The 15th World Cup season began in December 1980 in France and concluded in March 1981 in Switzerland. Phil Mahre became the first American to win an overall title, the first of his three consecutive overall titles. Marie-Theres Nadig of Switzerland won the women's overall title.

Six-time ladies overall champion Annemarie Moser-Pröll of Austria, who first competed on the World Cup tour in 1969 at age 16, and four-time men's overall champion Gustav Thöni of Italy, who first competed on the World Cup tour in 1970 at age 18, both retired at the end of the 1980 season. After winning the overall title this year, Nadig, who had joined the tour in 1971, also retired. In part to stop this exodus of talent, the International Ski Federation decided to offer a new kind of license to its athletes, called a "B license", which permitted holders to receive sponsorship payments directly (instead of through their federation) but still retain their World Cup eligibility.

Calendar

Men + Event key: DH – Downhill, SL – Slalom, GS – Giant slalom, KB – Combined, PS – Parallel slalom (Nations Cup ranking only)DatePlaceWinnerSecondThird345 1 7 December 1980   Val d'Isère DH 103  Uli Spieß Ken Read Steve Podborski346 2 9 December 1980   Madonna di Campiglio SL 116  Ingemar Stenmark Paul Frommelt Bojan Križaj347 3 10 December 1980   GS 110  Ingemar Stenmark Aleksandr Zhirov Gerhard Jäger348 4 14 December 1980   Val Gardena DH 104  Peter Müller Harti Weirather Steve Podborski349 5 9 December 1980  14 December 1980   Madonna di Campiglio (SL) Val Gardena (DH) KB 018  Peter Müller Leonhard Stock Andreas Wenzel 350 6 15 December 1980   Val Gardena DH 105  Harti Weirather Uli Spieß Peter Müller 351 7 21 December 1980   St. Moritz DH 106  Steve Podborski Peter Wirnsberger Peter Müller352 8 4 January 1981   Ebnat-Kappel GS 111  Christian Orlainsky Hans Enn Jean-Luc Fournier353 9 7 December 1980  4 January 1981   Val d'Isère (DH) Ebnat-Kappel (GS) KB 019  Andreas Wenzel Hans Enn Phil Mahre354 10 6 January 1981   Morzine GS 112  Ingemar Stenmark Joël Gaspoz Bojan Križaj355 11 10 January 1981   Garmisch DH 107  Steve Podborski Peter Müller Harti Weirather356 12 6 January 1981  10 January 1981   Morzine (GS) Garmisch (DH) KB 020  Phil Mahre Peter Müller Andreas Wenzel357 13 11 January 1981   Garmisch SL 117  Steve Mahre Petar Popangelov Paul Frommelt 358 14 13 January 1981   Oberstaufen SL 118  Paul Frommelt Ingemar Stenmark Steve Mahre359 15 17 January 1981   Kitzbühel DH 108  Steve Podborski Peter Müller Peter Wirnsberger360 16 13 January 1981  17 January 1981   Oberstaufen (SL) Kitzbühel (DH) KB 021  Phil Mahre Steve Mahre Ingemar Stenmark361 17 18 January 1981   Kitzbühel SL 119  Ingemar Stenmark Vladimir Andreev Christian Orlainsky362 18 24 January 1981   Wengen DH 109  Toni Bürgler Harti Weirather Steve Podborski363 19 25 January 1981   SL 120  Bojan Križaj Marc Girardelli Ingemar Stenmark364 20 26 January 1981   Adelboden GS 113  Ingemar Stenmark Boris Strel Christian Orlainsky 365 21 31 January 1981   St. Anton DH 110  Harti Weirather Peter Wirnsberger Steve Podborski366 22 1 February 1981   SL 121  Ingemar Stenmark Phil Mahre Jarle Halsnes367 23 1 February 1981   KB 022  Phil Mahre Herbert Plank Herbert Renoth368 24 3 February 1981   Schladming GS 114  Ingemar Stenmark Hans Enn Jean-Luc Fournier369 25 8 February 1981   Oslo SL 122  Ingemar Stenmark Bengt Fjällberg Vladimir Andreev370 26 11 February 1981   Voss GS 115  Ingemar Stenmark Aleksandr Zhirov Bruno Nöckler371 27 14 February 1981   Åre GS 116  Ingemar Stenmark Aleksandr Zhirov Phil Mahre372 28 15 February 1981   SL 123  Phil Mahre Ingemar Stenmark Franz Gruber373 29 5 March 1981   Aspen DH 111  Valeri Tsyganov Harti Weirather Gerhard Pfaffenbichler374 30 6 March 1981   DH 112  Harti Weirather Steve Podborski Franz Heinzer375 31 7 March 1981   GS 117  Phil Mahre Ingemar Stenmark Steve Mahre376 32 14 March 1981   Furano GS 118  Aleksandr Zhirov Gerhard Jäger Ingemar Stenmark377 33 15 March 1981   SL 124  Phil Mahre Bojan Križaj Ingemar Stenmark378 34 24 March 1981   Borovets GS 119  Aleksandr Zhirov Ingemar Stenmark Joël Gaspoz379 35 25 March 1981   SL 125  Aleksandr Zhirov Steve Mahre Phil Mahre380 36 28 March 1981   Laax GS 120  Aleksandr Zhirov Phil Mahre Ingemar StenmarkNations Cup 30 March 1981   Laax PS ncr  Ingemar Stenmark Jarle Halsnes Phil Mahre

