The United States had one final opportunity to qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics in ski mountaineering (SkiMo). Anna Gibson and Cameron Smith didn’t waste it.
The duo made all kinds of history at the ISMF Ski Mountaineering World Cup event in Solitude, Utah by winning the mixed relay event. They became the first American team in Cup history to accomplish the feat, and in the process, secured an Olympic berth in Milan Cortina, where SkiMo will make its Winter Games debut in February.
“I had a feeling something great would happen, and I didn’t know if that would be succeeding in our goal of making it to the Olympics, or failing objectively,” Smith said.
When Cameron, the country’s most decorated SkiMo athlete, crossed the finish line at 32 minutes and 17 seconds, his partner Gibson was waiting. Bundled up in an American flag like it was a jacket, she embraced Smith who shuffled into her arms, wrapping the two in red, white and blue. As they celebrated, they turned to an electric home-snow crowd and raised their arms in triumph. It was an Olympic highlight reel-worthy moment.
“There’s nothing that feels quite like this,” Gibson remarked. “I’m pretty overwhelmed.”
SkiMo still is a relatively young sport in the United States, with its governing body — USA Skimo — forming just a decade ago. It is far less competitive than European countries that have been doing it longer. Take France and Italy, for example, who’ve earned 42 out of the 57 overall Cup medals since the circuit’s inception in 2006.
The U.S. had an outside shot of making it to the 2026 Winter Olympics, as they struggled at June’s ISMF World Championships and failed to consistently collect ISMF World Cup points (the circuit works just like the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup) during the Nov. 1, 2024, to Dec. 21, 2025 qualification period. The country was eliminated from contention to participate in the sprint event, one of the two race types occurring at the Games. Their only chance was in the mixed relay.
In that discipline, multiple teams made up of one man and one woman race at the same time. The woman athlete is first to start, completing a lap on a course that includes cross-country skiing, climbing, boot-packing and downhill skiing. Once she concludes the lap, she'll tag in her partner who does the same. This cycle is repeated, and the duo with the fastest time wins.
There are 12 Olympic quotas for mixed relay teams from 12 different National Olympic Committees (NOCs). The host country, in this case Italy, is given an automatic slot. The two top-ranked teams from the 2025 ISMF World Championships, France and Spain, also qualified. There’s the continental quota, which reserves a spot for the best teams in each continent. Finally, the highest-ranked NOCs on the Olympic Mixed Relay Ranking List — determined by results at the world championships and World Cups — constitute the remaining spots until there are 12 total squads.
Heading into the weekend, the U.S. was a single point behind Canada. The country that performed better in Solitude would receive the continental quota and move on to the Olympics. Needless to say, the pressure was on, and Gibson and Smith rose to the occasion.
A Rockford, Illinois native, Smith is USA Skimo’s seasoned veteran. His first SkiMo race came in 2014 at the Grand Traverse in the Rocky Mountains, and since that time, he’s won 11 U.S. SkiMo National Championships. He also became the first American man to finish in the top 10 at a World Cup event and the first to earn a Cup medal, which he accomplished in a 2022 Vertical race in Andorra.
Meanwhile, Gibson is a precocious neophyte. A decorated trail runner with a strong background in Alpine and Nordic skiing, the 26-year-old was recruited by her running teammate Smith to try SkiMo. Amazingly, 2025 is the first season she’s competing in Cup events and will be the lead up to her first Olympic Games. Not a bad rookie campaign for Gibson, to say the least.
Ski mountaineering debuts at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics on February 19 with the men’s and women’s sprint events. Gibson and Smith will take centerstage on February 21 for the mixed relay. They won't be the favorites, but if recent history tells us anything, they may prefer it that way. Catch all the Olympic skimo action on Peacock.