Women On Top. Speed Skier Valentina Greggio Beats All Male Competitors
In a groundbreaking moment for winter sports, Italian speed skier Valentina Greggio has etched her name into history by becoming the first woman to achieve a faster speed than any male competitor in an official race.
Greggio's extraordinary feat occurred at the FIS Speed Ski World Cup in Vars, France, where she clocked an astonishing speed of 202.14 kilometers per hour, narrowly outpacing men’s winner Simone Origone, who reached 202.120 kilometers per hour. This remarkable achievement surpassed the top speed recorded by male athletes in the same event, marking a watershed moment in the sport.
"I'm still trying to process what just happened," Greggio exclaimed after her victory. "I knew I was fast, but to actually outpace the men... it's a dream come true."
Initially unaware of the significance of her time, she assumed the men had gone even faster. “ Greggio said “We women raced after the men, and I was last to go, which helps. But let’s be clear—the conditions were the same for everyone. I thought they had done 203 or 204 kilometers per hour, so I just figured I had won the women’s race. Then my teammate Samuele Capello ran up to me and said, ‘You had the best speed of all.’”
Greggio's performance has not only reshaped the landscape of speed skiing but also inspired a new generation of female athletes to push the boundaries of what's possible in the sport. As the World Cup heads to Formigal, Spain, from February 10-13, the question isn't just whether she can maintain her winning streak, but whether she can redefine what's possible in the sport
Speaking on her career she said “I started skiing at the tender age of three, gliding down the slopes on my first pair of skis Like most kids my age, I began with alpine skiing. Even during those early races, I realised how much I loved speed, but I didn't know there was a specific sport dedicated to it. And in Italy, there weren't any speed skiing slopes. So, for me, it was all about downhill skiing. However, I was contacted by the current coach of the National Speed Skiing team, and that's when I discovered speed skiing and realised how naturally talented I was for the sport. In 2010, I participated in my first competitions, and the following year, I joined the National Team in the SDH category (now known as S2), which involves using standard downhill equipment. In 2013, I won the World Championship in this category, becoming World Champion and setting a new speed record (still unbroken) of 202.576 km/h. In 2014, I moved up to the top category, Speed One (S1), using specialised aerodynamic equipment. Just a year later, I achieved a double victory by winning both the World Championship and the overall World Cup. Then, on 26th March 2016, I made history in Vars, France, by reaching an incredible speed of 247.083 km/h, setting a women's world record that remains unbroken”.
With seven world championship medals - five gold, one silver, and one bronze - a World Cup in the SDH category in 2013, and World Cups in the S1 category in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, and 2024, and seventy podium finishes, this is the impressive record of Italian speed skier Valentina Greggio. Born in 1991, she is the most successful athlete in the history of the sport. Her sporting history goes back a long way – she has in fact been skiing since she was a child – and has always seemed intertwined with the dimension of speed: “When I skied down the slope, going fast was fun. That's all I thought about." She shattered the world record in 2016, clocking in at an astonishing 247.083 km/h on the French slope of Vars. This record remains unbroken to this day. Holding a degree in Sports Science, Greggio is a versatile athlete, also working as a teacher, ski instructor, and athletic trainer.
