Sölden Thursday: big news from Alpine skiing's big names

From retiring icons to returning superstars, Alpine skiing's best have been sharing their hopes and expectations ahead of the start of the Audi FIS World Cup and Olympic Games season on Saturday.

Here is all the latest:

Gut-Behrami: ‘Nothing really to be nervous about’

A win on Saturday for Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI/Head) in the final Sölden race of her career will see her become the most successful female Giant Slalom skier ever in the famed resort. Not that she is letting the prospect of making history concern her too much.

"It's one of my favourite races, so there's nothing to be really nervous about. I always love to race here,” said Gut-Behrami, victorious in 2013, 2016 and 2023.

“Of course, the first win was unbelievable. Two years ago, winning again. It was crazy. I’ve not always been super-fast here - I’ve crashed a few times - but Sölden is always fun for me. I really like that slope.”

The opportunities to add yet more gloss to her remarkable career may be numbered, but the three-time Olympic medallist, double world and nine-time World Cup Globe winner is keeping her ambitions simple.

“You cannot win race if you're not healthy, so, this is my main goal for the season,” she said, before adding, “And if I can ski fast, even better.”

Attacking Vikings: ‘We’re by far the best tech team’

Twelve months ago Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR/Van Deer) finished second behind Alexander Steen Olsen (NOR/Rossignol) with Atle Lie McGrath (NOR/Head) third, as the Norwegians swept the men’s GS podium in Sölden. A feat the technical team, known as the Attacking Vikings, repeated in the Slalom World Cup in Wengen.

Results that prompted Kristoffersen to happily declare on the eve of the new season; “We’re by far the best tech team.”

For McGrath, it is all thanks to the competition they face on a daily basis.

“I actually get more pleasure beating my teammates in training than in a race. Winning a training day is great because I know the level is so high in our trainings,” McGrath said. “So, if you're fastest one day, you know you're doing something, right.”

Timon Haugan (NOR/Van Deer), who finished third in the World Cup Slalom rankings last season, behind Globe winner Kristoffersen, agrees. Although for slightly different reasons.

“'I’m the same, I want to of course be the fastest in training, but I know that that's also not necessarily good,” Haugan said on Thursday. “I think getting beaten in training is important too, because that's when, for me, I learn the most. I think it's really good that we take turns in who's the fastest.”

That is a view Kristoffersen chimes with.

“I’ve never been fast in training,” said the two-time world champion. “But you don’t become a world champion in training, you become a world champion by training.”

Stjernesund out to ‘widen comfort zone’

Fellow Norwegian Thea Louise Stjernesund (NOR/Rossignol) has come close to emulating such success in the women’s GS – one podium and eight top-10 finishes in nine races last season – but in an effort to turn those close shaves into wins, the 28-year-old has fundamentally altered her approach to the new season.

Fourth in the GS standings last season and fourth in the GS Globe race, the Norwegian has focused on constantly changing courses in training, not inspecting courses in training and taking risks wherever possible. Changes that she hopes will breach that gap to the very top.

“I look at it more as not going out of the comfort zone, but widening it,” she said. “And that made it easier to take those steps.

“And for me, it's also about accepting failure. Not to think that skiing out is a bad thing in training. I have to remember that training is not a performance area, it's a playground to test what you need for a race.”

Rast v Ljutic: ‘the numbers are zero now’

 After starting last season without a World Cup win to her name Camille Rast (SUI/Head) will line-up on Saturday as a world champion and one of the skiers to watch. It is a turnaround that owes much to a rivalry with fellow breakout star, Zrinka Ljutic (CRO/Atomic).

“It was really fun,” Rast said of the battle against the Croatian, who took the Slalom Globe 49 points clear of the Swiss skier, with Katharina Liensberger (AUT/Rossignol) snatching second.

“She's really a cool girl on tour. We always speak together. Every time it was really fair. I really enjoyed this battle with Zrinka… the numbers are zero now and let’s go again.

“I had to work a bit more in GS to make this step,” said Rast, who claimed a podium and four top-10 finishes in the discipline in 2024/25. “Now Sölden is here and I have trained a bit more in GS. We will see what happens.”

Aicher targets ‘all four’ after breakout season

Emma Aicher (GER/Head) began last season in Sölden believing that her best results would come in Slalom. As it turned out, it was speed in which the 21-year-old made her breakthrough. Something that comes with the territory when you are an all-round superstar.

“I had a pretty good preseason in Slalom and a good feeling about it but I'm happy that it worked out in speed,” said Aicher, who ended last season with a win in Super G, a win in Downhill and four top-10s in Slalom.   

“So, yeah, I've been focusing on the GS this year, but we did last year as well,” Aicher added with a laugh. “We'll see how it goes on Saturday.”

So, far the German’s best GS World Cup result was 15^th in Kranjska Gora in January 2024. Expect her to soon fly past that, as she continues her incredible assault on all four disciplines.

 Pinheiro Braathen: ‘Like a sun inside of my chest”

 Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (BRA/Atomic) knows just what it is like to battle against the odds. Especially in Sölden.

“I get rather emotional when looking back,” Pinheiro Braathen said. “Last year, I had, without a doubt, the most challenging and nerve-wracking race of my career. I had a lot of pressure to live up to a drastic life changing choice when I retired here in Sölden in ’23 (after winning the Slalom World Cup Globe) just to come back the following season in the very same hill, changing from a very well represented country that is Norway to a country that was yet to even be represented and even be at the start gate (Brazil).

“And it goes without saying that there was a lot of critics. There was a lot of mixed opinions on how I choose to live my life. And at the end of the day, I had one goal, and it was to ski for myself and stop skiing for others.”

The 25-year-old did just that. Five podium places and a further five top-10 finishes across the two technical disciplines ensuring he starts this season with bib No.5 in GS and No.6 in Slalom.

“It feels like a sun inside of my chest just starts flourishing, because that is the sensation,” Pinheiro Braathen said of representing Brazil, his mother’s country. “I have probably never felt this calm ahead of a new season.”

Pinturault & Kilde target next steps

The final word two days out from the season went to two established stars of the sport, both of whom are hoping 2025/26 will bring renewed fortune.

“I will not say that it’s perfect, body-wise it’s perfect but on the skis I still need that little bit more confidence,” Alexis Pinturault (FRA/Head) said, having recovered from two significant recent injuries to take his place at the Sölden start.

“I need the races.”

Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (NOR/Atomic) knows just how he feels.

Kilde who gave his chances of being in the startline at the opening Downhill of the season six out of 10, added: “I haven't forgotten this game, but I've forgotten a little bit how the timing works. So just got to give myself some time to really build on the confidence and work on how to hit the turns and bring the speed in different places. That's just a part of the process.”