Oriol Cardona Coll, Marianne Fatton win ski mountaineering sprint golds in event’s Olympic debut

BORMIO – Spain’s Oriol Cardona Coll and Switzerland’s Marianne Fatton bagged the first two Olympic golds on offer in ski mountaineering in Bormio on Feb 19 in the event’s debut at the Winter Games.

The men’s sprint also saw Russian Nikita Filippov win the first medal at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Games for individual neutral athletes when he claimed silver.

“It’s hard because I see athletes with flags of their nations and they are in the uniform of their nations, but it’s OK,” he said.

“Everybody knows what country I am from. I’m just happy to be here and to realise my childhood dream.”

Athletes from Russia and Belarus have faced bans from international competition since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Filippov and his AIN teammates have been allowed to compete at these Games under a neutral banner having met strict conditions.

Filippov finished 1.52sec off Cardona Coll, who won in 2min 34.03sec for Spain’s first Winter Olympic gold since Francisco Fernandez Ochoa won the men’s Alpine skiing slalom at the 1972 Games in Sapporo, Japan.

“Winning this gold after so many years, it means a lot for us as a country,” said Cardona Coll, 31.

“It also means a lot for the ski mountaineering family to be here.”

Thibault Anselmet of France took bronze (2:36.34) in the skimo sprint, an adrenaline-packed event requiring athletes to negotiate uphill climbs on ski and foot before descending by ski.

In the women’s sprint, Fatton clocked a winning time of 2min 59.77sec on the Stelvio course, denying France’s four-time World Cup champion Emily Harrop by 2.38sec.

Spain’s Ana Alonso Rodriguez claimed bronze, 10.45sec off Fatton’s pace.

“The atmosphere here was amazing, it was already so cool to race here with all the noise,” said Fatton. “Winning the gold medal was the topping on the cake.”

In Tesero, Norway won the Nordic combined team sprint on Feb 19 in a chaotic race that saw several of the athletes crash and collide in heavy snow.

Andreas Skoglund and Jens Luraas Oftebro delivered for Norway, surging to gold by a ski’s length over Finland after a breathless sprint finish.

Heavy snowfall turned the course into a test of balance and nerve, reducing the contest to a five-nation battle halfway through as conditions deteriorated. Several racers lost their grip and lurched close to crashing on the treacherous surface.

Germany’s hopes unravelled when Vinzenz Geiger crashed late on, taking Ryota Yamamoto down with him after the Japanese skier was unable to avoid his fallen rival, sending both nations out of the medal battle.

Austria were also forced out of contention, and grabbed bronze, when Stefan Rettenegger fell not long after, leaving Norway and Finland to settle the medals in a dramatic final stretch as Oftebro secured his third of three possible gold medals in the Olympics.

In a key event that ended late on Feb 18, Arianna Fontana became her country’s most decorated Olympian when she led Italy to silver behind South Korea in the women’s 3,000 metres short track relay. Canada took bronze. 

It was the 14th Olympic medal of Fontana’s career, eclipsing the record of fencer Edoardo Mangiarotti, who won 13 medals from 1936 to 1960.

“It’s something incredible. I still haven’t found the right words to describe this moment and everything I’m feeling. I’m trying to take it all in, to stay present, to enjoy this medal with the girls, and maybe tomorrow, when I wake up, it will all really sink in,” she told reporters.

Another iconic moment from the Games has been a viral video of Eileen Gu’s response to a reporter’s question.

The 22-year-old was the darling of the Beijing Games on home soil four years ago, when she won two golds and a silver, making her the first freestyle skier to collect three medals at a single Winter Olympics.

She came to Italy seeking to sweep the board but has so far missed out on gold, winning two silvers, in slopestyle and big air.

Following her second-placed finish in the big air event on Feb 16, AFP asked her in a press conference whether she considered it “two silvers gained or two golds lost”.

Gu laughed off the question, pointing out that she is now the most decorated woman in Olympic freestyle skiing history.

“I think that’s an answer in and of itself,” said the skier, who is set to compete in the halfpipe event. “How do I say this? Winning a medal at the Olympics is a life-changing experience for every athlete.

“Doing it five times is exponentially harder, because every medal is equally hard for me, but everybody else’s expectations rise. The two medals lost situation, to be quite frank with you I think is kind of a ridiculous perspective to take.”

A video of the exchange has gone viral, garnering millions of views and reactions across multiple social media platforms. One praised her for “such an excellent answer to such a horrible question”, while another questioned “why the hate? He asked a genuine question”. AFP, REUTERS