Rockford native Cameron Smith makes history with Olympic-qualifying win

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our mobile app

ROCKFORD — A Rockford native is set to make Olympic history in February as he represents the country in a demanding endurance sport making its debut at the Winter Games.

Cameron Smith, a 2014 Guilford High School graduate, and his mixed relay ski mountaineering teammate Anna Gibson won the ISMF Ski Mountaineering World Cup event in Solitude, Utah, this week to secure an Olympic berth in Milan Cortina 2026.

They made history as the first mixed relay SkiMo team in American history to win World Cup gold. Now they’ll prepare to compete in the sport’s Olympic debut in February in Italy.

Smith said qualifying for the Olympics feels like the culmination of years of support he got growing up in Rockford, from running with the Rockford Wildcats to training under the late Lee Marks, a local legend who coached football and track for 47 years at Guilford High School.

“This all really did come from Rockford,” Smith said in a phone interview from his home in Crested Butte, Colorado. “Starting there and going all the way to today, there’s thousands of people with touchpoints on supporting this all. Qualifying for the Olympics and being part of this historic moment is the ultimate thank you.

“It’s something that not only I can celebrate, but literally everyone that’s had a hand in this can celebrate together.”

Smith moved to Colorado to attend college after graduating from Guilford. It was then that he first tried ski mountaineering, often called SkiMo, after a few injuries had hampered his pursuit of track. In high school he had run cross country and track, including winning the mile in the NIC-10 his senior year.

In a little over a decade in the sport, he’s become the country’s most decorated SkiMo athlete, according to NBC Olympics. Smith has won 11 U.S. SkiMo National Championships and became the first American to finish in the Top 10 at a World Cup event and earn a Cup medal.

The sport combines exhausting uphill climbs with fast downhill sprints. Athletes transition quickly from uphill climbs to steep downhill descents.

In the mixed relay, the woman athlete starts the race and tags in her partner after she concludes the cross-country skiing, boot-packing and downhill lap. The male does the same, and then the cycle is repeated for two laps each.

SkiMo is still a budding sport in the U.S., with its governing body forming roughly a decade ago. It’s more competitive in European countries where the sport has existed at a high level longer. For example, France and Italy have claimed 42 of the 57 Cup medals since the circuit was formed in 2006, according to NBC Olympics.

Smith and Gibson were fighting for a final spot in the Olympics. This week’s race in Utah was one last shot to qualify. They trailed Canada by one point and needed a better performance in Utah to earn the Olympic trip.

“That was really the big goal, was to get into the start line,” Smith said. “The narrative in that way was, let’s get to the games, make sure the U.S. flag is on the start line and a part of all this. Then we’ll just continue from there.”

The common narrative, Smith said, was that maybe the U.S. can medal in 2034 once the games come back to Salt Lake City, Utah, and America has had more time to catch up to powerhouse European teams.

Smith crossed the finish line at 32 minutes and 17 seconds in Solitude, and Gibson was waiting for him at the finish line with an American flag draped across her shoulders. They finished 51.02 seconds ahead of second-place Italy and 1:31.7 ahead of Canada, which wound up seventh.

“Anna and I went from being the 13th ranked team going in to we won the first World Cup,” Smith said. “Other countries took notice of that, and we took notice of that — this year’s different.”

Smith next heads to Europe in January to compete in three World Cup events in France, Andorra and Spain in the lead up to the opening ceremonies.

Competition will be much tougher in the Olympics than what the relay duo faced in its recent victory. Still, the Cup victory was a history-making moment and a momentum builder for the Olympics.

“We showed that our potential is a lot higher than where the U.S. has been,” Smith said. “We’re absolutely going there to fight for a medal.”

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at [email protected] or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas