Several months ago, Anna Gibson was mostly an elite trail runner. Like, sponsored-by-a-shoe-company, soon-to-be world bronze medalist sort of elite. A detour to another endeavor was the last thing on her agenda.
Until, that is, a persuasive conversation.
It was at a trail race in June that her friend Cameron Smith suggested partnering in an effort to make the U.S. mixed relay team in the newest Olympic sport of ski mountaineering (skimo), which combines uphill skiing with downhill racing.
Given her background — Alpine ski racer/cross-country skier/recreational ski mountaineer/track standout/trail runner extraordinaire – the crossover seemed logical for the 26-year-old from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, even if the timing seemed short.
The newcomer proved to be a fast learner: In her very first World Cup event, Gibson and Smith won the race and secured a spot at the Milan Cortina Games.
“She looked,” Sarah Cookler, the head of sport for USA Skimo said, “like a seasoned pro.”
The natural
Gibson may be new to competitive ski-mountaineering, but not the sport where skiers ascend the terrain — on skis and on foot — before descending at top speed. Her mom and dad used to race in an annual skimo event in Wyoming.
As a kid, she used to beg her parents to let her traverse up the mountain before school.
“I did that having no idea it would be something I actually pursued,” Gibson said.
If you had told the 10-year-old version of Gibson she was going to make the Olympics one day, she would’ve thought it would be in ski racing. She was a slalom specialist.
“Ultimately, what made me stop Alpine racing was just that I didn’t love the speed events and I was realizing that I was more of an endurance athlete,” Gibson explained.
If you had told the 15-year-old version of Gibson she’d be an Olympian, she would have guessed cross-country skiing or track.
She was a cross-country skiing junior national champion in 2017. She also was a two-time Gatorade cross country runner of the year for Wyoming before running at Brown University and the University of Washington.
Eventually, Gibson gravitated toward trail running, with running apparel company Brooks becoming a sponsor. She finished third in the vertical uphill race at the world mountain and trail running championships in Spain last fall.
“I’ve gone through a lot of iterations," she said, “but I have always wanted to be an Olympian.”
The conversation
Smith, already a fixture on the skimo scene, knew Gibson was a world-class uphill runner. He also knew she had an extensive skiing background.
So he floated the idea of teaming up in ski mountaineering.
“He was like, ‘Here’s the deal: We’re on the edge of making the Olympics and you could contribute,’” Gibson recounted. “I was just standing there like, ‘OK, the answer is not no, but I’m not quite ready to commit yet.'”
A week later, she agreed.
In the mixed relay, each team has one female and one male, who alternate completing four laps that contain ascents and descents.
Gibson wasn’t concerned about the skiing portion. She figured she could get up to speed in a hurry. But she was anxious over the tiny details in the transition areas that can add up to crucial seconds. Like quickly putting the skins on the bottom of her skis to ascend, and taking them back off for the downhill.
She practiced in her yard — inside, too, on a yoga mat — over and over to become more proficient. In August, she attended a team training camp in Utah and a month later another in Italy. She was named to the U.S. team.
“Anna’s performance was convincing,” Cookler said. “Anna is calculated, calm, experienced, and absolutely easy to work with. Anna has experience standing on many starting lines and carries that experience with her to skimo."
Making the team
The stakes were high when she was paired with Smith for a World Cup race in Utah early last month. Finish ahead of Canada and earn an Olympic spot. Finish behind Canada and Canada gets the spot.
“Competitively, I knew that we were super-well prepared and that we would do great," said Smith, a multi-time North American ski mountaineering champion who trains out of Crested Butte, Colorado. “But I had no idea what that would mean.”
They got off to a nice start, took the lead and never looked back. Cookler said it was the first gold medal in a World Cup mixed relay event for the U.S.
“I had never even considered winning the race as the outcome,” said Gibson, who will have several family members and friends making the trip to Italy. “We were just trying to beat Canada and make it to the Olympics. There was also an element of just full on disbelief because it just felt so unreal what we had just done.”
It also showed them they could compete with the best in skimo.
“It’s been fun to dream about more than just participating in the Olympics,” Smith said. “Now we're going there to fight for medals.”
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
