Australian SkiMo team shows true grit

Courtesy Australian Olympic Committee

Against a tough field stacked with European powerhouse nations our Aussie Ski Mountaineering (or SkiMo) Team show real grit and determination in the Mixed Teams event.  

The event consisted of four laps of the SkiMo course and teams consist of one female and one male athlete. The women start first and they alternate between laps of the course and the fastest team wins.  

Olympic debutant Lara Hamilton and four-time Olympian Phil Bellingham attacked, both bolting out of the start area in their respective laps to really mix it up with the Europeans.  

Hamilton described the experience of the race and their approach, saying she felt with more time perfecting mass starts along with other intricacies of racing they could build on their race craft and strengthen their position in the future. 

“I was actually super happy with how my engine was feeling today, I tried to keep us in the race,” she said.  

“I'm not as experienced with the mass starts, so, probably should have put myself in a better position. I did stay in touch with the pack, kind of right up until I made a bit of a critical error up towards the steps and lost the skin. Did as much as I could to, like, make back the time with my downhill skiing so I’m proud of that today.” 

Bellingham battled hard but had not fully recovered from the Men’s Sprint event that he completed in just two days ago.   

“I mean, I was probably the opposite to Lara, like I was feeling a bit tired in my body, I was near on 100% but I could just feel a bit of fatigue from those hard efforts couple of days ago,” he said. “I felt like I could push pretty well right through the race, and I tried to gain back some time, but in the end, those guys were just too good.”  

Overall however he was pleased with the performance of the team and the way they both skied on the day.  

“I was really proud of the way we skied, and honestly, our time behind the winner was really good. So, I think there's a lot of positive to be taken from that. Twelfth in an Olympic final, I feel like we can hang our hat on that, we're pretty happy,” said Bellingham.  

The crowd at Bormio's Stelvio Ski Centre was on their feet and really getting behind the Aussies giving them the power they needed to get around the course. Bellingham commented on how the crowd helped him to deliver.  

“It's been really motivating. Super electric. There were people all the way around the course, like 8 to 10 people deep, and they were cheering you on the whole time. It felt like there was Aussies everywhere actually cheering you on. It didn't matter how tired you got. They just kept egging you on, and you kept pushing, and we did what we could for it, but it was an amazing atmosphere,” concluded Bellingham.  

Hamilton also found the crowd to be an inspiring force in her performance.  

“It was nice. Even though I was at the back, the second time I went up that climb, for people to still cheer for me and like, they know my name and it just feels more personal, it was great,” said Hamilton.  

The Australian Ski Mountaineering Team finish the day in 12th position. The gold went to France, Switzerland took home silver and the bronze went to Spain.  

Photo Credit: Australian Olympic Committee/Getty Images