**5. Conclusions**

In conclusion, the application of descriptive statistical analysis to left and right turns by elite slalom skiers revealed that with respect to technique, ground reaction forces and performance, these turns were quite symmetrical, with the only significant di fference being related to the mean GRF on the entire inside foot. Furthermore, all symmetry indices for skiing technique and performance were >92%, with the exception of those for instantaneous (70.6%) and sectional performance (84.2%), demonstrating the relevance of these latter two parameters in connection with the analysis of skiing asymmetry. The Jaccard index, which takes into account behavior within the turn cycle, was found to be more sensitive to asymmetries than the symmetry index, which is based solely on the mean values of the parameters. Although the movements of elite slalom skiers were found to be quite symmetrical, this is the first demonstration that asymmetry in their skiing technique and ground reaction forces influences asymmetry in their performance. These findings constitute experimental support for the efforts of coaches to achieve symmetrical skiing technique, not only in order to decrease the risk of injury [31], but also to optimize overall performance.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, M.S. and H.-C.H.; methodology, M.S. and J.O.; formal analysis, J.O. and M.S.; data collection and handling, M.S. and J.O.; writing—preparation of the first draft, M.S.; writing—review and editing, all authors; visualization, J.O. and M.S.; supervision, M.S.; project administration, M.S.; funding acquisition, H.-C.H. and N.Š. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (No 824984) and the Slovenian Research Agency (L5-1845 & P5-0147)

**Acknowledgments:** The authors would like to sincerely thank all the skiers and their coaches for their helpful cooperation. Many thanks also to Alessandro Galloppini and Mads Kjær Madsen Mads for their help with the data collection and to Uwe Kersting for performing inertial motion capture.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
