The World Cup’s best skiers registered for the Grandvalira Soldeu-El Tarter 2016 event

Following last Monday’s strong snowfall from the south, which forced the course-preparation teams to work extra hard, the best skiers in the world will take part in an unmissable event in Andorra next weekend on the 27^th and 28^th of February.

The Super-G and Alpine Combined events will take place on the Àliga SG and Àliga SL courses respectively, which are currently in perfect conditions to host the race. The Alpine Combined is, as its name suggests, a combination of a speed race (Super-G) and a highly technical one (Slalom). The points gained in both races will count for the World Cup overall standings. During the days prior to the event, 74 skiers from 20 different countries are expected to arrive in Andorra.

The countries which will be competing are: Germany (2), Andorra (3), Argentina (2), Austria (13), Byelorussia (1), Canada (4), Slovakia (1), Slovenia (3), United States (8), France (8), Hungry (1), Italia (10), Liechtenstein (1), Monaco (1), Norway (2), Poland (1), Serbia (1), Switzerland (9), Swede (1) and Czech Republic (2).

Lindsey Vonn and Lara Gut go head to head

The world’s best skiers will be competing in Grandvalira-Soldeu, both in the Super-G and Alpine Combined events. Among them is current World Cup champion and leader Lindsey Vonn from the USA and her main rival Lara Gut from Switzerland, who is now top of the AC standings and second in the overall standings. Also expected to participate are Tina Weirather from Liechtenstein, currently third in the Super-G standings; Cornelia Hütter from Austria, Viktoria Rebensburg from Germany, currently third in the overall standings; Tamara Trippler also from Austria and Nadia Fanchini from Italy.

For the Alpine Combined event, Gut is the favourite with 100 points. This event is the most complete one of them all and it requires a high level of fitness and skill from the skiers, who are able to adapt to the characteristics of each course. Behind Gut in the standings is Vonn with 80 points, followed by the Austrian Michaela Kirchgasser with 60 points.

Andorra will be represented by its three best current skiers: Mireia Gutiérrez, 27, who has taken part in 33 World Cup events, 4 World Championships and 2 Olympic Games; Sara Ramentol, 20, with 22 European Cup participations; and the young Sissi Hinterreitner, 18, with 9 European Cup participations.

In 2012, Andorra became the 25^th country in the world to host the Alpine Skiing World Cup, the world’s most important alpine ski event since its launch in the 1960s. This upcoming weekend, on the fourth week of February, it will once again host the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup. The World Cup Grandvalira Soldeu-El Tarter 2016 will put Andorra at the forefront of the international sports news. It is estimated that the live broadcast of the event will draw a potential average audience of 80 million spectators.

Wins records for the five favourites

Lindsey Vonn (b. United States, October 18th, 1984), is the racer with the most race wins in the history of the Women’s Alpine Ski World Cup with 76, just 10 short of the legendary 86 wins by Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark in the Men’s category. Vonn is 1st in the Downhill and Super-G categories (with a total of 580 and 420 points respectively) and 2nd in the Alpine Combined (80 points). Vonn has won the World Cup title on 4 occasions after 363 participations in the White Circus and got the podium no fewer than 126 times. She has taken part in four Olympic Games since 2002 and won a gold medal in the Downhill and a bronze medal in the Super-G in Vancouver 2010. She has also participated in 20 races in 6 different World Championships, in which she has earned 6 podiums (2 gold medals, 3 silver medals and 1 bronze medal in the speed races). Last weekend, in the Italian resort of La Thuile, she wrapped up the 2016 World Cup Downhill title, making it 20 titles in total. This means that she has now surpassed Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark, who previously held the record with 19.

Lara Gut, the Swiss skier, born on April 27th, 1991, is currently second in the overall standings with 1177 points. Versatility is her most outstanding skill, since she is currently first in the Combine (100 points) and second in the Super-G (341 points). In her honours list, she has a second place and a third place in World Cup overall standings and she has taken part in 181 races, with 30 podiums finishes, 18 of those in first position. She has also participated in 16 races in 4 World Championships (3 silver medals, 1 bronze medal) and made her Olympic Games debut in Sochi 2014, where she won a bronze medal in the Downhill.

Tina Weirather (b. Liechtenstein, May 24th,1989) is currently in fourth position, both in the overall standings (759 points) and in the Super-G standings (266 points). Weirather is the daughter of two elite skiers, has participated in 139 World Cup races, with 25 podiums and 5 wins. She has also taken part in 4 World Championships and in 2 Olympic Games.

Cornelia Huetter, Austrian skier (b. October 29th, 1992) is one of the most outstanding skiers of this season, currently sixth in the overall standings with 640 points and fourth in the Super-G, currently third with 229 points. Hütter has participated in 57 World Cup races earning 7 podiums, as well as taking part in the World Championships and Olympic Games.

Viktoria Rebensburg, Born in Germany on October 4th 1989, Rebensburg is one of the main favourites for this season. Currently third in the standings (878 points), the SC Kreuth skier has earned good results in the Super-G races, where she is currently in 5th position with 204 points. She has participated in 173 World Cup races, achieving 29 podiums and 12 wins. She has the experience of having taken part in 5 World Cups in her career, winning a silver medal in the Giant Slalom at Vail/Beaver Creek in 2015; and in two Olympic Games, winning gold in Vancouver 2010 and bronze in Sochi 2014, both in the Giant Slalom.

Skiers registered for the Super-G and Alpine Combined