Ski cross is also known as "a martial art on snow," and many spectators are drawn to the thrilling battles between athletes competing for the fastest speed and the fascinating tactics of the competition. To enjoy the thrilling white survival race at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, it's important to learn the basics of ski cross, including the characteristics and rules of the sport
■What is Ski Cross? What makes it so exciting?
A fierce battle on the snow with fighting spirit and adrenaline at its peak!
Every time the Winter Olympics come around, ski cross attracts worldwide attention, drawing rave reviews such as "This is fun!", "I'm hooked!" and "It's really amazing!" It became an Olympic event at the Vancouver Winter Olympics (2010). Due to the strong influence of the Olympics, ski cross has attracted widespread attention from the general public
Ski cross is a freestyle competition in which multiple athletes start at the same time and compete for finishing order by skiing down a course with jumps, banks, and undulating terrain. Although time is measured, the winner is decided purely by the order in which they cross the finish line, making it easy to understand visually
In the final round, four skaters skate simultaneously, with the top two advancing to the finals, making it an easy-to-understand tournament format. Even if you don't know much about the skaters, the appeal is that you can enjoy it purely as entertainment. On the course, which is about 1km from start to finish, there are constant fierce battles, collisions, crashes, and other mishaps between skaters, as well as comebacks just before the finish line. The thrilling battles, with the outcome not being known until the very end, make for thrilling spectators
Unlike alpine racing, ski cross requires more than just the ability to slide skis quickly on the snow. The course is designed with numerous large undulations, including jumps, rolls (waves), and deep banks. Skiers must be highly adept at adapting to the slopes, including how to corner with multiple people skiing at the same time, how to accelerate while absorbing the impact of bumps, and how to land without losing balance and minimize speed loss when they are inevitably thrown into the air. This includes jumping and turning techniques
Above all else, it's the tactics that determine victory or defeat. Always keeping an eye on targets in front, behind, left and right, how you take your line, and where and when to overtake the rider in front of you - it all depends on strategy. Even then, split-second judgement determines the outcome. If the rider in front of you falls, you'll get caught up in the crash and it'll be over. Even if you're skiing the way you want, you never know when your opponent will pounce. Every second can make the difference between victory and defeat, making it a survival race where you can't let your guard down
■Check out the video to see what it's like in action!
The video is perfect for watching a digest of the realism of the actual race, the close battles between the athletes, and the attacks and defenses on the jumps and banks. Check out the digest video that collects the best runs from the last Beijing Olympics
▼Beijing 2022 Olympics Ski Cross "The best of ski cross at #Beijing2022 」
Unique highlights of the Milan Olympics
At the Milan Olympics, the course design is expected to take advantage of the natural terrain of the Alps, further highlighting the inherent speed and dynamism of ski cross. Unlike artificially prepared venues, skiers' ability to adapt to changing terrain and snow conditions is likely to determine victory. This sport, which is prone to unpredictable developments, is sure to make a statement as one of the most exciting events to watch live at the Olympics
■ Ski cross competition format
From the preliminaries to the finals, it will be contested in this way.
<Qualifying Seeding Run> Everyone skates one run at a time and their time is measured. Seeding is determined by time and this is used as the basis for pairings in the final round.
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<Final Round> Four skaters start at the same time, and the top two skaters who arrive first advance to the next round. The order is 1/8 (eight) final → 1/4 (quarter) final → semi-final.
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<Small Final> A competition to decide 5th to 8th place. The four skaters who lost in the semi-final will skate.
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<Big Final> The four skaters who survive until the end will skate and the medalists will be decided.
Ski cross only becomes a tournament format from the final round onwards, where the qualifying rounds are held to determine the rankings based on each skier's skiing time. This is a necessary step to determine the slots for the tournament. In regular World Cup qualifying rounds, the 32 finalists are decided in order of time. However, in the Olympics, the base entry number is 32, so basically no skiers are eliminated (there are exceptions), and the meaning is different from the qualifying rounds for other events. In the final round, the tournament progresses with slots allocated in order of qualifying time
*The match format and ranking format may change depending on the weather on the day.
Milan-Cortina Olympics Ski Cross Competition Schedule
| Date and time | Event | Broadcast schedule |
|---|---|---|
| 2/20 (Fri) | Women's Ski Cross Seeding Match [Japan Time] 2/20 (Fri) 18:00 | February 20th (Friday) 17:55~ NHK BS |
| Women's Ski Cross Final [Japan time] 2/20 (Fri) 21:15 | 2/20 (Friday) ~21:20 NHK BS | |
| 2/21 (Sat) | Men's Ski Cross Seeding Match [Japan Time] 2/21 (Sat) 18:00 | to be decided |
| Men's Ski Cross Final [Japan time] Saturday, February 21, 9:15 PM | to be decided |
■ Japanese skiers competing in the ski cross event at the Milan-Cortina Olympics
[Men]
| name | Date of birth | where one is from | Affiliation | Major battles | |
| Ryo Sugai | @ryorioss | December 11, 1991 | Tainai City, Niigata Prefecture | Team Creb | 2nd place in the 24-25 W-CUP Gudauri, 4th place in the 25-26 W-CUP Val Thorens, etc |
| Satoshi Furuno | @satoshi_furuno | June 11, 1999 | Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture | U-NEXT HOLDINGS Ski Club | 18th place in the 2025-2026 W-CUP Arosa match, etc |
| Ryuto Kobayashi | @ryuto_kobayashi | February 16, 1996 | Iiyama City, Nagano Prefecture | Morikawa Construction Ski Club | '25-26 W-CUP Innichen match 35th place, etc |
[Women]
| name | Date of birth | where one is from | Affiliation | Major battles | |
| Rin Nakanishi | @lin.nkns | August 6, 2003 | Yasu City, Shiga Prefecture | Kyoto Kouka SC. | '24-25 W-CUP: 11th place at Idre Fjall, 8th place at Craigleith, etc |
| Sakurako Mukogawa | @saku.rako | January 20, 1992 | Yokota City, Akita Prefecture | Fujifilm BI Akita Co., Ltd. Ski Club | 21st place in the '23 World Championships, 4th place in the '24 European Cup, etc |
| Makiko Arai | @makii.arai | June 12, 1993 | Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture | Gifu Hino Motors SC | '25 W-CUP Innichen match 25th place, etc |
Ace skier Ryu Sugai, along with mogul skier Yukimasa Horishima, is closest to the world's top in the freestyle skiing competition at the Milan-Cortina Olympics. At the 2023-2024 World Championships, he won the first bronze medal in Japanese ski cross history, and also achieved his best result of second place in the W-CUP. His preparations for the 2025-2026 season are going well, with a fourth place finish in the W-CUP at the start of the season. He'll be aiming for his long-awaited medal in Milan
Furuno is a rising star who narrowly missed out on a chance to compete in the Olympics at the last Beijing Olympics. With more experience under her belt, she's starting to see results this season, finishing 18th in the W-CUP Arosa competition. Women's athlete Nakanishi Rin also achieved her personal best of 8th place (advancing to the final) in the 15th W-CUP in March 2025, making her first Olympic appearance. Furthermore, Mukaigawa Sakurako, who competed in the alpine skiing events at the 2022 Beijing Games, has switched to ski cross and is scheduled to compete in this year's tournament
Additionally, two additional players, Tatsuto Kobayashi and Makiko Arai, have been selected to participate. This will be their Olympic debut for both of them