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The first weekend of the 2026 Audi Alpine FIS Ski World Cup Finals was fully dominated by the Italian team which won all four competitions with Laura Pirovano and Sofia Goggia on the women’s side and their colleague Dominik Paris in both men's races.

Thanks to her third consecutive victories in two weeks, Laura also captured the downhill World Cup globe ahead of Germany's Emma Aicher and USA's Olympic Champion Breezy Johnson who came in 2nd on Saturday. Aicher, who enjoyed her maiden World Cup win here a year ago, was a rather disappointed 5th this time, only 12/100 of a second behind the podium of her teammate Kira Weidle-Winkelmann.

It was another extraordinary performance for the 28-year-old Pirovano who had not reached a single FIS World Cup podium before her double wins at Val di Fassa."I have a hard time believing what's going on these days, I was so nervous today that I needed to fight hard remaining focused and ready for my run," Laura explained afterwards. "I guess I'll need a long time to fully understand and realize what has happened to me in the past few weeks," the 2017 junior FIS giant slalom World Champion added. "I really liked to be in Kvitfjell and race again here, I had my first Europa Cup victory here in giant slalom in December 2015," she also said.

Laura Pirovano is the third Italian speed specialist to clinch the downhill globe after Sofia Goggia and Federica Brignone last winter. Sofia was only a distant 9th while Federica skipped the end of the season to relax her body after her amazing Olympic results at Cortina d’Ampezzo.

The Italian ski festival resumed on Sunday with another triumph for Sofia Goggia who celebrated her third season win in the specialty. She beat by 32/100 of a second Switzerland's triple gold medal winner Corinne Suter, while Germany's Kira Weidle-Winkelmann was 3rd at 60/100. The Italian veteran claimed her first crystal globe in Super-G as her main rival, New Zealand's Alice Robinson didn't score any point with her distant 16th position. In past years, the champion from Bergamo already captured four downhill globes.

The tears seen behind Sofia's goggle after her arrival perfectly expressed her feelings and the special meaning of this 29th triumph on the circuit in past ten years! "I took great risks in some parts of the course and I was lucky at the end that everything finished so well," she explained afterwards. "Luckily I got that bronze medal at Cortina d'Ampezzo in February but this winter I didn't win any downhill. It's my first Super-G globe ever, so it's an important success coming after a rather disappointing downhill season," the skier from Bergamo added. "It's pretty exciting too being part of such a successful team as ours!"

It was also an exciting time for Dominik Paris who enjoyed his first season victories on the "Olimpiabakke course" that has regularly hosted FIS World Cup competitions since 1993! In downhill, Swiss triple Olympic Champion Franjo von Allmen came in 2nd with a delay of 19/100 of a second while Austria's Vincent Kriechmayr, a multiple winner here, was 3rd at 60/100. With his 20th downhill triumph, Paris became the second best specialist in the discipline behind Austria Skiing Legend Franz Klammer (25 victories from 1973 to 1984). On Sunday, "Dome" was once more out of reach for the rest of the field as Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr and Raphael Haaser came in 2nd and 3rd.

A year ago, Dominik already had prevailed in both races at Kvitfjell where he feels quite comfortable. "I just like it being here, it's a nice slope and we stay in a quiet hotel near the start of the course, it's a great place to end the season," the year-old Italian veteran told the press after the race. "The conditions were pretty good for me these days as the snow was harder thanks to the colder temperatures last night. It means a lot to end the season with those wins and ending 3rd in the downhill standings. It proves that I had another strong season, "added the Olympic bronze medalist at Bormio.

With this latest win, Paris set a new record of eight victories in Kvitfjell – one more than local hero Kjetil Jansrud! "I'm now looking forward for some relaxed days with my family. I'll take some time to reflect about my future. Maybe I'll be back here next year... It would be nice if Kjetil Jansrud would consider a comeback to try to beat my victory record here," Dominik also said with a big smile.

It was not such an exciting weekend for Marco Odermatt only in 7th in the downhill, 32/100 far from the podium, and then 19th in Super-G. Fortunately for him, the Swiss was already assured to clinch the precious crystal globes in the speed specialties before traveling to Norway. He was pleased with his speed season. "I was pretty consistent this winter and won four races including for the first times at Beaver Creek and Garmisch," he commented after the race. "I was also really excited to get a fourth consecutive victory at Wengen. I feel able to raise my level on some runs and have great goals to reach in the coming seasons." With a total of 54 victories since December 2019, Marco joined Austria’s Hermann Maier as the third most successful athlete on the men’s circuit since 1967! Since 2022, Odermatt managed to amass a total of 16 globes!

The battle for the women overall title turned into the advantage of Germany's Emma Aicher who scored good points with her 5th and 4th positions in downhill and Super-G while Mikaela Shiffrin was a distant 22nd in Super-G without scoring any point. The gap between both athletes has been reduced to 45 points prior to the thrilling technical events planned the following week at Hafjell.