Compared with those in other Olympic winter sports, the health risks associated with alpine ski racing are relatively high.[1] Risk management strategies are central to protecting the health of athletes,[2] but systematic, holistic and/or long-term orientated approaches are widely lacking. This is particularly because risk causality in alpine ski racing is multifactorial and complex,[3] and prevention and return-to-sport measures must consider a wide range of relevant stakeholders, intervention areas and target groups.[2] It is also often necessary to balance different health, performance and business interests, making effective health protection for athletes even more challenging. Effective risk management is therefore much more than just performing a specific neuromuscular prevention exercise or developing protective sports equipment, and every piece of the puzzle counts! The aim of this keynote presentation is to provide the audience with a comprehensive overview of the current knowledge on the subject and to derive evidence-based risk management strategies for alpine ski racing. In the first part of the presentation, the available research on risk management in alpine ski racing will be systematically summarised and explored in all its aspects and in relation to contextual factors such as sport, sex and competition level. The second part of the presentation will focus on athlete-related risk management strategies and their build-up as part of the athlete's long-term development pathway. Finally, in the third and concluding part of the presentation, a selection of specific implementation issues related to injury reporting, warmup, training/testing and return to sport in alpine ski racing will be critically discussed, and potential solutions will be illustrated with best practice examples.
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