Cornelia Hütter and her colleagues set some unpleasant records. © APA/afp / LIONEL BONAVENTURE

Two negative records for Austria's ski aces

Although the Austrian Ski Federation (ÖSV) was able to celebrate a podium finish at the last World Cup weekend, two series have now reached worrying proportions.

March 02, 2026

From: never

Nina Ortlieb missed out on the downhill race in Soldeu by eleven hundredths of a second last Friday. on winner Corinne Suter Although she missed out on a podium finish, the Austrian ski star was still overjoyed with her second place – her first podium in almost three years. It would prove to be the only highlight for the Austrian Ski Federation (ÖSV) that weekend. Meanwhile, two streaks continued that the once highly successful ski nation could certainly do without.

Just one day later, Austria's downhill skiers broke their own negative record: In the race led by Marco Odermatt Swiss triple victory in Garmisch-Partenkirchen Vincent Kriechmayr and his teammates remained winless in the downhill for the 23rd consecutive time. This drought is now officially longer than the one between 1986 and 1988 – and an improvement is not necessarily in sight. This season alone, Austria has only managed a single podium finish in the men's downhill. The next opportunity for redemption comes on March 14th in Courchevel.

Austrian women struggle with a lack of form in the Super-G

The Austrian women are also struggling with a similar slump – specifically in the Super-G. Hütter (10th) on Saturday and Ortlieb (9th) the following day each achieved the best result for the Austrian Ski Federation (ÖSV). "I almost had a heart attack when I came down the slope there," said Hütter, who had finished a disappointing 17th on Sunday with a time 2,28 seconds slower. ORF-Interview. "Today I tried to attack, I was actually on the line. Maybe I died a bit beautifully. I don't know."

Cornelia Hütter and her teammates are in a Super-G crisis. © APA/afp / LIONEL BONAVENTURE

The Austrian women's Super-G team has now gone twelve races without a podium finish. Such a streak is unprecedented in World Cup history. "The Super-G has been tough this year. Some of the skiers lack conviction. I believe we can regain that through good training," said women's head coach Roland Assinger. "But we will pick ourselves up and attack again in San Pellegrino." Hütter and her teammates could strike back as early as next weekend in Val di Fassa.