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There will be more gold (and silver and bronze) medals handed out Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026 than in the last Winter Olympics. There are eight new medal events, including three in an entirely new Olympic sport: ski mountaineering, or Skimo, for short.
What is skimo, and when can you watch this new Olympic sport? Let us get you ready to sound like you know what you’re talking about before Games begin.
Meet Skimo, the new Olympic sport
As you might have guessed from the name, Skimo is a new skiing event. Unlike other ski races, this race involves both ascents and descents, combining the endurance of nordic skiing with the grit of alpine racing, with a bit of a NASCAR pit crew feel at the top, as competitors transition from climbing to skiing down.
The Eskimo race starts at the bottom of the hill. Skiers begin by placing carpet-like strips called “skins” on the bottom of their skis, which help them grip the snow as they race uphill. As if cross-country skiing wasn’t enough of an aerobic test of pain tolerance, let’s make it even harder and race uphill!
As runners approach the top of the ski run, there will be a section too steep to use skis, so runners will jump off their skis, throw them on their backs, and head up the hill in their boots. This cumbersome section is called “boot packing.”
Finally, at the top, racers will jump back into their skis, peel off their skins with amazing efficiency and then race down the hill through a series of gates to the finish line. This downhill section will look like a giant slalom, to those familiar with alpine ski racing.
Before you race down, you have to shed your skin and climb up.
What are the three Skimo events?
There are men’s and women’s sprint races, as well as a mixed relay race.
Sprint events will be completed faster than you expect. Competitors will climb nearly 230 feet to the top over the two ascending sections and then race to the finish line in less than three minutes.
The mixed relay will feature teams of men and women. Each competitor will run the course twice, with the woman racing in the first and third rounds and the man racing in the second and final rounds. Since snowboard racers use ski poles, there is no passing stick in the snowboard relay – all that is required is a simple mark to pass the race to your teammate. The team with the fastest cumulative time wins.
The mixed relay course is longer than the sprints and, in a twist, features a boot section on the second climb but not the first. The total time for the mixed relay race is expected to be approximately 30 minutes.
When will the Simo events be held in the 2026 Olympics?
The men’s and women’s speed competitions will take place on Thursday 19 February at the Stelvio Ski Center in Bormio. All speed skating races will take place on this one day, from the first heats to the gold medal final in the men’s and women’s events.
Each field consists of 18 competitors competing in three rounds of six. The top three from each heat, plus the three fastest who do not automatically qualify, advance to the semi-finals. The two fastest from each semi-final, along with the next best two, create a field of six for the skating final.
There are no preliminary heats for the mixed relay event, just a final consisting of 12 to 18 teams. The men’s and women’s mixed relay finals will be held on Saturday, February 21.
Cam Smith will team up with Anna Gibson for Team USA in the mixed relay skating competition.
Which countries are best for Skimo?
Ski mountaineering began in the Alps, so you won’t be surprised when I tell you that France, Italy and Switzerland have historically dominated the skiing scene. At last year’s World Mountaineering Championships, France won nine medals (four golds), Switzerland won seven (three golds), and Italy finished third overall with four medals.
The current men’s world champion is Spaniard Oriol Cardona Cole. He is the Milan Cortina gold medalist in the men’s sprint event. Emily Harrop of France is the favorite for the women’s sprint.
Who’s on the US Skimo Team?
Anna Gibson and Cam Smith will represent Team USA in the mixed relay. They became the first American team ever to win a World Cup mixed relay event. Their win in Solitude, Utah, was not only nationally historic, it also qualified them for the Olympics.
Gibson is a 26-year-old from Jackson, Wyoming, with a background in running and nordic skiing. Hailing from Rockford, Illinois, Smith, 30, is the closest thing to a U.S. ski veteran. He is an 11-time US National Ski Mountaineering Champion and a five-time North American Ski Mountaineering Champion.