Naeslund, Howden the protagonists of historic 2025/26 season

A season that started with Sandra Naeslund (SWE) winning back-to-back races in Val Thorens ended with the Swede claiming consecutive victories in Gallivare to illuminate a Crystal Globe-winning campaign.

That the 29-year-old bookended the FIS Ski Cross World Cup calendar with triumphs was symbolic of her dominant season.

Her opening win also completed an emotional comeback after two years on the sidelines, returning to the top step of a World Cup podium for the first time since December 2023. It was at the first race in Val Thorens during the 2024/25 season when Naeslund fractured her tibia, having suffered a meniscus injury in the 2023/24 campaign.

If that felt like a full circle moment, she would close another loop beautifully by sweeping the Sweden races.

She now has an unprecedented 50 World Cup victories. She won 11 World Cup races in the 2025/26 season out of a possible 16, matching her achievement from the 2021/22 campaign.

The crowds that turned up at Arosa, Innichen (Day 2), Veysonnaz (Day 1), Kopaonik (Day 1 and 2), Montafon, and Craigleith (Day 2) also witnessed greatness on skis crossing the finish line first.

Naeslund finished top of the overall standings with 1,268 points, rewriting the record for the most World Cup points in a single season by an athlete of any gender. She broke her own mark set in the 2012/22 season, when she amassed 1,150 points.

Crystal Globes sealed on home snow

Naeslund had already sealed her fifth Crystal Globe on the penultimate day of the season, following in Reece Howden’s (CAN) footsteps by winning the prestigious prize on home snow.

She is just the second athlete to win five or more Crystal Globes, with only Ophelie David (FRA) having won more (seven).

Howden secured his fourth Crystal Globe in Craigleith, the eighth of nine stops, tying the all-time men’s record.

His 1,061 total is the most World Cup points in a single season by a male athlete. He is on 24 World Cup wins and 40 podium finishes — both the most by any male athlete ever.

His six race wins this term came at Arosa, Innichen (Day 1 and 2), Veysonnaz (Day 2), Kopaonik (Day 2), and Montafon.

In Arosa, Howden broke Jean-Frederic Chapuis’ (FRA) record for the most individual wins by a male athlete. And he followed that up by carving another mark in the snow in Innichen. By sweeping the two finals, he notched his seventh victory in 10 World Cup races, eclipsing the record for the number of wins in a 10-race block, which was held by Chapuis and Tomas Kraus (CZE).

Second in Cup standings, first at the Olympics

Daniela Maier (GER) and Simone Deromedis (ITA) were second in the World Cup overall standings. But they took gold at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

Maier became the first German athlete to win an Olympic freestyle skiing gold medal with her wire-to-wire victory.

Naeslund settled for bronze while Fanny Smith (SUI) took silver, becoming the first athlete in history to win three Olympic ski cross medals, adding to her bronzes from PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022.

Deromedis and compatriot Federico Tomasoni (ITA) finished one-two at Livigno Snow Park. Tomasoni had never stood on a World Cup podium prior to his Olympic heroics at home and that result would prove a catalyst for him as he celebrated his first World Cup win in Craigleith.

Alex Fiva (SUI) took Olympic bronze before embracing another third-place finish. At Montafon, aged 40 years, one month and 14 days, he became the oldest male athlete to podium at a World Cup ski cross event. At the same race, he extended his own all-time record for most World Cup podiums by a male athlete to 40.

Deromedis had hinted at his Olympic exploits when he ended a six-year wait to become a World Cup champion on home snow, winning at Val di Fassa on the Saturday.

He gave fans one of the best celebrations of the year, exclaiming at the finish line: “This is my house!”

Firsts and lasts

A day earlier, Val di Fassa was the scene of a Germany one-two-three.

Florian Wilmsmann, Cornel Renn and Tim Hronek (GER) were first, second, and third respectively. It was Renn’s first trip to a World Cup podium.

At the next stop in Kopaonik, Hronek celebrated his maiden World Cup win in dramatic fashion: Howden was penalised for line deviation, a mid-final crash eliminated the other contenders, and Hronek won as the only skier to have cleared the decisive gate cleanly.

For Kevin Drury (CAN), Kopaonik marked the final race of his career, which ended prematurely due to injury after a crash in Serbia. The 37-year-old had made a stunning comeback earlier in the season, winning in Val Thorens for his first victory in almost five years.

There were more goodbyes at Gallivare as a quartet of competitors retired at the end of the season.

Marielle Berger Sabbatel (FRA) crossed the finish line 0.16 seconds behind Naeslund to secure her 37th podium finish on her swansong.

The 36-year-old joined Romain Detraz (SUI), Jonas Lenherr (SUI), and Yanick Gunsch (ITA) in hanging up skis after finishing third in the overall standings.

For the rest of the field, they will go again next season.