{"id":24557,"date":"2026-02-21T08:17:43","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T13:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/us-ski-mountaineers-make-history-at-olympics-despite-european-dominance\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T08:17:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T13:17:43","slug":"us-ski-mountaineers-make-history-at-olympics-despite-european-dominance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/us-ski-mountaineers-make-history-at-olympics-despite-european-dominance\/","title":{"rendered":"US Ski Mountaineers Make History at Olympics Despite European Dominance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n

BORMIO, Italy – Two American athletes are making their mark in ski mountaineering at the Milano Cortina Olympics, challenging the long-standing European supremacy in this winter sport ahead of Saturday’s mixed relay competition.<\/p>

Anna Gibson and Cam Smith have already carved out a place in sporting history after delivering the United States its inaugural World Cup victory in ski mountaineering this past December, earning their Olympic berths in the process.<\/p>

The discipline, which traces its origins to alpine military exercises, has traditionally been the domain of European competitors in World Cup events. However, the sport’s new Olympic status has sparked increased international participation, with American athletes leading the charge from non-European nations.<\/p>

Smith brings years of experience in the sport to the Games, though December marked her debut World Cup appearance, and the Olympic sprint represented just her fourth official competition. Gibson’s journey is even more remarkable – she transitioned from trail running to join the US national team only last September.<\/p>

Austrian competitor Johanna Hiemer remarked in December about Gibson’s rapid emergence in the ski mountaineering world: “Within one summer everything changed, and we always said it wouldn’t happen overnight but it proved the opposite.”<\/p>

Sarah Cookler, who leads USA SkiMo as Head of Sport, expressed optimism in December about the Olympic inclusion boosting the sport’s profile domestically. “It’s really only a matter of time before we can attract the strongest athletes for this and be really competitive,” Cookler stated.<\/p>

Both American competitors advanced to the semifinals in Thursday’s Olympic sprint events as “lucky losers” from their initial heats, with Gibson finishing ninth overall and Smith placing 11th.<\/p>

“Hopefully the U.S. can kind of continue to improve and climb and be on par with the Europeans in the near future,” Cookler said in December. She brought on Italian coach Oscar Angeloni in 2024, partly to adopt training methods similar to those used by European squads.<\/p>

Gibson noted the unique experience of competing in Bormio, where ski mountaineering enjoys widespread recognition and understanding among locals and spectators alike.<\/p>

“You can feel that SkiMo is just part of the culture. It’s very normal. It’s very understood here,” Gibson explained. “To not have to explain what it is to people here and just know that there are fans who have been supporters of the sport for a long time is really special.”<\/p>

Regardless of their Saturday finish, both Smith and Gibson express satisfaction with their Olympic showing thus far.<\/p>

“The sprint is definitely not my best event, so I’m just taking it as a really positive sign for Saturday and the mixed relay. It’s a great sign for Anna and I that we’ve made it as far as we did in the sprint,” Smith commented Friday.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two American athletes are breaking new ground in ski mountaineering at the Milano Cortina Olympics, competing in a sport traditionally dominated by European nations. Anna Gibson and Cam Smith made history by earning the US its first-ever World Cup victory in the discipline and are now preparing for Saturday’s mixed relay race.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":24556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[836],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/news-1771679862796.jpg?fit=450%2C303&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbtNqq-6o5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25013,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/ski-mountaineering-makes-olympic-debut-with-european-nations-leading-the-way\/","url_meta":{"origin":24557,"position":0},"title":"Ski Mountaineering Makes Olympic Debut with European Nations Leading the Way","author":"Admin","date":"February 22, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Ski mountaineering made its Olympic debut at the Milano Cortina Games, with Spain earning its first Winter Olympics gold in 54 years. Despite snowy conditions in Italy, the new sport drew sold-out crowds and enthusiastic athlete support for future inclusion.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/news-1771767115658.jpg?fit=450%2C307&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21613,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/new-olympic-sport-skimo-makes-historic-debut-in-italian-alps-this-week\/","url_meta":{"origin":24557,"position":1},"title":"New Olympic Sport SkiMo Makes Historic Debut in Italian Alps This Week","author":"Admin","date":"February 17, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Ski mountaineering, nicknamed SkiMo, will compete for the first time ever at the Winter Olympics starting Thursday in Italy. The sport combines uphill skiing, boot-packing, and downhill racing in fast-paced sprint events lasting about three minutes.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/news-1771347676550.jpg?fit=450%2C308&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23283,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/russian-ski-mountaineer-makes-history-with-first-neutral-athlete-medal\/","url_meta":{"origin":24557,"position":2},"title":"Russian Ski Mountaineer Makes History with First Neutral Athlete Medal","author":"Admin","date":"February 19, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Twenty-three-year-old Nikita Filippov from Russia captured silver in ski mountaineering's Olympic debut, becoming the first individual neutral athlete to medal at these Winter Games. Despite competing without his country's flag due to IOC restrictions, Filippov fulfilled a childhood dream while receiving support from fellow competitors and friends.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/news-1771521470313.jpg?fit=450%2C293&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23233,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/spanish-skier-breaks-54-year-olympic-drought-in-new-ski-mountaineering-event\/","url_meta":{"origin":24557,"position":3},"title":"Spanish Skier Breaks 54-Year Olympic Drought in New Ski Mountaineering Event","author":"Admin","date":"February 19, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Oriol Cardona Coll secured Spain's first Winter Olympic gold medal in more than five decades by winning the men's ski mountaineering sprint competition. The new Olympic sport made its debut at the Milano-Cortina Games, with Switzerland's Marianne Fatton claiming the women's title.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/news-1771516901830.jpg?fit=450%2C301&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22827,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/italian-married-couple-brings-unique-partnership-to-olympic-ski-mountaineering-debut\/","url_meta":{"origin":24557,"position":4},"title":"Italian Married Couple Brings Unique Partnership to Olympic Ski Mountaineering Debut","author":"Admin","date":"February 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Michele Boscacci and Alba de Silvestro, an Italian married couple, are preparing to compete in ski mountaineering's first-ever Olympic appearance. The duo says their partnership both on and off the slopes helps reduce pressure while creating unique challenges as they balance their relationship with elite competition.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/news-1771462838959.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24592,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/french-duo-claims-first-ever-olympic-ski-mountaineering-mixed-relay-gold\/","url_meta":{"origin":24557,"position":5},"title":"French Duo Claims First-Ever Olympic Ski Mountaineering Mixed Relay Gold","author":"Admin","date":"February 21, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"World champions Emily Harrop and Thibault Anselmet of France dominated Saturday's inaugural Olympic ski mountaineering mixed relay in Italy. The pair maintained their lead throughout the race, completing the challenging 1.41 km course in 26 minutes and 57.44 seconds.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/news-1771686990879.jpg?fit=450%2C335&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}