Cameron Smith - Winter Olympian
As many of you know by now, Tyler Smith's son Cameron competed in the Ski Mountaineering (SkiMo) Mixed Relay event in Italy. He was paired with Anna Gibson in an event that features 12 teams of two athletes — one man and one woman. The female member of each duo lines up in two rows at the start, with specific positions determined by the Olympic Mixed Relay Ranking List, which factors in recent SkiMo World Cup and World Championship results.
Each athlete completes the course loop twice in alternating fashion — women-man-woman-man — and each loop contains an ascent and descent, as well as two transitions. These "pit-stop" transitions involve skin removal and skin re-application. The skins serve as adhesives that enable the athletes to grip the snow and ski uphill. Their removal allows for a smooth downhill ski back to the bottom of the course. After the descent and second transition occurs, a competitor tags in their teammate in the “handover zone,” and that teammate will then complete the same course loop.
The cycle is repeated, and the squad with the fastest time wins. The relay will take roughly 30 minutes.
Cam and Anna placed a surprise 4th place and were ecstatic. Congratulations to Cam and Anna and to Tyler whose sage advice to his son about skiing, "Don't fall down so much".
Below is a portion of an on-line article about them.
Anna Gibson, and Cameron Smith celebrate at the finish area of a ski mountaineering mixed relay, at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
This wasn't the typical mood of a pair of Olympic fourth-place finishers: Happy and upbeat. Anna Gibson and Cameron Smith were weaving around Saturday, from interview-to-interview, with grins on their faces and matching pink cowboy hats on their heads.
Sure, the Americans finished just off the medal stand as they combined forces in ski mountaineering's mixed relay. But given their road to the Milan Cortina Games — they didn't even have a spot about two months ago — they're relishing just being here, in Bormio, as the sport referred as “skimo” made its Olympic debut.
Cameron Smith strips off his skins during a ski mountaineering mixed relay, at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
“If we finished 12th there would have been so much to celebrate,” said Smith, who's from Crested Butte, Colorado. “We said no matter what, we’d be happy. Here we are skiing better than we could have imagined. We are thrilled with fourth.”
United States' Anna Gibson, left, and Cameron Smith celebrate at the finish area of a ski mountaineering mixed relay.