Day four at the Torino 2025 FISU Games, and what a day! Medals were awarded in Pragelato, Bardonecchia and Sestriere, plus qualifications in snowboarding and freeskiing, and the first day of figure skating and ice dancing. The result was top-class sport that thrilled the spectators.
Ukraine’s Biathlets Claim Mixed Relay Gold
PRAGELATO RUA, January 16th – The single mixed relay biathlon event delivered an exhilarating contest marked by precise shooting, relentless skiing, and dramatic finishes. Ukraine with Oleksandra Merkushyna and Serhii Suprun emerged as the unchallenged victors, mastering both the skis and the range to take the gold medal. Merkushyna set a solid foundation with her consistent shooting and speed, while Suprun’s commanding final leg sealed Ukraine’s gold medal victory. Their seamless transitions and sharp accuracy on the shooting range with no penalty at all proved decisive. Oleksandra Merkushyna said afterwards: “Watching Serhii on his last laps was thrilling. I know he is a good athlete, and even though I was quite nervous about the shooting, I was sure that he will do. I myself focused at the prone shooting just on myself, but at the standing I knew the situation and where we were in the race. I saw that there was some time between us, so I decided to not to be too risky at the standing shooting and tried to focus more on delivering a good round. And it did work! To win with the team is a feeling on a whole other level. It makes me feel really happy, like this is one of the happiest moments in my life and to be on the podium with your teammate, is really a special thing.”
Melezet Hosts Para Alpine Skiing Super-G Races
Melezet’s slopes were the setting for an exciting day of Alpine Para Skiing in the Super-G. On January 16th, student-athletes competed across three different categories, vision impaired, standing, and sitting, bringing their passion and determination on the slopes. The Italian Martina Vozza, the only athlete in the vision impaired category, along with her guide Ylenia Sabidussi, inaugurated the course. By the end of the race, both were satisfied, as they had the opportunity to test the track, which will be the same for the World Cup. The relationship between the athlete and the guide is a special bond: for Vozza and Sabidussi, it’s nice to have someone with whom to share their passion and experience.
Poland’s Michal Golas and Germany’s Alexander Rauen competed in the vision impaired category for men. Golas and his guide, Kacper Walas, posted the best time. “I was fast, and I had a lot of trust in my guide.” Their bond is also very strong, as they have been training together for three years. Kacper started his guiding experience with Michal. Learning to communicate with each other is the most difficult part, but it seems to be going well. Alexander Rauen acknowledges that it wasn’t his best performance, as he was very tired, but he smiles saying “Overall, it was okay.” He studies economics at the University of Innsbruck and explained that it’s not easy to balance university and sports. He doesn’t have the same routine and free time as other students, which often presents a challenge. His guide, Jeremias Wilke, is very happy with the inclusion initiative of the FISU Games, where the Paralympic disciplines take place alongside those of the other athletes. He also appreciated the condition of the track, which had been a bit bumpier in previous days. All participating athletes agreed on the excellent conditions of the course.
In the men’s standing category, the best time was set by the French athlete Oscar Burnham. It was unfortunate for the Italian athlete Giorgio Napoli, who fell. He laughed with his teammates at the bottom of the slope, joking that he expected it. There is a great atmosphere among the athletes, most of whom have known each other for a long time and consider each other friends. In the women’s category, the fastest was the French athlete Aurelie Richard, followed by the Spanish Maria Martin-Granizo Ferreiro. They were the only two participants, so Maria laughed saying that the podium was guaranteed. “I was scared at first; this was my first super-G.” Maria is only an 18 years old student at the University of La Rioja, and her excitement was evident in her eyes. Her friend Audrey Pascual Seco was the only participant in the sitting category. She too was happy to have had the chance to test the course, in preparation for the World Cup.
In the sitting men’s category, Chile was dominant with Nicolas Bisquertt Hudson and he was thrilled with his result. As he was speaking, he got distracted watching the giant slalom races, clearly showing his passion. “We came here to ski well, to the best of our abilities, and we did it.”
Alpine Ski: Chable, Skanar, Barata
The men’s combined alpine skiing competition came to an end with a Swiss victory. The top six positions were all played out in a time of 1:40 seconds, with only a few tenths of a second separating them. For Loic Chable, it was a great day. The winner of the Super G in the morning was also the strongest in Slalom and took gold. Silver went to Jonas Skabar from France who moved from 11th at halftime to second, and Spain’s Tomas Barata made the podium after a fourth place in the Super G to take bronze.
Loic, can you briefly describe your victory and experience with the FISU Games?
It was really great. I absolutely wanted to win, and I’m happy I did. I already participated two years ago, and I had a great time. I really wanted to come back. Such a big event, at this level, doesn’t happen often.
How do you manage your studies and sport? In the future do you see yourself as an athlete or studying and working?
I study real estate economics. I went to the United States to do that. They have a great system there. You can do sport in the morning and study in the afternoon. I definitely want to be an athlete, but I might need to work. To be ready to manage my future, I will also continue studying.
Historic Ski Mountaineering Gold for France and Germany
Competition under the stars, but also under the snow, in Sestriere, for the 47 men and women who took part in the night sprint competition of Ski Mountaneering, a discipline that will appear for the first time at the FISU Games in Turin in 2025 and will be one of the protagonists of the Olympic Games in Milano-Cortina in 2026. In the women’s final, France’s Margot Ravinel, a student at INSA-Lyon, won the first historic Ski Mo medal with a time of 4:45.80, ahead of Spain’s Maria Ordonez Cobacho, from the University of Granada, who finished in 5:04.86, less than three seconds behind her compatriot Ares Torres, from the University of Vic-Central Cataluña, with a time of 5:07.21. “For my school, this competition is very important because it promotes university sport very much and it is also very strong”, said the Frenchwoman, excited and satisfied with her performance. “I am really happy to be able to bring home this result, which is so important for them, and share it with the other French athletes. It’s the first time for ski mountaineering at the FISU Games and it’s great to be here. I would like our sport to be more and more known and practised so that I can also compare myself with other athletes and grow“. Instead, the Iberian athletes celebrated happily and hugged each other, saying together: “This medal means hard work. A big thank you to everyone who trained with us. I’m just so happy“, Ares Torres added, “being a student athlete can be complicated because of the hard study and training and I’m really happy to be here.
In the men’s race, Germany’s Elias Hosch, Technical University of Munich, took the top step of the podium, winning the gold medal by just 80 hundredths of a second (3:59.90) ahead of France’s Pablo Giner, Grenoble Institute of Political Studies, who finished in 4:00.70. The bronze medal went to Germany’s Felix Tobi Gramelsberger, Triagon Academy, in 4:12.96. “Every event is important to me, but this is a big international event and today is definitely a big day to remember. I enjoy competing in Italy, the home of ski mountaineering, and seeing so many people who appreciate our sport. My dream now is to finish university and concentrate on my sporting career and my Olympic dream.” said winner Finn Elias Hosch. “It was a good and challenging race. The course is very steep and there is never time to recover, which made it very difficult. I am happy with this second place.”, said Pablo Giner, followed by Felix Tobi Gramelsberger who said: “It’s great, I’m happy to be here. I’m done!”
The next appointment in ski mountaineering is tomorrow with the qualification and the A and B finals of the mixed relays, again in the evening from 6:15 pm.
