Skimo Goes to the Olympics. Will the U.S. Go Too?

HAGAN Race Athlete Jeff Mogavero at the begining of the 2025 Wasatch Powderkeg National Championships Vertical Race. Photo by Ben Hogan.

If You Have a Short-Attention-Span Then Read This:

• Skimo is officially entering the Olympics, but only sprint and mixed relay formats made the cut, setting the stage for a fast, chaotic debut.
• The U.S. is battling Canada for the lone Americas quota, with Solitude’s World Cup in Utah likely to determine who gets in.
• If the U.S. qualifies, selection will be fiercely competitive, with several men and women capable of earning the Olympic start gate.

Introduction

In the last twelve months, we have published two deep dives on skimo and the Olympics: one at the start of last season and one at the end. Now, as the Olympic season begins in earnest, it feels like the right time to revisit where things stand. What exactly does the Olympic skimo program look like? Where does the United States actually sit in the quota game? And, if things go our way, who might pull on a race suit and clip into the start gate in Milano–Cortina?

For those hermits who prioritize being outside over being on their computer, you are probably thinking, “That is a wild choice of sport to televise globally.” You are not wrong. For the first time ever, skimo athletes will line up in front of the world in Italy, blasting through three minute uphill sprints and a blisteringly fast mixed relay. It is a massive moment for a sport built on early alarms, questionable transitions, and the kind of uphill obsession that normal people do not really understand.

But with the hype comes complexity, politics, and one giant question: will the United States actually qualify for the Olympics?

Let us break it down with honesty, detail, and a bit of attitude.

What Events Are Actually in the Olympics?

Skimo normally consists of longer individual and team races, the “purist” disciplines, along with the vertical, sprint, and mixed relay formats. The Olympic program looked at that menu and essentially said, “Cool, we will take the short ones.” As a result, there are three events: the men’s sprint, the women’s sprint, and the mixed gender relay.

These races are fast, chaotic, and television friendly, but they barely resemble the multi hour, multi pass, and grin-and-bear descents that many skimo racers consider “real skimo.” Purists have made their feelings very clear. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), however, wants tight events, clear storylines, and something you can fit neatly into a broadcast window, not a five hour traverse over a massif.

And to be fair, they are not entirely wrong. Sprints are electric. Relays are unpredictable. Crashes happen, tactics matter, transitions are high skill, and every single second counts. At the same time, skimo insiders worry about “Olympification.” We have already seen this happen in climbing and mountain biking, where the Olympic formats barely reflect the original spirit of the sports.

Sprint skimo is raw, frantic, and tactical, but it is not the soul of ski mountaineering. It is not ridge traverses, glacier bootpacks, and those “please do not slide” jump turns at 13,000 feet (or 8,000 feet in Europe). However, visibility tends to drive growth. Growth tends to unlock funding. Funding tends to create development pipelines. We may not love every Olympic choice, but the Olympic bump will absolutely help build skimo in the United States faster than anything has before. So while the purists are allowed to be disappointed, there is no question that more eyeballs on this “silly spandex sport” will open doors for investment, junior programs, and infrastructure across the country.

For context, the Olympic skimo schedule at the Stelvio Ski Centre looks like this:

On February 19, the women’s sprint heats go off at 09:50, followed by the men’s heats at 10:30. The women’s semifinals run at 12:55 and the men’s at 13:25, with the women’s final at 13:55 and the men’s final at 14:15. Two days later, on February 21, the mixed relay starts at 13:30. In total, only 36 athletes will race in skimo: 18 men and 18 women.

Members of the 24-25 HAGAN Race Team at the 2025 Wasatch Powderkeg National Championships. Left to right: Simon Zink, Jeff Mogavero, Jack Breezley, Rachel Hebuas, & Emmiliese Von Avis. Photo by Ben Hogan. 

Where the U.S. Actually Stands in the Quota Game

On paper, the United States has a real shot at sending athletes to Milano–Cortina. In practice, the path is narrow, brutally competitive, and structurally tilted toward the traditional European powers.

There are 36 total athlete quota spots in Olympic skimo, split evenly: 18 for men and 18 for women. Each National Olympic Committee can earn a maximum of two quotas per gender. That means a country can have up to two men and two women on the start lists, but still only one mixed relay team. At the very top end, a nation like France could realistically start two men in the sprint, two women in the sprint, and one mixed relay team. The United States is not chasing that ceiling in this cycle. Our immediate battle is simply to secure one man and one woman in the field.