Women + Event key: DH – Downhill, SL – Slalom, GS – Giant slalom, KB – Combined, PS – Parallel slalom (Nations Cup ranking only)DatePlaceWinnerSecondThird327 1 3 December 1980   Val d'Isère DH 090  Marie-Theres Nadig Kathy Kreiner Irene Epple 328 2 4 December 1980   GS 105  Irene Epple Perrine Pelen Christa Kinshofer329 3 4 December 1980   KB 018  Marie-Theres Nadig Irene Epple Christa Kinshofer330 4 8 December 1980   Limone Piemonte GS 106  Marie-Theres Nadig Daniela Zini Fabienne Serrat 3315 12 December 1980   Piancavallo DH 091  Marie-Theres Nadig Torill Fjeldstad Doris de Agostini332 6 8 December 1980  12 December 1980   Limone Piemonte (GS) Piancavallo (DH) KB 019  Marie-Theres Nadig Fabienne Serrat Erika Hess333 7 13 December 1980   Piancavallo SL 116  Fabienne Serrat Erika Hess Maria Rosa Quario 3348 17 December 1980   Altenmarkt DH 092  Jana Šoltýsová Doris de Agostini Torill Fjeldstad335 9 18 December 1980   SL 117  Perrine Pelen Christa Kinshofer Daniela Zini336 10 21 December 1980   Bormio SL 118  Perrine Pelen Nadezhda Patrikeyeva Erika Hess 33711 8 January 1981   Pfronten DH 093  Cornelia Pröll Doris de Agostini Holly Flanders338 12 12 January 1981   Schruns DH 094  Doris de Agostini Cindy Nelson Irene Epple339 13 13 January 1981   SL 119  Erika Hess Claudia Giordani Tamara McKinney 34014 19 January 1981   Crans-Montana DH 095  Marie-Theres Nadig Doris de Agostini Christa Kinshofer341 15 21 January 1981   SL 120  Erika Hess Christin Cooper Hanni Wenzel342 16 21 January 1981   KB 020  Christa Kinshofer Erika Hess Christin Cooper343 17 22 January 1981   Haute-Nendaz GS 107  Tamara McKinney Hanni Wenzel Irene Epple344 18 24 January 1981   Les Gets GS 108  Tamara McKinney Christa Kinshofer Hanni Wenzel 34519 28 January 1981   Megève DH 096  Doris de Agostini Marie-Theres Nadig Torill Fjeldstad346 20 24 January 1981  28 January 1981   Les Gets (GS) Megève (DH) KB 021  Hanni Wenzel Tamara McKinney Marie-Theres Nadig 34721 29 January 1981   Megève DH 097  Marie-Theres Nadig Doris de Agostini Cornelia Pröll348 22 31 January 1981   Les Diablerets SL 121  Erika Hess Christin Cooper Daniela Zini349 23 3 February 1981   Zwiesel SL 122  Erika Hess Daniela Zini Christin Cooper 350 24 4 February 1981   GS 109  Maria Epple Christa Kinshofer Tamara McKinney 351 25 8 February 1981   Haus im Ennstal DH 098  Gerry Sorensen Irene Epple Cornelia Pröll352 26 3 February 1981  8 February 1981   Zwiesel (SL) Haus im Ennstal (DH) KB 022  Hanni Wenzel Maria Walliser Christin Cooper353 27 10 February 1981   Maribor GS 110  Marie-Theres Nadig Maria Epple Irene Epple354 28 6 March 1981   Aspen DH 099  Elisabeth Kirchler Regine Mösenlechner Cindy Nelson355 29 8 March 1981   GS 111  Tamara McKinney Erika Hess Wanda Bieler356 30 13 March 1981   Furano GS 112  Marie-Theres Nadig Hanni Wenzel Christin Cooper357 31 15 March 1981   SL 123  Erika Hess Christin Cooper Maria Epple358 32 24 March 1981   Wangs-Pizol SL 124  Erika Hess Daniela Zini Maria Walliser359 33 25 March 1981   GS 113  Erika Hess Christin Cooper Hanni WenzelNations Cup 30 March 1981   Laax PS ncp  Tamara McKinney Traudl Hächer Hanni Wenzel

