Anna Kurliskova during the 2009 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championship. © • Kim Young Kil 2004 IPC Alpine World Championships © • Thomas Trinkl

2011 - Sestriere, Italy

The first World Championships following the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games involved 130 athletes from 23 coutnries.

Using the venue which was used during the Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games, skiers competed in Downhill, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Super Combined and team events.

At the Opening Ceremony, IPC President Sir Philip Craven highlighted that Sestriere marked the start of a long road for skiers towards the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.

“When you have such a wonderful competition and when it is the first World Championships following the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, it is the start of a new cycle.

“It is the ideal year for nations to bring their latest and most dynamic athletes to the World Championships and this is the time to see the new competition as we start to move forward to Sochi 2014.”

The star of the event and top medial winner was France’s Vincent Gauthier-Manuel, who claimed four gold and two silver medals at the Championships, helping his country top the medals table.

Born without a left arm, 25 year old Gauthier-Manuel won gold in the Standing events for Super Combined, Slalom and Giant Slalom as well as the Team Event. In addition he picked up silver in the Downhill and Super G Standing races.

Spain’s Yon Santacana, a 30 year old visually impaired skier, was also a big winner claiming three gold medals in Super G, Super Combined and Giant Slalom with his guide Miguel Galindo Garces as well as two silvers in Downhill and Slalom. His success in Sestriere clearly caught the public’s attention as he was voted January’s IPC Athlete of the Month for his achievements.

After winning three gold medals and a silver in Vancouver last year, Slovakia’s Henrieta Farkasova did even better in Sestriere winning four individual gold medals and a bronze in the Team Event.

Together with her guide Natalie Subrtova, the visually impaired 24 year old claimed world titles in Downhill, Super Combined G, Slalom and Giant Slalom.

France finished with 18 medals, including eight golds, which put them ahead of Germany (15 medals including 7 golds) in second and Slovakia (11 medals and 5 golds) in third.

2009 - High 1 Resort, Korea

A powerful performance from three German athletes gave their country the number one position in the Team Competition, which officially ended the 2009 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships.

Andrea Rothfuss, Martin Braxenthaler and Ralf Frummet comprised the German team, with a winning total time of 7:20.36. The German team was followed by Austria’s Danja Haslacher, Harald Eder and Hubert Mandl with a second place time of 7:25.37. Coming in third position was Switzerland’s Karin Fasel, Thomas Pfyl and Michael Bruegger at 7:32.32. A total of 55 athletes competed at the Apollo 4 venue, which is located at the High 1 Ski Resort in Gangwon-Do, Korea. The start elevation of 1,220m sent the athletes down a vertical drop of 355m, to a finishing 865m.

The 2009 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships ran from 19 February – 1 March, and were organized by the Korea Sports Association for the Disabled (KOSAD), the Korea Adaptive Ski Association (KASA) and the High 1 Ski Resort. The Championships brought in a total of 160 athletes from 25 different countries to the slopes in Korea.

The programme at High 1 Ski Resort included competitions in Slalom, Giant Slalom, SuperG, Super Combined and Downhill. Supporters to the event included the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Korean Paralympic Committee, the Seoul Olympic Sports Promotion Foundation, Gangwon-Do, the Korea Ski Association, Taebaek-si and Jeongseon-gun.

The World Championships began with the Slalom race, with Canada’s Lauren Woolstencroft taking the top position in the Women’s Standing category. Woolstencroft also took first in the SuperG and Downhill race. Impressive performances also came from Germany’s Gerd Schoenfelder, who took first in the Giant Slalom, Super Combined and Downhill race in the Men’s Standing Category. Sabine Gasteiger from Austria, with guide Emil Gasteiger took first in the Slalom and Giant Slalom race in the Visually Impaired category.

2004 - Wildschönau, Austria

USA dominated the Championships taking home 24 medals, including 8 golds. France took second spot winning 14 medals (7 golds) whilst Germany was third taking home 12 medals (7 golds).

2000 - Anzere, Switzerland

1996 - Lech, Austria