Notícies

Ski mountaineering shines again in Boí Taüll, which is once again hosting an international competition on the World Cup circuit. The Sprint event of the ISMF World Cup Skimo Boí Taüll 2025, a modality that will be an Olympic event in Cortina d’Ampezzo 2026, was held this morning in the Vaques sector of the resort and was attended by 143 athletes from 28 countries.

On a day marked by snow and a circuit in very good conditions, Oriol Cardona and Emily Harrop climbed to the top of the podium, imposing themselves with authority. Oriol Cardona, who set the fastest time in the qualifying round and maintained it until the end, had a great day, enjoying the home atmosphere. With this medal, Cardona adds his third victory in this year’s World Cup.

The day will close this afternoon with the opening ceremony and the official sprint awards ceremony at 6:10 p.m. in the church of Sant Joan de Boí before the mixed relay race, which will take place tomorrow from 8:45 a.m.

The Boí Taüll resort has thrown itself into the race, presenting a renovated circuit but maintaining the fast and technical essence and without forgetting the accessibility of all fans; thus reaffirming itself as a reference resort in the organization of international ski mountaineering competitions.

Chronicle of the day: Sprint

The Sprint race is the fastest in ski mountaineering, an individual race that combines the basic characteristics and techniques in climbing with skins, a section on foot with skis on the back and a single descent. The first round of the Sprint is an individual qualification with a start every twenty seconds, the 30 fastest athletes go on to the elimination rounds with heats of 6 people until reaching the final.

The day began at 8:50 am with the first qualifying round, where the athletes who have passed to the following phases have been decided. The Boí Taüll circuit has been the fastest of the entire World Cup so far, guaranteeing a high-level ski mountaineering spectacle.

Catalan skiers Laia Sellés and Gael Álvarez have chosen Boí Taüll to make their debut in the absolute category, enjoying a first experience and gaining experience in the absolute ISMF World Cup circuit.

At 11:42 am the start was given to the final round with the presence of the Spanish skier Ana Alonso. The race has been led with an iron fist from a good start by the French Emily Harrop, who has achieved enough distance to take a clear victory, thus achieving a full list of victories in the World Cup events in the Sprint category. As for Alonso, she has starred in the great comeback of the day, climbing from a fifth position in the first transition to crossing the finish line in third position. After four years visiting the Pyrenees, the Granada native thus achieves her first podium of the season, consolidating her good feelings of recent years. The French Lena Bonnel has achieved second position, completing the women's podium of this day and reaffirming the good moment and good form of the French team. Upon arrival, Alonso explained that “I am very happy, competing at home is always an incentive, a lot of people cheering you on and well, in the end I was the loser in the fourth, it was hard for me to get a good result here in Boí Taüll and the truth is that I am very happy to have been able to achieve it”.

At 12.10pm the men’s final started with Oriol Cardona from Banyol and Ot Ferrer from Bergued classified among the 6 best times of the semi-finals. Cardona has been in the lead from the start, demonstrating the great moment of form he is in. Behind him, the positions have been exchanged both in the uphill area and in the changes. On the descent, a slip by Cardona has caused a moment of commotion among the public, but the Banyol has been able to overcome the situation and comfortably reach the finish line in first position. With this victory, the Banyol rider adds his third victory of the season in the modality. Last in line were the Swiss Robin Bussard and Arno Lietha; and Ot Ferrer came in fifth place., Upon reaching the finish line, Oriol Cardona explained: “I know my bad days and my good days, and today was one of those days where everything went well. Running at home, with friends, family and the whole crowd cheering me on helps a lot. I would also like to highlight the work that is being done as a team, since the performance of all the athletes is being very good and in a pre-Olympic year where we are playing a lot, all these details make the difference”.

Classifications

The Sprint race had the participation of 143 runners, distributed in the different categories of the competition. These were the results of today's race, which can also be consulted here.

ISMF - Seniors Women - full standing here

1st Emily Harrop (FRA) → 3:12.2s
2nd Lena Bonnel (FRA)) → + 13.2s
3rd Ana Alonso Rodríguez (ESP) → + 14.9s

ISMF - Seniors Men - full standing here

1st Oriol Cardona (ESP) → 2:44.7s
2nd Robin Bussard → + 3.7s
3rd Arno Lietha (SUI) → + 8.6s

Next race: tomorrow Sunday 2, MIXED RELAYS

Tomorrow, February 2, the Catalan resort of Boí Taüll will host the Mixed Relays race, which will start at 8:40am and run until 12:15pm. The floral ceremony will be held together with the closing ceremony at 1pm.

Interesting facts about the ISMF World Cup Skimo Boí Taüll 2025

This year, the Boí Taüll resort will host around 160 athletes from 28 countries, with the support of more than 80 professionals involved in the organization. For a week, this privileged setting in the heart of the Catalan Pyrenees will become the meeting point for the competition, hosting around 400 accredited people.