Men

Overall

see complete table

In men's overall World Cup 1980/81 the best five downhills, best five giant slaloms, best five slaloms and best three combined count. 28 racers had a point deduction. Ingemar Stenmark had 156 points deduction and won 10 races. For the first time he tried to score points in combined and was able to collect 15 points - not enough to win the Overall World Cup.

PlaceNameCountryTotal DH GS SL KB 1 Phil Mahre 266 10 84 97 75 2 Ingemar Stenmark 260 0 125 120 15 3 Aleksandr Zhirov 185 0 115 70 0 4 Steve Mahre 155 0 46 80 29 5 Peter Müller 140 95 0 0 45 6 Bojan Križaj 137 0 40 80 17 7 Andreas Wenzel 130 9 38 28 55 8 Harti Weirather 115 115 0 0 0 9 Steve Podborski 110 110 0 0 0 10 Christian Orlainsky 105 0 61 44 0 11 Joël Gaspoz 102 0 71 31 0 12 Leonhard Stock 97 43 34 0 20 13 Jarle Halsnes 95 0 50 45 0 14 Hans Enn 93 2 52 8 31 15 Jacques Lüthy 84 0 53 11 20 16 Bruno Nöckler 79 0 56 23 0 17 Paul Frommelt 77 0 0 77 0 18 Peter Wirnsberger 73 73 0 0 0 Valeri Tsyganov 73 55 1 0 17 20 Vladimir Andreev 72 0 10 62 0

Downhill

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In men's downhill World Cup 1980/81 the best 5 results count. Six racers had a point deduction, which are given in brackets.

PlaceNameCountryTotal 1 4 6 7 11 15 18 21 29 30 1 Harti Weirather 115 - 20 25 (10) (15) (11) 20 25 (20) 25 2 Steve Podborski 110 15 (15) (6) 25 25 25 (15) (15) (6) 20 3 Peter Müller 95 - 25 15 15 20 20 - - (12) (11) 4 Peter Wirnsberger 73 - - - 20 9 15 (6) 20 9 (3) 5 Uli Spieß 56 25 11 20 - - - - - - - 6 Valeri Tsyganov 55 3 - - 12 - 4 11 - 25 - Toni Bürgler 55 - - 7 - 11 - 25 - - 12 8 Gerhard Pfaffenbichler 48 8 - - 3 - - - 12 15 10 9 Helmut Höflehner 47 - 8 - - 12 10 7 (5) 10 (5) 10 Franz Heinzer 43 - - - - - 8 4 9 7 15 Leonhard Stock 43 - 10 11 11 - - - - 5 6

Giant slalom

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In men's giant slalom World Cup 1980/81 the best 5 results count. 15 racers had a point deduction, which are given in brackets. Ingemar Stenmark won the cup with maximum points. He won his sixth Giant slalom World Cup! This record is still unbeaten!

PlaceNameCountryTotal 3 8 10 20 24 26 27 31 32 34 36 1 Ingemar Stenmark 125 25 - 25 25 25 25 (25) (20) (15) (20) (15) 2 Aleksandr Zhirov 115 20 - (5) - (9) 20 (20) (10) 25 25 25 3 Phil Mahre 84 (8) 12 12 (8) (10) (10) 15 25 - (11) 20 4 Joël Gaspoz 71 - (7) 20 - (4) 12 - 12 12 15 (3) 5 Jean-Luc Fournier 62 - 15 - 9 15 - 12 11 (3) - (6) 6 Christian Orlainsky 61 2 25 6 20 8 - - - - - - 7 Bruno Nöckler 56 10 8 11 (6) 12 15 - (8) (6) (3) - 8 Jacques Lüthy 53 9 10 (7) 12 11 (6) 11 - (8) - - 9 Hans Enn 52 12 20 - - 20 - - - - - - 10 Jarle Halsnes 50 - (4) - 11 (7) 11 8 - - 12 8

Slalom

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In men's slalom World Cup 1980/81 the best 5 results count. 13 racers had a point deduction, which are given in brackets. Ingemar Stenmark won his seventh Slalom World Cup in a row! This record is still unbeaten!

PlaceNameCountryTotal 2 13 14 17 19 22 25 28 33 35 1 Ingemar Stenmark 120 25 - 20 25 (15) 25 25 (20) (15) (11) 2 Phil Mahre 97 - (6) 12 - (5) 20 (12) 25 25 15 3 Bojan Križaj 80 15 12 (4) - 25 8 - - 20 (6) Steve Mahre 80 - 25 15 - (9) - 10 - 10 20 5 Paul Frommelt 77 20 15 25 - (7) - 9 8 - - 6 Aleksandr Zhirov 70 - - 10 (7) 12 (3) 11 - 12 25 7 Vladimir Andreev 62 - (4) 5 20 - 12 15 10 (5) - 8 Piero Gros 48 9 11 9 - (3) - 8 11 (2) (2) 9 Stig Strand 46 11 9 (1) 10 9 7 (6) (7) (6) (3) 10 Bengt Fjällberg 45 - - - 3 - - 20 12 - 10 Jarle Halsnes 45 - - - - 6 15 7 (6) 8 9 Franz Gruber 45 7 - 7 - (1) (4) - 15 9 7

Combined

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In men's combined World Cup 1980/81 all 5 results count.

PlaceNameCountryTotal 5 9 12 16 23 1 Phil Mahre 102 12 15 25 25 25 2 Andreas Wenzel 55 15 25 15 - - 3 Peter Müller 45 25 - 20 - - 4 Hans Enn 31 11 20 - - - 5 Steve Mahre 29 9 - - 20 - 6 Siegfried Kerschbaumer 28 7 10 11 - - 7 Leonhard Stock 20 20 - 11 - - Jacques Lüthy 20 8 12 - - - Herbert Plank 20 - - - - 20 Even Hole 20 - - - 8 12

Women

Overall

see complete table

In women's overall World Cup 1980/81 the best five downhills, best five giant slaloms, best five slaloms and best three combined count. 19 racers had a point deduction. Marie-Theres Nadig won 9 races.