To understand why some countries already appear to be ahead in this game, you have to look back at the 2025 Skimo World Championships in Morgins, Switzerland. Eight total quotas were on the line there, four for men and four for women. The top two teams in the mixed relay each earned one male and one female quota. The top two finishers in the men’s sprint and the top two in the women’s sprint also each earned a quota for their nation. The mixed relay results were particularly important, because finishing in the top two effectively hands that country a start in the relay and in both individual sprint events.

Coming out of Worlds, the scoreboard looked like this in simple terms: France walked away with the maximum: a mixed relay quota and sprint quotas for both the men and the women, giving them two men and two women. Spain secured a mixed relay quota for both genders and an additional men’s sprint quota, giving them two men and one woman. Switzerland earned a women’s sprint quota and nothing on the men’s side, while Italy, as host nation, automatically holds one men’s and one women’s quota regardless of results.

That means eight of the thirty six spots, four per gender, were claimed at Worlds. Italy’s automatic host allocation adds another male and female quota. The remaining twenty six spots will be allocated based on World Cup results and ranking lists through December 21, 2025. Most of those will be driven by mixed relay rankings, which carry the majority of the weight, and by sprint rankings, which make up the remainder, alongside a handful of continental allocations, including a critical Americas quota.

This is why the big nations can so quickly hit their maximum of two quotas per gender. They have the depth and performance to score heavily in both the mixed relay and sprint rankings and to take advantage of the early allocation opportunities at Worlds. Given the current depth and results of the U.S. program, the realistic goal is one spot per gender, not two, and both of those athletes will race in the mixed relay too.

Why the U.S. Is Fighting for One Spot, Not Two

The United States is still early in its skimo development curve compared to France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, and a few other European nations. Those countries field deep sprint fields that routinely stack the top ten of World Cups, send multiple high performing relay teams, and collect ranking points in nearly every race on the calendar.

In a simulated allocation using recent World Cup data, roughly thirteen countries would earn at least one Olympic quota. Italy, France, Switzerland, and Spain would likely max out at two per gender. The U.S. projects, in a best realistic case, to earn one male and one female spot, assuming we defend our position in the mixed relay rankings and secure a continental allocation.

To grab a second U.S. quota in either gender, we would need a significant leap up the sprint ranking lists or an exceptional outlier result at the 2025 World Championships in the sprint. Right now, our top ranked male and female sprinters sit well outside the positions that would likely turn into a second quota. That is not pessimism, it is just an honest snapshot of where the program is. Step one is simple and difficult at the same time: secure one men’s and one women’s spot. Anything beyond that in this cycle would be overachievement.

The Americas Quota: USA vs. Canada

One of the most important levers for the United States is the continental allocation. Each continent is awarded one men’s quota and one women’s quota to the highest ranked National Olympic Committee on that continent in the mixed relay Olympic ranking, as long as that nation has eligible athletes. For the Americas (yes, two continents combined into one), the main players are the United States and Canada, with Chile also present in the mixed relay arena but not yet at the same competitive level.

Last season, the U.S. finished 11th on the mixed relay ranking list, just ahead of Canada on total points. The actual margin was razor thin. More importantly, Canada beat the U.S. every time the two nations raced each other head to head in the relay. The only reason the U.S. finished ahead on the ranking list is that we started more races and picked up points simply by being on the start line.

This makes the Americas quota essentially a toss up. It may come down to a single relay result near the end of the qualification window, especially at high profile events where both nations have their best teams on snow and the European field is present.

Storybook Drama: One Race to Rule Them All

For the first time ever, the United States is hosting an ISMF World Cup. From December 3 to 7, Solitude Mountain Resort in Utah will stage both sprint and mixed relay races. This is not just a nice gesture from the international federation. It is a recognition that the USA versus Canada showdown for the Americas spot matters, and that the North American market matters too.

More importantly, Solitude falls near the end of the qualification period, which means every race there will have massive ranking implications. Every point earned or dropped will influence the final quota allocations. The European powerhouses will have no choice but to travel to the U.S. to defend their positions. For once, they will be the ones dealing with the travel and time zones. (There will be two sprints in between Solitude and the end of the qualification period, one at Courchevel, France, and another in Andorra. It is assumed all nations will show up at those but the US stands the best chance to earn the most points whilst on home-turf.)

