With the season opener less than a month away, the week was mostly about health. Sofia Goggia finally knows why she ran out of energy in Argentina, and Camille Cerutti will miss the entire winter. Marcel Hirscher, meanwhile, is running giant slalom gates in Ushuaia while FIS meets in Geneva to decide his status.
Athletes
Sofia Goggia: two viral infections behind the early exit
The Olympic champion and reigning super-G globe winner, Sofia GoggiaITA, left the Italian speed team’s camp in Ushuaia on 12 September. She had been there since 23 August, until a deep fatigue stopped her from training. On 25 September, the Italian Winter Sports Federation (FISI) released the diagnosis. Tests in Milan, at the La Madonnina clinic and San Raffaele hospital, found two separate viral infections whose effects combined to leave her severely weakened. FISI did not name the viruses.
Goggia has already started a recovery programme drawn up with the federation’s medical commission, chaired by Andrea Panzeri. On Instagram, she said she was sorry to have lost part of her preparation but pleased with her first week on skis, and warned that it would take time and “a lot of patience” (L’Eco di Bergamo). No return date has been given.
Camille Cerutti: season over before it began
France’s Camille CeruttiFRA, a downhill and super-G specialist, hurt her left knee on Wednesday while training in Ushuaia with the French women’s team. She wrote on social media that it happened on landing after a roller, without a fall, and that her 2026/27 winter was over after just ten days on snow this summer. She has returned to France for treatment.
Cerutti did not specify the injury. The regional daily Le Dauphiné libéré reports damage to the cruciate ligament and meniscus. She recognised a feeling she had known four years ago, when she seriously injured her right knee at the Beijing Olympics, and added that this time she would at least be “balanced”. She is now aiming for the 2027/28 season (Top Ski News).
Marcel Hirscher: giant slalom on the snow of Ushuaia
After a few days in indoor ski halls in the Netherlands, Marcel HirscherNED, 37, is training giant slalom in Ushuaia, on a slope he shared with the French women’s team. Born in Hallein to an Austrian father and a Dutch mother, he holds both nationalities and has raced for the Netherlands since 2024. Austrian daily Heute notes he had not trained in Ushuaia since his years with the Austrian team. His comeback has not been officially confirmed. The men’s giant slalom in Sölden is on 25 October (Heute).
Rules and equipment
Cut-resistant protection now required at every FIS race
For World Cup racers, nothing changes: cut-resistant underwear has been compulsory since 2025/26 at the top level (World Cup, World Championships, Olympics, continental cups, Junior Worlds) (FIS). The change is at the grassroots. The equipment specifications FIS published in July extend the requirement, from 2026/27, to every FIS alpine event (Ski Racing Media).
The technical standard is unchanged. The garment must be rated at least three stars under the FIS-DITF 2021 test protocol, with continuous protection from the top of the hip (the iliac crest) down to the top of the boot. The aim is to reduce lacerations from ski edges in crashes.
Venues and calendar
Sölden: a glacier still dressed for summer
A month before the women’s giant slalom on Saturday 24 October and the men’s on Sunday 25 October, the Rettenbach slope still looks like late summer after a very hot season. Piste chief Isidor Grüner is nonetheless relaxed. Snow stored since last winter, in three depots along the steep pitch, will form the base of the course, and the upper section is already being covered (Tiroler Tageszeitung).
Obituaries
George Gillett died on 22 September in Denver, aged 87. Owner of Vail Associates from 1985, he accelerated investment in Vail and Beaver Creek, with detachable lifts, grooming and terrain expansion, and played a decisive part in bringing the 1989 World Championships to the valley. He served 17 years as a director of the US ski federation and was a lifetime trustee of the Vail Valley Foundation, which still organises the Birds of Prey races (Ski Racing Media).
Hubert Immler died on 15 September, aged 64. A trained carpenter from Alberschwende, in Austria’s Vorarlberg, he started as a tester at Kästle and became, over more than thirty years, one of the most respected race-boot developers on the circuit. For Atomic he designed the boot in which Lasse Kjus won five medals at the 1999 World Championships in Vail. He last worked for Van Deer, Marcel Hirscher’s brand (Ski Racing Media).
Every date of the 2026/27 season, women and men. Open the calendar