New sports are rare at the Winter Olympics. Ski mountaineering therefore had a lot riding on the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games, especially since the organizing committee for the 2030 Winter Games is currently reviewing its own program. When assessing the results, the International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF) sees the glass as half full, even though legitimate criticisms have been raised regarding the sprint events.
Public attention despite criticism
For this inaugural event, ski mountaineering was represented by 36 athletes and two race formats: the sprint and the mixed relay. The sprint met with some skepticism: only three minutes of racing, too much emphasis on maneuvers, few overtaking opportunities… Like some of his colleagues, Briton Iain Innes was highly critical of this format. The Independent by comparing the athletes to " hamsters running up and down He doesn't mince words: People don't watch a ski mountaineering race by chance. Those who watch are fans, and ski mountaineering fans will never watch a sprint, because that's simply not ski mountaineering. "While acknowledging that integration into the Olympic Games has..." opened up numerous financing opportunities " and " Without the Games, there would be no British team, no GB Skimo ».
« Seeing our athletes compete on the Olympic stage confirmed the technical maturity, credibility and global reach of ski mountaineering. " says Regula Meier, the president of the ISMF. Ski mountaineering is among the sports with the highest percentage of tickets soldAnd the ratings confirmed the public's interest. Broadcast on Saturday, the mixed relay attracted up to 5,3 million viewers on France Télévisions (45% audience share) and 2,19 million in Italy (15,18% audience share). Promising figures were also achieved in Switzerland by SRF, with an average audience of 421.000 viewers (65,2% audience share) for the relay. This is an indicator that will undoubtedly be closely monitored by the IOC and the Organizing Committee for the French Alps 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
©CNOSF/KMSP
Individual status added in 2030?
The ISMF now hopes to establish itself in the long term by adding the individual race, a longer format (around 50 minutes for men, one hour for women) which was already featured at the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Games and which better reflects the essence of ski mountaineering. I dream that the individual event will be integrated in the future and that we can welcome more athletes. “,” confides Swiss athlete Jon Kistler, silver medalist in the mixed relay, “aware that being at the Games is already a tremendous opportunity.” My primary goal is to ensure our sport remains on the program in 2030. Anything beyond that will be a gift for us. »
The organizing committee for the 2030 Games has expressed some interest in retaining ski mountaineering. It will now have to make a decision. In this context, the three medals won by the French are certainly a boon. Amélie-Oudéa Castéra, president of the CNOSF (French National Olympic and Sports Committee), made no secret of this on France 2: We saw Thibault Anselmet and Emily Harrop, who won bronze and silver respectively, and now they have this gold medal (in the mixed relay). It's a cornerstone; tomorrow, we'll try to ensure that ski mountaineering truly establishes itself among the Olympic disciplines. We'll have a very strong discipline here, one that can allow us to perform at the highest level. "And we know that for the 2030 Games to be successful, the French team will need to win medals."
