User:Seattle Skier/Test

Test page for various edits

Most World Cup titles and race wins in each discipline
The records for most World Cup titles and race wins in each discipline are as follows:

Women
Note that combined World Cup titles have not been officially awarded in most years since the event was introduced, mainly because of the reduced number of combined events (typically 1-2) each season since 1986–87. As shown in the table above, Phil Mahre and Hanni Wenzel won the most official combined titles. Kjetil André Aamodt led the men's combined standing in 5 seasons, while Brigitte Oertli and Janica Kostelić each led the women's standings 4 times, but between the three of them only Oertli won a single combined Cup.

For a complete list of World Cup title winners in each discipline, see Alpine Skiing World Cup Men and Alpine Skiing World Cup Women.

Most race wins in a single season
The following skiers have won at least 10 World Cup races in a single season (events not available in a given season are marked by NA):

World Cup scoring system
The World Cup scoring system is based on awarding a number of points for each place in a race, but the procedure for doing so and the often-arcane method used to calculate the annual champions has varied greatly over the years. Originally, points were awarded only to the top 10 finishers in each race, with 25 points for the winner, 20 for second, 15 for third, 11 for fourth, 8 for fifth, 6 for sixth, 4 for seventh, and then decreasing by 1 point for each lower place. To determine the winner for each discipline World Cup, only a racer's best 3 results would count, even though there would typically be 6-8 races in each discipline. For the overall Cup, the best three results in each discipline would be summed. For the 1971–72 season, the number of results counted was increased to 5 in each discipline. The formula used to determine the overall winner varied almost every year over the next decade, with some seasons divided into two portions with a fixed number of results in each period counting towards the overall, while in other seasons the best 3 or 4 results in each discipline would count.

Starting with the 1979–80 season, points were awarded to the top 15 finishers in each race. After 1980–81, the formula for the overall title stabilized for several years, counting the best 5 results in the original disciplines (slalom, giant slalom, and downhill) plus the best 3 results in combined. When Super G events were introduced for the 1982–83 season, the results were included with giant slalom for the first three seasons, before a separate discipline Cup was awarded starting in 1985–86 and the top 3 Super G results were counted towards the overall. The formula for the overall was changed yet again the following season, with the top 4 results in each discipline counting, along with all combined results (although the combined was nearly eliminated from the schedule, reduced to only 1 or 2 events per season).

This perennial tweaking of the scoring formula was a source of ongoing uncertainty to the World Cup racers and to fans. The need for a complete overhaul of the scoring system had grown increasingly urgent with each successive year, and in 1987–88 the FIS decided to fully simplify the system: all results would now count in each discipline and in the overall. This new system was an immediate success, and the practice of counting all results has been maintained in every subsequent season. With the ongoing expansion of the number and quality of competitors in World Cup races over the years, a major change to the scoring system was implemented in the 1991–92 season. The top 30 finishers in each race would now earn points, with 100 for the winner, 80 for second, 60 for third, and then decreasing by smaller increments for each lower place. The point values were adjusted slightly the following season (to reduce the points for places 4th through 20th), and the scoring system has not been changed again since that year. The table below compares the point values under all five scoring systems which have been in use:

Statistics and Trivia
During the past decade, the number of completed men's or women's World Cup races each year has ranged from 30 to 39, so the maximum possible point total for an individual racer is about 3000–3900 under the current scoring system (although very few racers actually ski in all events; for example, Bode Miller was "the only skier to have competed in every World Cup race the past three seasons" i.e 2003– 2005). The current record for total World Cup points in a season is Hermann Maier's 2000 points in 1999-2000, with the women's record of 1970 points set by Janica Kostelić in 2005–6. The fewest points for an overall champion under the current system thus far has been 1130 by Luc Alphand in 1996–97. The largest margin of victory in the overall has been Maier's 743 points in 2000-1, nearly doubling second place finisher Stephan Eberharter's total. The closest finishes since 1992 have been miniscule margins of 6 points in 1994-95 (Vreni Schneider over Katja Seizinger) and only 3 points in 2004-5 (Anja Pärson over Janica Kostelić).

The tables below contain a brief statistical analysis of the overall World Cup standings during the first 15 seasons after the Top 30 scoring system was implemented in 1991–92. In general, over 1000 points are needed to contend for the overall title. At least 1 man and 1 woman has scored 1000 points in each of these seasons, but no more than 5 men's or women's racers have crossed that threshold in any single season. Of the 30 men's and women's overall champions in these years, 28 scored over 1200 points, 21 had over 1300 points, 14 reached 1500 points, and 4 amassed more than 1700 points during their winning seasons. As for the runners-up, 26 of the 30 second-place finishers scored over 1000 points, 12 had over 1300 points, and only 2 reached 1500 points yet failed to win. Most overall titles have been won quite convincingly, by more than 300 points in 16 of 30 cases, while only 7 margins of victory have been tighter than 50 points.