Ski mountaineering made its debut at Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games as Oriol Cardona Coll of Spain and Switzerland's Marianne Fatton claimed the inaugural Olympic golds.

Coll, the reigning world champion, powered to victory in the men's sprint in 2:34.03, delivering Spain's first Winter Olympic gold since 1972. Individual Neutral Athlete Nikita Filippov took silver, while France's Thibault Anselmet rounded out the podium in bronze.

On the women's side, Fatton made the decisive move in the final transition, surging clear to post 2:59.77, 2.38 seconds ahead of France's Emilie Harrop, who settled for silver. Spain's Ana Alonso Rodríguez completed the podium in bronze.

The day also carried significance for Asia. China's Buluer finished eighth in the men's sprint, the best-ever result for an Asian male in World Cup, World Championship and Olympic ski‑mountaineering competition. Chinese teenager Cidanyuzhen missed the women's semifinals in her Olympic debut.