BORMIO, Italy: Russian Nikita Filippov won the first medal at the Milan-Cortina Games for individual neutral athletes when he claimed silver in the men’s ski mountaineering sprint in Bormio on Thursday.
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Filippov finished 1.52sec off Spain’s gold medallist Oriol Cardona Coll, who won in 2min 34.03sec. Thibault Anselmet of France took bronze (+2.31) in the event’s debut at the Winter Games.
The Swiss pair of Arno Liethaa and Jon Kistler had led up the initial gruelling 65-meter climb.
But Cardona Coll showed all his experience to fight back and surge into the lead in an astonishing display of stamina and technical nous on the transition.
