BORMIO, Italy, Feb 19 (Reuters) - SkiMo's eagerly-awaited debut at the Winter Olympics got underway at a snowy Bormio on Thursday with the heats of the women's and men's sprint competitions.
In a change of pace from the men's Alpine events that concluded on Monday, 36 of the best ski mountaineering athletes gathered at the foot of the famous Stelvio slope.
Despite a snowstorm, fans streamed in for the nearly sold-out event. The hardy athletes themselves are used to training in harsh mountain conditions.
The first new sport added to the Winter Olympics since snowboarding in 1998, SkiMo has its roots in ski mountaineering from the 19th Century, long before the invention of lifts to take skiers up mountains.
Sprints are lung-busting events comprising an "uphill skiing" section with competitors scaling a steep slope in special skis wrapped in "skins" - thin strips stuck to the bottom for grip.
Athletes make their way uphill through a course before a transition to running up a flight of stairs in boots with their skis strapped to their backs, transitioning back to "skinning", before stowing the skins and skiing back to the finish down a short slalom course. Action lasts around three minutes.
"The lungs are burning, there is brain fog from all the lactate, and you just really try to push, push, push, and try to not think about the pain," was how Slovakia's Rebeka Cully described her heat.
TRANSITIONS CAN MAKE DIFFERENCE
The various transitions have strict rules - with time penalties for indiscretions like not placing ski poles flat on the ground or incorrect stowage of skis - and can be the difference between winning or losing.
The men's and women's sprint events will start with three heats of six athletes each. The first three across the line and the three fastest "lucky losers" move on to the semi-finals, which will have six skiers in each. The six fastest skiers from the semis go to the final to battle it out for gold.
The women's finals are scheduled for 1:55 p.m. (1255 GMT), the men's for 2:15
In the women's sprint, France's Emily Harrop is largely considered the woman to beat, ranked world number one in the International Ski Mountaineering Federation standings from 2025. Spain's Ana Alonso Rodriguez, who is returning from injury, and Switzerland's Marianne Fatton might give her a run for her money.
For the men's sprint, Spain's Oriol Cardona Coll is the world number one while Switzerland's Jon Kistler and France's Thibault Anselmet are also highly-rated.
(Reporting by Marleen Kaesebier and Martyn Herman in Bormio; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
