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.
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.
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, which included a boycott by two-time defending overall champion Phil Mahre in December 1982.
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
Men
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 and Marco Odermatt of Switzerland are tied for second on the list with 17 wins in World Cup super-G races and Kjetil Jansrud is fourth with his 13 wins. Svindal won Olympic gold in 2010 and his fifth season title in 2014.
Pirmin Zurbriggen won four consecutive season titles (1987–90) and was the first world champion of this discipline in 1987.
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.
Women
Lindsey Vonn of the U.S. leads with 28 World Cup victories in super-G and has won five season titles (2009–2012, 2015).
Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland has won 24 World Cup races, six season titles (2014, 2016, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025), and a Gold medal in the event at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Katja Seizinger of Germany won five season titles in the 1990s, with 16 World Cup wins in the discipline.
Neither Vonn nor Seizinger has won gold in the super-G at the Olympics (both won a bronze) while Gut-Behrami has. However, all three of them have won a world title, Vonn in 2009, Gut-Behrami in 2021 and Seizinger in 1993.
Renate Götschl of Austria won 17 World Cup events in super-G, three season titles, and two medals (silver and bronze) in the world championships.
Course The vertical drop for a super-G course must be between for men, for women, and for children.
In the Olympic Winter Games, FIS World Ski Championships, and FIS World Cups, minimums are raised to for both men and women. Courses are normally at least 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 and in width for open gates, and between and in width for vertical gates. The distance between turning poles of successive gates must be at least . 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).
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 for men and for women. The minimum turning radius was increased to 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. Season1st2nd3rd1986 Markus Wasmeier Pirmin Zurbriggen Marc Girardelli1987 Pirmin Zurbriggen Marc Girardelli Markus Wasmeier1988 Pirmin Zurbriggen Markus Wasmeier Franck Piccard1989 Pirmin Zurbriggen Lars-Börje Eriksson Franck Piccard1990 Pirmin Zurbriggen Günther Mader Lars-Börje Eriksson1991 Franz Heinzer Stephan Eberharter Atle Skårdal1992 Paul Accola Marc Girardelli Günther Mader1993 Kjetil André Aamodt Günther Mader Franz Heinzer1994 Jan Einar Thorsen Marc Girardelli Tommy Moe1995 Peter Runggaldier Günther Mader Werner Perathoner1996 Atle Skårdal Hans Knauß Lasse Kjus1997 Luc Alphand Josef Strobl Andreas Schifferer1998 Hermann Maier Hans Knauß Stephan Eberharter1999 Hermann Maier Stephan Eberharter Andreas Schifferer2000 Hermann Maier Werner Franz Fritz Strobl2001 Hermann Maier Christoph Gruber Josef Strobl2002 Stephan Eberharter Didier Cuche Fritz Strobl2003 Stephan Eberharter Marco Büchel Didier Cuche2004 Hermann Maier Daron Rahlves Stephan Eberharter2005 Bode Miller Hermann Maier Daron Rahlves2006 Aksel Lund Svindal Hermann Maier Daron Rahlves2007 Bode Miller Didier Cuche John Kucera2008 Hannes Reichelt Didier Cuche Benjamin Raich2009 Aksel Lund Svindal Werner Heel Didier Défago2010 Erik Guay Michael Walchhofer Aksel Lund Svindal2011 Didier Cuche Georg Streitberger Ivica Kostelić2012 Aksel Lund Svindal Didier Cuche Beat Feuz2013 Aksel Lund Svindal Matteo Marsaglia Matthias Mayer2014 Aksel Lund Svindal Kjetil Jansrud Patrick Küng2015 Kjetil Jansrud Dominik Paris Matthias Mayer2016 Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Kjetil Jansrud Aksel Lund Svindal2017 Kjetil Jansrud Hannes Reichelt Aleksander Aamodt Kilde2018 Kjetil Jansrud Vincent Kriechmayr Aksel Lund Svindal2019 Dominik Paris Vincent Kriechmayr Mauro Caviezel2020 Mauro Caviezel Vincent Kriechmayr Aleksander Aamodt Kilde2021 Vincent Kriechmayr Marco Odermatt Matthias Mayer2022 Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Marco Odermatt Vincent Kriechmayr2023 Marco Odermatt Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Vincent Kriechmayr2024 Marco Odermatt Vincent Kriechmayr Raphael Haaser
Women Season1st2nd3rd1986 Marina Kiehl Liisa Savijarvi Michaela Marzola1987 Maria Walliser Catherine Quittet Marina Kiehl1988 Michela Figini Sylvia Eder Regine Mösenlechner Blanca Fernández Ochoa1989 Carole Merle Sigrid Wolf Anita Wachter1990 Carole Merle Michaela Gerg-Leitner Sigrid Wolf1991 Carole Merle Petra Kronberger Michaela Gerg-Leitner1992 Carole Merle Merete Fjeldavlie Katja Seizinger1993 Katja Seizinger Ulrike Maier Carole Merle1994 Katja Seizinger Bibiana Perez Hilde Gerg1995 Katja Seizinger Heidi Zeller-Bähler Heidi Zurbriggen1996 Katja Seizinger Alexandra Meissnitzer Martina Ertl1997 Hilde Gerg Katja Seizinger Pernilla Wiberg1998 Katja Seizinger Renate Götschl Isolde Kostner1999 Alexandra Meissnitzer Michaela Dorfmeister Martina Ertl2000 Renate Götschl Mélanie Turgeon Mojca Suhadolc2001 Régine Cavagnoud Renate Götschl Carole Montillet2002 Hilde Gerg Alexandra Meissnitzer Michaela Dorfmeister2003 Carole Montillet Renate Götschl Karen Putzer2004 Renate Götschl Carole Montillet Michaela Dorfmeister2005 Michaela Dorfmeister Renate Götschl Lindsey Kildow2006 Michaela Dorfmeister Alexandra Meissnitzer Nadia Styger2007 Renate Götschl Nicole Hosp Lindsey Kildow2008 Maria Riesch Elisabeth Görgl Fabienne Suter2009 Lindsey Vonn Nadia Fanchini Fabienne Suter2010 Lindsey Vonn Elisabeth Görgl Nadia Styger2011 Lindsey Vonn Maria Riesch Julia Mancuso2012 Lindsey Vonn Julia Mancuso Anna Fenninger2013 Tina Maze Julia Mancuso Anna Fenninger2014 Lara Gut Anna Fenninger Tina Weirather2015 Lindsey Vonn Anna Fenninger Tina Maze2016 Lara Gut Tina Weirather Lindsey Vonn2017 Tina Weirather Ilka Štuhec Lara Gut2018 Tina Weirather Lara Gut Anna Veith2019 Mikaela Shiffrin Nicole Schmidhofer Tina Weirather2020 Corinne Suter Federica Brignone Nicole Schmidhofer2021 Lara Gut-Behrami Federica Brignone Corinne Suter2022 Federica Brignone Elena Curtoni Mikaela Shiffrin2023 Lara Gut-Behrami Federica Brignone Ragnhild Mowinckel2024 Lara Gut-Behrami Federica Brignone Cornelia Hütter
Super-G at the major competitions Men CompetitionCourse setter1st2nd3rd1987 WCH1988 WOG Franck Piccard Helmut Mayer Lars-Börje Eriksson1989 WCH1991 WCH1992 WOG Kjetil André Aamodt Marc Girardelli Jan Einar Thorsen1993 WCH1994 WOG Markus Wasmeier Tommy Moe Kjetil André Aamodt1996 WCH1997 WCH Atle Skårdal Lasse Kjus Günther Mader1998 WOG Hermann Maier Didier Cuche Hans Knauß1999 WCH Lasse Kjus Hermann Maier None awarded Hans Knauß2001 WCH Daron Rahlves Stephan Eberharter Hermann Maier2002 WOG F. Zueger Kjetil André Aamodt Stephan Eberharter Andreas Schifferer2003 WCH M. Arnesen Stephan Eberharter Bode Miller Hermann Maier2005 WCH M. Arnesen Bode Miller Michael Walchhofer Benjamin Raich2006 WOG A. Evers Kjetil André Aamodt Hermann Maier Ambrosi Hoffmann2007 WCH H. Flatscher Patrick Staudacher Fritz Strobl Bruno Kernen2009 WCH G. L. Rulfi Didier Cuche Peter Fill Aksel Lund Svindal2010 WOG G. L. Rulfi Aksel Lund Svindal Bode Miller Andrew Weibrecht2011 WCH H. Flatscher Christof Innerhofer Hannes Reichelt Ivica Kostelić2013 WCH T. Moger Ted Ligety Gauthier de Tessières Aksel Lund Svindal2014 WOG P. Morisod Kjetil Jansrud Andrew Weibrecht Bode Miller2015 WCH F. Winkler Hannes Reichelt Dustin Cook Adrien Théaux2017 WCH A. Ghidoni Erik Guay Kjetil Jansrud Manuel Osborne-Paradis2018 WOG A. Ghidoni Matthias Mayer Beat Feuz Kjetil Jansrud2019 WCH Dominik Paris Johan Clarey Vincent Kriechmayr None awarded2021 WCH Vincent Kriechmayr Romed Baumann Alexis Pinturault2022 WOG Matthias Mayer Ryan Cochran-Siegle Aleksander Aamodt Kilde2023 WCH James Crawford Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Alexis Pinturault2025 WCH Marco Odermatt Raphael Haaser Adrian Smiseth Sejersted2026 WOG Franjo von Allmen Ryan Cochran-Siegle Marco Odermatt Women