Crazy race to catch up by Odermatt and Co.

Skiing debacle for Austria - Switzerland now leads the nations ranking

Stefan Brennsteiner and his Austrian colleagues disappoint across the board on Saturday.

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In mid-December, Austria still seemed hopelessly out of contention in the Ski World Cup nations' rankings. Now Switzerland is leading again for the first time.

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10.01.2026, 16:06•10.01.2026, 22:50

Austria had claimed the Ski World Cup Nations' Cup an incredible 32 times in a row from 1988 to 2019 before Switzerland was able to strike back. In 2022, the ÖSV stars managed another interlude, but Switzerland was the undisputed number 1 for the last three seasons.

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However, the throne began to wobble this winter. In mid-December, especially after the injury-related absences of top performers Lara Gut-Behrami, Corinne Suter and Michelle Gisin, there were serious concerns about Switzerland's supremacy. After the first women's downhill in St. Moritz on December 12, Austria was a hefty 637 points ahead of Switzerland in the nations' rankings.

Turnaround came with a triple victory

The very next day, however, the Swiss men struck back with a triple victory for Loïc Meillard, Luca Aerni and Marco Odermatt in Val d'Isère. Since then, the Swiss ski aces have come ever closer to the Austrians, and after the successful races in Adelboden and Zauchensee on Saturday, they have taken the lead for the first time this season - and quite clearly. Switzerland is currently 166 points ahead of Austria.

The turning point: In Val d'Isère, Luca Aerni, Loïc Meillard and Marco Odermatt (from left) stood on the podium together in mid-December, since then the Swiss have come ever closer to the leading Austrians

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In Adelboden, Joshua Sturm was the best Austrian in 14th place, with Lukas Feurstein (21st) the only other Austrian to make it into the points - figureheads Stefan Brennsteiner and Marco Schwarz were eliminated. The women fared almost worse in the downhill in Zauchensee. Although six Austrians finished in the points, the best - Cornelia Hütter - was only 20th. To make matters worse, Magdalena Egger also tore her cruciate ligament and will be out for the rest of the season.

Although the ÖSV athletes have significantly more points than the Swiss in the women's nations ranking, they are not first there either. The ranking is led by the Americans and their superstars Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn, with Switzerland in 3rd place.