, Giant Slalom and Downhill. Super-G was first organised in 1989 and downhill was last held in 2013. Mixed Team Parallel was also added to the programme in 2017 in Almaty. The first medal of the 1960 WU was attributed to French skier Cécile Prince in the Slalom. For many years student athletes from Switzerland, USA, Italy, the former Czechoslovakia and Austria have dominated the FISU Games. Many participants and medallists of the FISU Games also took part in the Olympic Winter Games, as for example: Naoki YVASA (JPN), Martin VRABLIK (CZE), Filip TREJBAL (CZE), and Ramon ZENHAEUSERN (SUI).

Alpine skiing Women's Giant Slalom |
Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games

Alpine skiing Slalom Men |
Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games