Win now or peak at Olympics? How World Cup skiers plan to be their best in February

When Paula Moltzan opened the alpine skiing World Cup season this weekend with her career-best result in giant slalom, the American was left with one question.

Was she maybe peaking too early?

With the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics still more than three months away, she might rather prefer to hit top form a bit later.

"No, I don't think so," Moltzan said. "I'm just hoping that I'm building a really wide base to build off."

While the annual five-month-long World Cup campaign is generally regarded by skiers as their most important stage, the chance to compete for Olympic medals comes along only once every four years.

So, can skiers build their World Cup season in such a way they are at their best come February? Do they even want to do so?

"Yes, there is peaking," said Moltzan, who came runner-up to Austrian winner Julia Scheib in Saturday's giant slalom.

"My coaches keep track and so they know where I'm at in recovery and where I am in the peaking cycle. They know how many days I've skied, they know how many turns I've taken, they know the load that I've taken," added the American, who is the GS bronze medalist from the 2025 worlds eyeing her second Winter Olympics after 2022.

All the data her coaches collect will help her "to be lining up just OK for the Olympics," Moltzan said.

Two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin, though, has a slightly different approach than her teammate.

According to Shiffrin, picking a peak moment in a season is "not really possible" in ski racing.

"I have a big priority on the World Cup races as well, so it's more to get to a high level of racing and then to just try to keep the energy on a daily basis, just not to go too far past them," said Shiffrin, who became the youngest ever Olympic