Photo: ISMF
Eurovision Sport has agreed a pioneering new joint venture with the International Ski Mountaineering Federation to screen, promote and commercialise the rising sport of ski mountaineering, as it heads towards inclusion in the Winter Olympic Games for the first time at the games in Milan-Cortina in 2026.
Under the new, five-year agreement, Eurovision Sport plans the production and live streaming of selected races at up to nine events per season, beginning with the forthcoming 2021-22 season.
The events comprise: seven World Cups; one European Championships; and, potentially, one exhibition event. The 2021-22 calendar is made up of events in Italy, Switzerland, Andorra (Pyrenees), Turkey, Spain and France, totalling 24 live-streamed competitions.
The fast-growing sport of ski mountaineering (“skimo” for short), with Europe as its heartland, comprises men’s and women’s team and individual disciplines, plus a mixed relay event, involving racing over a series of ascents and descents, either carrying or wearing skis, towards a downhill finish.
Ski mountaineering made its debut as a medal sport at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne in 2020, and was accepted by the IOC as a new Winter Olympic sport, debuting at the Milan-Cortina games in 2026, during the IOC Session in Tokyo in July this year.
