The village of Åre and its surroundings have a long alpine tradition and the tourist industry has been an important source of income for the village since the mid-1800s.
Interest in winters in Åre increased in the 1900s and the construction of the funicular, Bergbanan, in 1910 was Åre’s start as a winter resort. The Second World War temporarily stopped development, but during the 1950s and 60s Åre, just like much of the rest of Europe, started to recover. Åre’s true golden years began at the end of the 1970s and, thanks to Ingemar Stenmark and the "Åre Project", which facilitated huge investment in Åre, interest boomed in the ski resort.
Nowadays, Åre, a small and rural town located in the Jämtland region, in the midst of the Swedish mountains, and with 1400 inhabitants, welcomes around 800 000 visitors yearly. Around 11,000 of Jämtland’s 126,000 inhabitants live in Åre Municipality. The county is about the same size as Switzerland (which has eight million inhabitants).
Åre has hosted the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships three times, the last one in 2019.
Åre first hosted the Alpine World Ski Championships in 1954.
In 2007, once again, Åre hosted the Alpine World Ski Championships. The 2007 Championships made a permanent impression on Åre’s ski system and the village, as a new Ladies’ Downhill was built, commercial space doubled and a 130-meter-long tunnel replaced the bridge that once led the world championship slopes across the E14. The 39th Alpine World Ski Championships was a success for both the host and the Swedish team.
Åre also has great experience organizing Alpine World Cup races. Åre Slalomklubb and Världscupbolaget have organized more than 100 World Cup races over the years, with great success. Thanks to the now legendary Åre son Bibbo Nordenskiöld’s initiative, an Alpine World Cup was first held in Åre in 1969.
Slalom. Friday, March 12th, 1st run 13:30, 2nd run 16:30 (CET)
Slalom. Saturday, March 13th, 1st run 10:30, 2nd run 13:45 (CET)
Mikaela Shiffrin won the last slalom event held in the World Cup, in Jasna. It was her 69th World Cup victory. Shiffrin has won 45 World Cup slalom events, which is already an all-time record among men and women.
In her last 49 slalom participation in the World Cup, Shiffrin finished on the podium 45 times (36 wins).
Shiffrin won the slalom crystal globe six times, a joint-record among women alongside Vreni Schneider. On the men's side, only Ingemar Stenmark (8) and Marcel Hirscher (6) have won at least six slalom crystal globes.
Shiffrin has won four World Cup slalom events in Åre, joint-most for her in a single ski resort. The only women who won more than four World Cup slalom events at a single venue were Vreni Schneider (6) and Anja Pärson (5) both in Maribor. Shiffrin also won the slalom at the world championships in Åre in 2019.
Petra Vlhová is leading the slalom standings (480 points), but Mikaela Shiffrin (435), and Katharina Liensberger (410), are all within 70 points. Last season, Vlhová won the slalom crystal globe, her first globe in any discipline.
Vlhová won six of the last nine slalom events held in the World Cup, with the only exceptions of a second place in Jasna and two fourth places in Semmering and Flachau this season.
Petra Vlhová has currently ranked second in the overall standings 36 points behind Lara Gut-Behrami. She has a chance to take the lead in the overall classification before going to the World Cup Finals as there are two slalom events scheduled in Åre.
She collected the silver medal in this event at the world championships in Cortina.
Petra Vlhová could claim four slalom victories in a single World Cup season for the first time.
Katharina Liensberger won the Slalom and Parallel Giant Slalom world titles at the world championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo. These were her first individual victories at world level.
Liensberger has claimed seven World Cup podiums in the Slalom but has yet to achieve her first victory. Only Wendy Holdener (26) and Malgorzata Mogore Tlalka (8) have finished on more women's World Cup slalom podiums without ever winning.
She can become the fifth active female skier to win a World Cup slalom event, after Mikaela Shiffrin, Petra Vlhová, Michelle Gisin, and Erin Mielzynski.
Wendy Holdener finished in third place in the last Slalom race held in Jasna, she was on the podium in the last two races. Holdener has collected 26 World Cup podium finishes in the Slalom but has yet to claim her first victory. This is currently the record for most World Cup podiums in a single discipline without winning.
Only two women have finished second in a World Cup slalom event more often than Holdener (13): Frida Hansdotter (17) and Pernilla Wiberg (14). Hansdotter (4 wins) and Wiberg (14) both achieved slalom victories in the World Cup.
Wendy Holdener is ranked fifth in the slalom standings (305 points).
Michelle Gisin won the slalom held in Semmering last December, her first World Cup win in any discipline. The last Swiss woman to win multiple slalom events in a World Cup season was Vreni Schneider in 1994-1995 (4).
Michelle Gisin is ranked fourth in the slalom standings (375 points).
In Åre 2019 Mikaela Shiffrin did the nearly unthinkable on Saturday by winning her fourth consecutive slalom world title. She had to battle back in the second run after sitting in the third position following the first run. While amazing even herself, she became the first skier in history to win four consecutive World Championship golds in a single discipline.
Anna Swenn Larsson of Sweden, who actually lives in Åre, delivered a home performance to remember by skiing into the silver medal position.
Petra Vlhova moved up from the fifth position after the first run to collect her third medal of these World Championships with bronze.
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