Oriol Cardona Coll (ESP) made history by winning the first-ever Olympic gold medal in the men’s ski mountaineering sprint at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. The Spaniard, two-times world champion, crossed the line 1.5 seconds ahead of Nikita Filipov (AIN), who claimed silver, while France’s Thibault Anselmet took bronze in 2:36.3.
The historic debut of ski mountaineering at the Winter Olympics reached a fever pitch on Thursday as the Stelvio Ski Centre in Bormio transformed into a theatre of endurance and technical skills. Under a heavy and persistent snowfall that blanketed the 725-metre track, the men’s sprint competition unfolded before a distinguished gallery of observers. Among those witnessing the birth of this new Olympic era were the IOC President, Kirsty Coventry, and numerous IOC members, who were joined by the President of the International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF), Regula Meier, to see the sport’s elite athletes battle for the first gold medals in its history.
The Heats started with 18 elite male athletes lining up for three high-intensity qualifying heats, each seeking a path to the podium on a course featuring 70 metres of vertical ascent and descent. The first heat saw Spain’s Oriol Cardona Coll set an early benchmark with a time of 2:37.96, leading a group that included Belgium’s Maximilien Drion du Chapois and Italian home favorite Michele Boscacci. They were joined in the early rounds by Poland’s Jan Elantkowski and Norway’s Trym Dalset Lödöen. The depth of the field was immediately apparent as the second heat featured a tight contest between Nikita Filippov, France’s Thibault Anselmet, China’s Bu Luer, and Australia’s Phillip Bellingham. The third heat rounded out the field with Swiss star Arno Lietha and Austria’s Paul Verbnjak leading the charge against Spain’s Ot Ferrer, Germany’s Finn Hösch, USA’s Cameron Smith, and France’s Pablo Giner Dalmasso.
As the field narrowed to 12 for the semifinals, the intensity on the Stelvio slope shifted into a higher gear. In the first semifinal, Arno Lietha demonstrated his technical prowess by posting the fastest time of the round, narrowly edging out Cardona -who struggled a bit in the last transition- and Anselmet to secure his place in the final. Behind them, Giner Dalmasso, Cameron Smith, and Bu Luer saw their individual medal ambitions come to an end in a brutally fast heat. The second semifinal was equally fiercely contested, with Nikita Filippov leading the way into the final alongside Verbnjak and Ferrer. This round proved to be the end of the road for Drion du Chapois, Norway’s Hans-Inge Klette, and Bellingham, setting the stage for a six-man showdown for Olympic glory.
The final race was a technical masterclass that highlighted why Oriol Cardona Coll is considered the premier sprinter in the world. The Spaniard produced a decisive and explosive
surge during the late stages of the diamond section, executing a transition that allowed him to attack the mountain stairs with unmatched speed. While his competitors struggled to find footing on the slick, snow-covered steps, Cardona Coll powered upward, at times leaping two steps at once to seize total control of the race. He crossed the finish line in 2:34.03 to claim the gold, followed by Nikita Filippov (AIN) in 2:35.55 for silver and Thibault Anselmet (FRA) in 2:36.34 for bronze. Rounding out the historic first final were Arno Lietha in fourth, Paul Verbnjak in fifth, and Ot Ferrer in sixth.
For Cardona Coll, the victory was more than a personal triumph; it ended a 54-year wait for a Spanish Winter Olympic gold medal, making him only the second person from his nation to reach the top of the podium in the Winter Games. Reflecting on the moment, he said: “It’s very exciting to win Winter Olympic gold after 54 years, it really means a lot. Not just for me, but for Spain, bringing this medal home after 54 years is an honour and I’m proud — but also to represent this sport in its Olympic debut, the first time we’re here playing in the big leagues. It’s a pleasure and I hope everyone around the world enjoyed it and knows that there’s a lot more to this sport than this and that they continue enjoying it from home.”
