Welcome to your go-to guide to the 2026 Winter Olympics. We’re tracking everything—from real-life heated rivalries (yes, they exist) to under-the-radar sports and surprise standouts—so you can catch up on all of our coverage in one place.
Before the Winter Olympics, you probably had never heard of ski mountaineering, also known as skimo. It’s the first brand-new Winter Olympic sport in nearly 30 years after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) unanimously approved skimo’s inclusion in July 2021.
Skimo is like a mix of trail running and skiing, but on snow-covered mountains. Athletes run uphill on lightweight skis using special skins for grip, then switch to downhill mode and race down. Races usually involve steep climbs, fast descents, and sections where you carry your skis on foot. It’s equal parts endurance and technical skill.
Making her Olympic debut is Anna Gibson, a newcomer to the Olympics and the sport itself. Gibson, a 26-year-old from Wyoming, has a competitive running background and started her professional career as a trail runner. It wasn’t until June 2025 (yes, just eight months before the Olympics) that a friend, and now teammate, convinced her to try skimo.
“He was like, ‘Here’s the deal: We’re on the edge of making the Olympics, and you could contribute,’” Gibson told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. “I was just standing there like, ‘Okay, the answer is not no, but I’m not quite ready to commit yet.’”
It turns out Gibson is a natural. Coming from a competitive running background, she already had the endurance needed to climb uphill. And Gibson credits her parents’ influence to try different sports, like alpine skiing and nordic skiing, for making her a strong overall athlete.
“I had a lot of moments in my childhood where there was pretty strong pressure from coaches or other people, even other athletes, thinking that I needed to choose what I wanted to do,” Gibson told Yahoo Sports. “I never bought into that policy. So I kept doing everything, switching from one sport to the next, from season to season. I just did the things I loved doing.”
Gibson won gold at the World Cup in December 2025 for skimo, securing a spot in the Olympics with her teammate Cameron Smith. She’s now one to watch, and a leading contender to be America’s first female skimo Olympian.
“It’s been fun to dream about more than just participating in the Olympics,” Smith said. “Now we’re going there to fight for medals.”
Related:
- Lindsey Vonn Doesn’t Need Your Permission
- Olympic Figure Skater Maia Shibutani’s Next Turn
- The Winter Olympics Have Their Own Heated Rivalry Couple
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