Skimo was added to the 2030 Olympic program on June 25.  The sport featuring uphill ski and foot travel and downhill ski racing received a recommendation to be added to the program by the International Olympic Committee Executive Board, following a proposal from the 2030 French Alps Games Organ ising Committee, which was reviewed by the IOC’s Olympic Programme Working Group.  Olympic Programme Working Group Chair Karl Stoss said Skimo has potential to add “meaningful value” to the 2030 Games. The group appreciates the sport’s widespread appeal in the European Alps. “(The Olympic Programme Working Group sees Skimo has shown the) ability to enhance diversity, authenticity and appeal, while building on its growing Olympic momentum,” Stoss said. “The emphasis for the French Alps (Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games) is on the individual discipline and its events, which they consider to best represent the core of the sport and the character of the Alps.” The men’s and women’s sprints and mixed-gender relay were the only Skimo competitions in Milano Cortina. In the French Alps, there will be those three competitions and men’s and women’s individual races. Whereas sprint races can be over in just a few minutes, individual races are far more intense and can last several hours. International Ski Mountaineering Federation President Regula Meier is excited for Olympic fans to see the whole of the sport in 2030.  “The individual races really show what the sport is,” Meier said. “Going up into the mountains, being on the summit and freeriding off-piste. With the sprint and mixed relays, we also show the sports and all elements of the sports, but in a smaller surrounding. … The individual and the team races are really the historical parts of our sport.” Meier and the International Ski Mountaineering Federation felt a mixture of happiness and relief when the announcement about the 2030 program came on June 25. She feels they worked extremely hard to promote Skimo for the 2026 and 2030 Games. In federation-registered clubs, participation has doubled since the sport was added to the 2026 program in 2021.  “Milano finished in the middle of February, and one month later at the end of March, the organizing committee had to send the proposal to the IOC,” Meier said.  The International Ski Mountaineering Federation will look to improve the sprint races format and boost viewership for the sport before 2030.  The five competitions in 2030 will be held in Montgenèvre, France, about a five hour drive southeast of Bormio, Italy, where the Skimo competitions were held during the Milano Cortina Games. The International Ski Mountaineering Federation plans on hosting future World Cups in Montgenèvre before 2030, as they did in Bormio before 2026. The first of six World Cups on the provisional 2026-27 calendar will be in Bormio in January 2027.  “Ski mountaineering is rooted in the history of skiing, aligned with the identity of our Games and focused on the future,” said French Alps 2030 Organising Committee President Edgar Grospiron. “In the Alps, ski mountaineering is not a guest, it is at home. It is part of the scenery, landscapes and our culture.” The post Skimo officials pleased with sport’s addition to 2030 Olympics appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less