Add in the elevation and things get even more interesting. Solitude’s base sits around 8,000 feet, which gives American athletes (and some Canadians too) a real advantage. They will race on familiar snow, at home altitude, and without jet lag. For many athletes, this may be the single biggest competitive edge they will have had all season. It is entirely possible that the fate of the U.S. Olympic skimo program for this cycle will hinge on what happens over those few days in Utah. No pressure. And yet, from a spectator angle, it is the perfect kind of pressure.

If the U.S. Qualifies, Who Might Go?

If the quota pieces fall into place and the United States earns one spot per gender, the next question becomes who actually gets selected. The U.S. has genuine talent on both sides, and there is no automatic, uncontested answer. That is good news for the sport, if nerve wracking for the athletes.

On the men’s side, you have a compelling mix of youth and experience. Griffin Briley, the U20 World Champion with a sweep of gold medals, represents the future of the sport and a legitimate contender in the sprint age bracket. Cam Smith brings veteran experience, consistency, and a proven ability to deliver under pressure, especially in longer formats. Ian Clarke has emerged as the strongest pure sprinter internationally, cracking the top 30 at World Championships and regularly scoring important ranking points. Behind them is a deep group of hungry athletes capable of putting together breakthrough seasons. The selection will not be simple.

On the women’s side, the picture is equally competitive. HAGAN athlete Brooke Scott has been climbing steadily, combining uphill strength with improving sprint speed. Kelly Wolf brings a proven engine, tactical awareness, and all around strength. Hali Hafeman has already finished 20th at Worlds in the vertical and has valuable World Cup experience under her belt. Gwen Rudy continues to show consistency and all around race competency. Depending on results at Solitude this season, there are several legitimate combinations the selectors could choose from. The talent is there. What is missing is the confirmed quota place.

HAGAN Race Athlete Brooke Scott.

Success Breeds Success: Why This All Matters Long Term

If you want a model for what could happen next in U.S. skimo, you do not have to look very far. U.S. cross country skiing has already lived a version of this story. A decade ago, American men were mostly on the fringes of the World Cup. Then a small group of athletes broke through on the junior stage and carried that momentum into the senior ranks. Gus Schumacher, Ben Ogden, and JC Schoonmacher are now regulars near the front of World Cups, with Gus winning the first World Cup race for an American man since 2013 (and before that, 1983) and Ben and JC also climbing onto the podium.

It is no coincidence that their successes came in a wave, or that junior results improved behind them. Once you have a working model of what it takes to be world class, and athletes who prove that an American passport is not a limitation, the belief spreads. Training philosophies sharpen. Standards rise. The whole ecosystem shifts upward.

Griffin Briley’s junior world titles feel like the beginning of a similar story for skimo. He is showing other U.S. athletes, especially juniors, what is possible and what the path might look like. The first breakthrough is always the hardest, because by definition there is no template. Now there is someone on a podium in a U.S. race suit, and that image alone is a development asset.

For that to turn into sustainable progress, USA Skimo will need to invest in junior development and long term pathways. That means patience, race opportunities, coaching, and enough support that today’s trips to Europe are not isolated experiences but stepping stones to something bigger. The Olympic cycle is short (one year every four), but real progress in an endurance sport happens across many years.

Final Thoughts 

Despite all the valid concern about what the Olympics might do to the identity of skimo, it is hard not to feel excited about where the sport is heading. This is a turning point. Visibility is increasing. Competition is deepening. Athletes are structuring their lives around professional skimo careers, and the level on the World Cup is climbing fast.

From our side at HAGAN, we see this as both a challenge and an opportunity. The Olympic formats might be short and intense, but the skills required to win them are still born in real mountains and long winters. Our race line is built with that in mind. The Ultra 65 remains our purebred race ski, a proven platform for athletes who care about grams, edge hold, and reliability when it matters most. Paired with our World Cup race bindings and dedicated race skins, it offers the kind of trustworthy efficiency that lets athletes focus on tactics and execution instead of worrying about their setup. For those pulling on a race suit, our HAGAN skinsuit is designed for exactly these environments, blending speed, function, and the kind of pocket layout that actually works on course.

Whether or not a U.S. athlete on HAGAN gear ends up in the start gate at Milano–Cortina, we are proud to support the people pushing this sport forward at every level, from juniors trying their first uphill race to veterans chasing quotas on the World Cup. This is still the same sport at its core: climb under your own power, transition clean, and ski back down with as much style as the conditions allow. The venues may change, the cameras may multiply, but the feeling on the skintrack is the same. 

And if a HAGAN Ultra 65 helps an American send a little shockwave through the European dominance, we will happily applaud.