Ski at the root: Nikita Filippov got a chance to medal in a new Olympic discipline

Nikita Filippov is preparing to start at the 2026 Olympic Games in the ski mountaineering discipline. This sport will make its debut in the program of the Games, and the Russian athlete has a chance to win a medal. For more information about Filippov's mysterious discipline, basic rules, and prospects, see the Izvestia article.

The key to victory and 18 participants

The ski mountaineering competitions at the Olympics will be held for three days — on February 18, 19 and 21. Nikita Filippov will take part in the men's sprint, which will take place on the second day of the ski mountaineering tournament. The rules look simple: part of the distance is spent skiing, followed by a walking stage, after which skis are put on again, and then a downhill.

In the sprint, all participants first run the qualification. In it, 18 athletes complete a time trial, starting separately every 30 seconds. Following the results of the preliminary rounds, the top six advance to the finals and win awards. Each race usually lasts about 3.5 minutes.

The distance itself is about 600 m, and the height difference is about 75 m, meaning it's a pretty steep mountain. In general, the scheme is similar to a sprint in cross-country skiing (athletes from cross-country skiing or mountain running most often come to the discipline). In the middle of the climb, there is a re—stitch - the skis need to be removed and quickly secured to the backpack. Then a small area is covered by running, and after that the skis are put back on. At the top of the mountain, the camus (anti—slip coating) is removed, the heel of the skis snaps into place, and the descent takes place like in a ski slalom. Whoever gets to the finish line first wins.

Overtaking is more likely to occur on the lifting part. If you get to the top first in a sprint, it seriously increases the chances of a final victory, said Varvara Prokhorova, an athlete of the Russian national team and a participant in international ski mountaineering competitions.

— This gives almost 90% of the victory. Unless your opponent is a fraction of a second behind, then it doesn't guarantee anything, because there's still a re—run going on upstairs," she told Izvestia. — But the one who goes downhill first has a very good chance of taking the first place. The track is not super wide. To avoid you, you need to pass the flags on the highway along a wide radius. Therefore, it is difficult to overtake on the descent. Nevertheless, this happens sometimes. But since only 18 of the best athletes in the world participate in the Olympics, it seems to me that everyone on the slopes will feel confident, which makes overtaking on this part more difficult.

There are many penalties in ski mountaineering. They can add time to the result or disqualify you. For example, in the pit stop area, the athlete first needs to put down the poles, then manipulate the ski boots and only then take them back. That is, you can't do anything with sticks in your hands. If an athlete touches her, it's a fine. Also, on the ascent, it is necessary to move on the camus (the ribbon is slightly narrower than the width of the ski, with a length of 50 to 100% of the length of the ski. It's smooth in one direction so that the ski slides, and vice versa in the other, so that it stays on the slope. At the front end of the camus is an elastic band, which athletes use to cling to the ski). If he accidentally comes off on one ski, and you run on, there will be sanctions. If you don't drive around the pole on the descent, you're also fined. Unintentional contact with an opponent is not particularly severely punished, unless it is clearly cut off.

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Work on bugs

Back in early December, Nikita Filippov was not considered a contender for a medal. Olympic ski mountaineering is still Terra incognita, and anything can happen in competition at the Games, the first in the history of this sport. As the failure of the favorites in other disciplines shows, the layouts based on the results of the recent World championships and the World Cup stages are sometimes completely crossed out at the main four—year starts. But there is reason to count on the podium for Filippov now: in January, he won two bronze medals in the sprint, which made him a contender for the medal of the OI-2026.

"Nikita has improved a lot this season," Varvara Prokhorova added. — Last year he got an international competitive practice. Over the summer, he did some serious work on the bugs. You saw that he won prizes at the World Cup, so he has a chance. But these are his first hits in the top three, so it's not clear yet. Among men, one of the favorites at the Olympics is Spaniard Oriol Cardona Call. He wins most sprints, took the World Cup last year, but there are also races where he was beaten.

Note that Filippov is a 23-time champion of Russia. However, Milan will have a completely different level of competition.

"I am glad that in 2025 I managed to enter the international arena, where I have not performed for three years, starting with the European Championships in February 2022,— Filippov said in an interview with Izvestia. — But then I wasn't in the best shape, and I competed in the juniors. Of course, it was interesting to see if I remained competitive. Many juniors, coming out of their age, get lost against the background of adult athletes in the early years. I'm still 22, but I managed to compete, despite the fact that, alas, I have no experience of a tight fight. In Russia, I run first from the start and then go the whole distance alone by a wide margin. And there was contact wrestling at the World Cup stages, and we managed to feel it. It feels completely different.

Filippov started ski mountaineering at the age of 15. Before that, the native of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky was engaged in biathlon.