Hoffman matches Steggall with Australia’s best alpine World Cup result in 27 years

Madison Hoffman has produced Australia’s best alpine skiing World Cup result in almost 27 years, finishing eighth in the opening slalom of the FIS World Cup season in Levi, Finland.

It is the best World Cup result by any Australian alpine skier, male or female, since Olympic medallist and World Champion Zali Steggall finished eighth in the slalom at Serre Chevalier, France, on the 5th of December 1999.

The result was all the more impressive given the 26-year-old from Sydney started the first run in bib 57. With the start order seeded by ranking, later starters face a course already cut up by the skiers before them. Hoffman defied that to sit 13th at the halfway mark, then delivered the 10th fastest time of the second run to climb five places and finish eighth, with a two-run combined time of 1:54.35.

The result is a major step forward for Hoffman, who represented Australia at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games earlier this year. Her previous World Cup best was 25th, also in Levi, in 2023.

Speaking after recording Australia’s best alpine skiing result this century, Hoffman said the scale of the achievement was yet to sink in.

“It hasn’t hit me yet, but I’m definitely proud, especially after a long slog with some injuries,” Hoffman said.

“Tearing both my knees in 2024 and coming back last year, it feels good to be back racing.”

Hoffman said the key to both runs was resisting the urge to change her approach on race day.

“In the first run I chose to trust myself and not try to do anything more or anything less than training,” she said.

“In the second run I thought I’d try to give it a little bit more oomph, but it was the same stuff, trying not to do anything crazy on race day, just normal skiing.”

Hoffman’s Olympic teammate Phoebe Heaydon came agonisingly close to making it two Australians in the second run. The 21-year-old finished 31st in the first run, a World Cup personal best, missing the top 30 cut by just 0.12 seconds.

Germany’s Emma Aicher won the race, ahead of Albania’s Lara Colturi in second and Austria’s Katharina Truppe in third.

The World Cup action continues in Levi tomorrow with the men’s slalom, where Hugh McAdam and Henry Heaydon will represent Australia.