José Cabeça ended his participation in the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games this Friday with a 99th place in the 10-kilometer freestyle event, held at the Tesero Cross-Country Stadium, in Italy.
The Portuguese skier saw his race irreparably marred by a fall in the first few meters, which affected his performance until the end.
With number 98, the athlete completed the distance in 27.00.8 minutes, 6.24.6 behind the winner of the race, Norwegian Johannes Klaebo, which recorded 20.36.2. Frenchman Mathis Desloges secured the silver medal, with 20.41.1, while bronze went to fellow Norwegian Einar Hedegart, who finished in 20.50.2. Among the 113 athletes at the start, 111 crossed the finish line.
The victory allowed Klaebo to win his third gold in this edition of the Games and reach the eighth Olympic gold medal of his career, equaling the historical record for triumphs in a Winter Games.
For José Cabeça, aged 29, this was his second Olympic appearance, after his debut in Beijing 2022, where he was ranked 88th in the 15 km in classic style. In Milan-Cortina 2026, he had already obtained 91st place in the classic sprint race.
Speaking to the Portuguese Olympic Committee (COP), the skier explained that the incident occurred in a fast area of the route: “Unfortunately, when we try to be good, we have to take risks and I, perhaps, took a little too much risk. In the first fastest corner I had a crash at more or less 50 km/hour. I was catapulted chest-first onto the hard part of the track, inside the curve. Unfortunately, I fell and spent about 20, 30 seconds trying to breathe again. After that, I tried to do my best to recover.”
The impact had immediate consequences on his physical capacity throughout the race. “I fell far short of all the work I did and far short of the level I have presented this season. I did as much as I had, but unfortunately, when you can’t breathe, it’s a little tricky to pullalthough during the flat parts I was able to ski well. During the climbs I suffered a lot and was unable to perform at the highest level”, he told COP.
Despite the outcome, the athlete was determined to continue evolving. “Now it’s about trying to recover, trying to see what’s going on with me and my chest. After that it’s about recovering and continuing to work, because I know that one day I’ll be at the top. It hasn’t been this time yet, but I’ll get there, I have no doubt. I’d like to thank you for all the support, all the messages and we’re going to come back stronger to really achieve an important result for Portugal and put Portugal on the Cross Country Skiing map”, he concluded.
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