Tiger Woods’ tooth might still be buried at the bottom of the Cortina downhill course ever since a wild day — and a record-breaking run — more than a decade ago by his girlfriend at the time, Lindsey Vonn.
A decade earlier, and mountains away, Bode Miller turned in a famous performance on only one ski down the feared Stelvio course in Bormio.
These two courses contain so much history, tradition and tales as the Olympics return to iconic venues known well on Alpine skiing’s World Cup circuit. Downhill racing at the last three Winter Games — Sochi in 2014, Pyeongchang in 2018 and Beijing in 2022 — were held at completely new sites.
Women’s skiing at the Games will be on the Olympia delle Tofane course in Cortina d’Ampezzo, which has hosted the World Cup circuit’s signature races for decades. The Cortina course features a rhythmic track where racers can reach speeds hovering around 80 mph (130 km). Even James Bond made a famous trip down the slopes of Cortina when 007 out-skied villains in the 1981 movie “For Your Eyes Only.”
Men’s skiing will be held on the Stelvio in Bormio, which is known as the most physically demanding course on the World Cup circuit. It’s usually held in late December, when the course is dark, icy and uncomfortably bumpy. In February, the sun figures to be peeking out, making the courage-testing downhill a little less daunting.
“It’s so unique that we’re actually in a classic Alpine space for both of these events,” said retired American standout Ted Ligety, who won a giant slalom in Bormio in 2008. “It’s going to be cool.”
Tiger’s tooth
Cortina was the site where Vonn broke Annemarie Moser-Pröll’s 35-year-old World Cup wins record in 2015 with victory No. 63. Her record run was overshadowed by a surprise visitor that day wearing a mask featuring a skull design on it that concealed most of his face.
When Woods lowered the mask briefly and was photographed with one of his front teeth missing, attention quickly shifted to the gap in his smile.
Woods’ agent said that the tooth was knocked out by a video camera amid the “crush of photographers at the awards podium.” There was never any evidence that Woods was hit by a camera but the the tale of the tooth gained much more attention than Vonn’s achievement.
“I was disappointed that that was the main storyline,” Vonn told The Associated Press recently when asked to reflect back on the series of events. “It definitely distracted from the fact that I broke the win record. … Yeah, that was an interesting debacle.”
Now 41, Vonn is set to compete again in Cortina at her fifth Olympics. She’s won a record 12 times at the venue.
Bode’s single-ski show
At the 2005 world championships in Bormio, Miller swept the golds in the speed events of super-G and downhill and put on a show in the combined, too.
When Miller lost his left ski early in the downhill leg of what back then was a marathon-like three-run race, he continued down the bumpy Stelvio course for nearly two minutes, showing off remarkable balance, strength and athleticism on a single ski.
Daron Rahlves won silver behind Miller in the downhill and also a bronze in giant slalom. The Americans’ 1-2 finish in the downhill relegated Austrian standouts Michael Walchhofer and Fritz Strobl to third and fourth, respectively.
“It’s always nice to make the Austrians cry,” said Johno McBride, the current coach of the U.S. men’s speed team and also the coach back then. “It’s not easy to do, but that day we did.”
Flame shirts
Miller and Rahlves celebrated their successes with fiery outfits: black shirts featuring a flame design on them.
“If we had one guy on the podium, everyone wore it. We were wearing those shirts a lot that season,” Rahlves said, adding that he still has his fiery top.
Overall, the 2005 worlds marked a breakout performance for the U.S. Ski Team.
Just up the road from Bormio in Santa Caterina di Valfurva, Julia Mancuso won two bronze medals and fellow 20-year-old Vonn — then known as Lindsey Kildow — had two fourth-place finishes.
Shiffrin’s 4-for-4
At the 2021 world championships in Cortina, Mikaela Shiffrin, the World Cup’s all-time wins leader, entered four events and came away with four medals.
Shiffrin’s Cortina memories also include the biggest downhill crash of her career in 2024, when she hit the safety netting at high speed. She hasn’t raced in downhill since then and likely won’t enter the event at the Olympics.
Cortina is also the resort where Vonn and Shiffrin finished on the podium together for the only time in their careers: Vonn was second and Shiffrin third in a World Cup downhill won by Sofia Goggia in 2018.
Goggia, Brignone and Paris
Goggia missed the 2021 worlds due to injury and will be aiming for home snow redemption at these games. She and Italian teammate Federica Brignone won World Cup races in Cortina on back-to-back days last season.
Brignone, the defending overall World Cup champion, is attempting to return from injury in time to compete at the Olympics.
The host Italians will also have a formidable contender on the men’s side: Dominik Paris holds the Bormio record with seven World Cup victories on the Stelvio.
Tomba’s tank top
When Cortina first hosted the Olympics in 1956, Austria’s Toni Sailer swept gold in all three men’s events.
When Alberto Tomba clinched his only overall World Cup title at the 1995 finals in Bormio by winning a giant slalom, he celebrated the next day by racing in tight-fitting yellow shorts, tank top and tie.
More recently, the Stelvio has been the site of some major crashes, with French standout Cyprien Sarrazin among the casualties last season.
“The Stelvio,” reigning Olympic giant slalom champion Marco Odermatt of Switzerland said, “is like a constant fight for survival.”
__
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
