France, Germany write FISU Games history in Sestriere

On Thursday, 16 January, Sestriere hosted the first ever ski mountaineering event in FISU World University Games history. Margot Ravinel of France and Finn Elias Hösch of Germany won the Torino 2025 women’s and men’s sprint races. 

The sport will also be making its Olympics debut on Italian soil a year from now, at Milano Cortina 2026.

“It’s amazing. I am pretty done, but I was comfortable in the lead, so let’s say I made it safely to the finish, but it wasn’t a big effort to be honest,” Elias Hösch said after crossing the finish line for the last time.

The German was the strongest throughout the day, but as he explains, it was hard to get it done all over again in the evening final. “The hardest thing is to add something extra each round. It’s actually an endurance sport, it’s not about the four minutes you do, but about doing the four minutes repetitively with increasing power.”

Hösch will now forever be part of FISU Games history as the first ever male winner of a ski mountaineering competition.

“It feels amazing. It was a big effort in the beginning to do both studying and professional sport. I am now slowly getting my degree, so I am not far behind. It’s a great honour that there are only students competing against each other. Of course everyone practices differently, but that sets us apart from other athletes. I am very happy that I could make my standing here,” he said. 

In the final, Hösch set a time of 3:59.90. Pablo Giner of France finished second with 4:00.70, while bronze went to another German, Felix Tobias Gramelsberger (4:12.96).

Hösch’s triumph came five days before his 22^nd birthday on 21 January, so this was probably the best early present he could wish for. “Maybe, who knows. Yesterday I got a happy birthday message, which was a bit too early. So maybe there was something in the air.”

The women’s final went first in Sestriere, where the fourth FISU Winter Games were held in 1966. Margot Ravinel clocked a winning time of 4:45.80. She was followed at the line by Spanish teammates Maria Ordonez Cobacho (5:04.86) and Ares Torra (5:07.21).

“I am happy with the win, because I was in good shape and didn’t make mistakes. I could do my own race,” said the excited 22-year-old.

 “It’s great to win the first race ever, smiled Margot Ravinel. But mostly, I think it’s good for ski mountaineering to be part of FISU. We have a good French team, so it was a nice moment to share with other [French] athletes and also athletes from other nations.”

The strong French team is also one of the favourites to win the mixed relay, which is set for Friday, 17 January. “I think we can do a good result as the men are also strong. I like the relay, because we share the race with others, making it more beautiful.”

The take place from 13-23 January. Watch all the competitions live on . Click on the link to find the full schedule.

Written by Nejc Molan, FISU Young Reporter, Slovenia

The Young Reporters Programme exemplifies FISU’s commitment to more than sports competitions. At every FISU World University Games, a group of talented aspiring sports journalists are chosen to cover the competition.

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