Oriol Cardona Coll (SPA) etched his name in Olympic history as he became the first man to ever win gold in a ski mountaineering event at the Winter Olympics. In the process, he snapped Spain's 54-year gold medal drought in Winter Games competition.

Standing beside Coll on the podium was Nikita Filippov, a Russian man who's competing as an Individual Neutral Athlete. He claimed silver. 

Rounding out the podium, two-time world champion Thibault Anselmet (FRA) secured bronze.

After heats and semifinals, the stage is set for the inaugural men's ski mountaineering sprint final. The following six emerged from the field and will race for medals at 6:55 a.m. ET. 

Semifinal 1

Jon Kistler threw down an impressive semifinal performance, posting the fastest time of his heat (2:34.93). Kistler and Oriol Cardona Coll remained relatively even for the duration of the race, but the former separated himself when it came to the transitions.

Kistler blazed out of the first — which involved removing his skis and looping them into his backpack — while Coll (usually an expert at that facet) struggled.

The mishap proved to be the difference, as Kistler rode the advantage to the win. Coll did post the second fastest time (+1.17), clinching his spot in the final. 

Two-time world champion Thibault Anselmet placed third and finished as one of the semifinal’s lucky losers.

Semifinal 2

Arno Lietha crossed the finish line before anyone else in the pair of men’s semifinal sprint races (2:33.79) and earned his spot in the final. It was a wire-to-wire victory for the second ranked SkiMo sprinter in the world, although Ot Ferrer Martinez kept pace throughout.

Even so, it was Nikita Filippov that made a last-30 second push to overtake Martinez and make it down the slalom downhill just behind Lietha (+0.74).

Martinez wound up clinching a finals berth as a lucky loser (+3.48), joining Lietha and Filippov. The trio will contest for medals later this morning.

American Cameron Smith finished 6th in this semifinal (+16.95), an unsurprising result given that he’s more of a long-distance competitor. He’ll return to Stelvio on Saturday for the mixed relay, along with his partner Anna Gibson.

The semifinals will be contested in two groups:

Heat 1

Multi-time SkiMo sprint world champion Oriol Cardona Coll (ESP) crossed the finish line first in his six-athlete pack with a time of 2:37.96. His mark also wound up leading the entire 18-person field across the three heats.

Ot Ferrer Martinez (ESP), the fourth ranked sprint SkiMo'er in the world, placed 2nd (+3.36), joining his compatriot Coll in the semifinals.

The French made their presence felt too, as Pablo Giner Dalmasso rounded out the top three (+4.41). He qualified for the semifinals, and so did lucky loser Luer Bu of China. The 21-year-old recorded the fourth-best time (+5.93) and advanced because he was one of the three fastest athletes in the three heats who did not automatically qualify for the semifinals.

Heat 2

Jon Kistler (SUI), the No. 1-ranked male sprinter in the world, paced his heat with a stellar time of 2.38.36 and qualified for the semifinals.

Joining Kistler in the semis was Russian Nikita Filippov, who's competing as an Individual Neutral Athlete (+1.48).

Maximilien Drion du Chapois (BEL), a vertical event specialist, snatched the third qualification spot (+4.04).

Two losers were lucky in the second heat. Even though they finished outside of the top three, American Cam Smith (+9.23) and Australian Phillip Bellingham (+10.03) advanced to the semifinals due to their strong times.

Heat 3

The second-ranked SkiMo sprinter in the world Amo Lietha (SUI) posted the quickest Heat 3 time of 2:43.23.

Thibault Anselmet (FRA), a two-time world champion and a medal favorite in Saturday's mixed relay, came in 2nd (+3.75).

The third and final man to advance to the semifinals from Heat 3 was Hans-Inge Klette of Germany (+4.96).