Jordi Merino has been president of the Federation of Hiking Clubs of Catalonia (FEEC) for fifteen years. At the FEEC headquarters on La Rambla, right in front of Barcelona's Plaça Reial, Merino receives the ARA newspaper and admits that these years "have felt like half a century," as things have changed so much. When Merino took over as president, none of the sports under his umbrella were Olympic. Now two are: climbing and a mountain ski that gives medalsBut things have also changed for the worse, especially the relationship many people have with the mountains. The FEEC (Catalan Federation of Mountaineering and Climbing) knows this all too well, as some of the mountain huts they manage have been vandalized recently, such as the one in Besiberri (Alta Ribagorça).

For more than 10 minutes, Oriol Cardona and Ana Alonso didn't know where to hide. They were so exhausted they could barely speak after the demanding Olympic ski mountaineering relay final, in which they had finished third. But the competition judges had penalized one of Alonso's ski changes, a penalty that, in theory, deducted three seconds from their time. If that was the case, they would win the bronze. But there was no official confirmation of a possible appeal from the Americans, who had finished fourth. Or the possibility that the penalty would be for more seconds and leave them off the podium. "Three seconds, it says three seconds!" Alonso shouted when she saw the confirmation on the scoreboard that they had won the bronze. And Oriol Cardona began to cry with emotion. He had made an incredible effort to win his second Olympic medal in three days.

Oriol Cardona from Banyoles lived up to expectations and won the gold medal in the ski mountaineering sprint, a discipline making its Olympic debut. Oriol had known for months that everyone had high hopes for him. So much so that one of his first reactions after his victory was a feeling of liberation. "It's hard to know what to say, I've worked so hard for this medal. I was eager to get this final out of the way, which luckily went very well. When I arrived and knew I was champion... it's incredible," he said. Cardona, a world champion with a formidable track record, won the first Catalan medal at these Games just minutes after Ana Alonso from Andalusia took bronze in the women's category. Cardona and Alonso will be looking for a second medal on Saturday in the pairs event.

Next Friday, no one will call any goal at Milan's Giuseppe Meazza stadium. For once, San Siro will forget about football as it is the stage for... The opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, an event that will take place from February 6 to 22 in the Italian Alps and the Lombard capital, with the Cortina d'Ampezo resort as the central venue for many ski events.