With the introduction of giant slalom at the world championships in 1950, the combined event disappeared from the Olympics for four decades, until re-introduced in 1988.
The first super combined was a World Cup race held in 2005 in Wengen, Switzerland, on January 14; Benjamin Raich of Austria was the winner.
The first women's race in the new format was run six weeks later in San Sicario, Italy; won by Croatia's Janica Kostelić on February 27.
The change to super combined expectedly resulted in major disapproval from the slalom specialists, the loudest critic being Ivica Kostelić.
Even with the change to a single slalom run, many speed skiers believe the technical racers have the advantage in the super combined.
[3][4] The super combined format debuted at the world championships in 2007 in Åre, Sweden, and at the Winter Olympics in 2010 at Whistler, Canada.
The 2022 Winter Olympics had a significant decline in participation in combined than past Games, further leaving the future of the event in doubt.
[5][6] The FIS began to develop a replacement format for alpine combined that would involve two-person teams assigned to downhill and slalom respectively.