Ski mountaineering at the Olympics: Ex-cyclist Tatjana Paller narrowly misses out on a medal

It was a thrilling final in the snow on the Stelvio piste in Bormio: Switzerland's Marianne Fatton won in 2:59.77 minutes and secured her first gold medal in women's ski mountaineering at the Olympic Games. She finished 2.38 seconds ahead of France's Emily Harrop. The German Tatjana Paller started a race to catch up from the back of the six-strong field at the last transition into the final downhill to the finish. At the finish, the 30-year-old from Lenggries was only around three seconds behind Spain's Ana Alonso, who secured bronze. "It was unique - I really enjoyed it, even though I was very nervous. Fourth place is a really good result, if someone had told me that beforehand, I would have taken it straight away. But when you see the award ceremony, of course you think: third would be even cooler," said Paller after the race, according to the website of the responsible association DAV.

On Saturday (21 February), Paller and Finn Hösch will take part in the second competition in ski mountaineering, the mixed relay. Hösch was eliminated early in the men's sprint competition, finishing fourth in his qualifying run.

A career changer from cycling to ski mountaineering

The 30-year-old Tatjana Paller from Lenggries originally came to ski mountaineering (skimo) from cycling as a career changer. In cycling, she competed for Germany in international track cycling competitions from the youth category onwards. In 2017, she became U-23 European champion in the points race. From 2017 to 2020, she pedalled for RSV Unna. On the road, she rode in international tours such as the Lotto Belgium Tour, Giro delle Marche in Rosa or Gracia Orlova, but was unable to achieve any international successes.

Successes in Skimo

She is more successful in skimo (short for ski mountaineering) than on the road. Paller competed in her first Ski Mountaineering World Cup in December 2020 - since then, her career has skyrocketed. The sports soldier is now one of the strongest female ski mountaineering athletes in Germany. There were several reasons for her switch from cycling to winter sports: "In cycling, things didn't go the way I wanted them to. But I realised that my fitness was great. But I had a few really bad falls, including one with paraplegia. And then somehow the fear always travelled with me. I no longer wanted to risk so much for the sport," she explains in an interview with the German Alpine Club (DAV). The DAV is the professional association responsible for Skimo. Since switching in 2020, she has secured eight German championship titles. Internationally, she achieved 4th place in the overall sprint World Cup 2024/25 and bronze in the sprint at the ISMF World Championships 2025 in Morgins.