Winter Olympics 2026: Reece Howden rages at ‘ridiculous’ ski cross conditions in Milano Cortina: ‘Absolute joke’
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Updated 21/02/2026 at 18:39 GMT
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Canada's Reece Howden was fuming with the "ridiculous" weather conditions in the men's ski cross final, labelling them an "absolute joke". One of the favourites for gold after recording the fastest time in the seeding runs, the FIS Ski Cross World Cup leader was eliminated in the quarter-finals as Simone Deromedis took gold for Italy and Team GB's Ollie Davies had a disappointing day.
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Reece Howden was far from impressed by the conditions in the men’s ski cross final at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics 2026.
The 27-year-old Canadian was fastest in the seeding runs, but heavy snowfall in the following hours meant a different course greeted the athletes in the finals - not that the home fans who braved the blizzard minded as Simone Deromedis and Federico Tomasoni won gold and silver for Italy.
Deromedis was around 12 seconds slower in the final than Howden’s time in the seeding run and skiers found it difficult to make up any ground after the opening turn due to the slow snow, as the conditions became so bad that at times it was hard to make out what was happening through the TV cameras.
"Honestly, the weather is ridiculous. It is a joke," Howden said after the competition, reported by CBC. "I bet you, I do not know what the times are, but it has gotta be, like, 10 to 15 seconds slower. It is a completely different course.
"If I waited four years for this, I will wait for another four because this is a joke.
"It is snowing so hard, and the track is dead slow… Yeah, this is an absolute joke. I, honestly, at this point, I'm happy I'm not involved in this race, 'cause this is ridiculous. Like, this is not ski cross.
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"Olympics [are] supposed to be the best of the best, you know? The peak of our sport. And like I said before, I will wait four more years, because this is an absolute joke."
And to rub salt into the wound for Howden, the women’s freeski halfpipe final featuring superstar Eileen Gu and Great Britain's Zoe Atkin was postponed from Saturday night to Sunday morning due to the adverse weather.
The 2025/26 FIS Ski Cross World Cup leader, Howden won his race in the elimination round but finished last in his quarter-final against the eventual gold and silver medallists much to his chagrin, as all three of his compatriots failed to reach the semi-finals.
It was a similarly disappointing day for Ollie Davies, Team GB’s only ski cross competitor at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics 2026, who was eliminated in his first race.
Davies made a good start but brushed into Frenchman Terence Tchiknavorian - who went on to win the small final - on the run to the first corner and slipped to the back of the pack.
From there, Davies was unable to close on any of the front three until the final run to the line, by which point it was too late.
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Davies’ frustration contrasted sharply with the Italian celebrations on Saturday as Deromedis and Tomasoni embraced immediately after crossing the line, with the gold medallist consistently nailing his starts all afternoon.
Early in the final, TNT Sports commentator Ian Findlay said it "might be the easiest run to Olympic gold anyone has ever had" when Deromedis took an early lead, and the Italian only came under any pressure in the final run to the line, when he barely got enough distance on the last jump.
Alex Fiva completed the podium at 40 years of age, as the Beijing 2022 champion beat his own record as the oldest Olympic medallist in freestyle skiing.
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Watch every event of Milano Cortina 2026 live on discovery+. Available across all subscription plans, starting at £3.99.
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