2026 Olympics: the French team never in the running in the skateboard team sprint
After Mathis Desloges won two unexpected medals in the skiathlon and the individual free skate, the French clan missed out on the podium they were aiming for. On Wednesday 18 February in Tesero (Italy), Mathis Desloges and Jules Chappaz only finished twelfth out of fifteen countries competing in the skateboard team sprint at the Milan/Cortina 2026 Olympic Games.
Sixth in the qualifiers, the duo were well on their way to a third of their final. Second in the first stint, sixth in the second, the French had a complicated run after that. Mathis Desloges was hampered when taking his second relay. He then broke his right stick, and was forced to complete the lap with spare equipment loaned by a member of staff.
Last, he tried to move up on the outside, but the width of the track, the style used and the grouping of the field meant that he was only able to launch his partner into twelfth place. Jules Chappaz then grabbed another place.
The task was too difficult with two changes of baton
But during his third stint, Mathis Desloges was pushed around in the peloton and broke a stick again. As he was decelerating, his team-mate accelerated on the outside to pass him one. Once again relegated to the limbo of the race, the distance man passed on the relay in thirteenth place, and Jules Chappaz was only able to finish twelfth on the line, having watched the battle for the podium from too far away (16 seconds down on bronze).
It’s tough,” the finisher told France 2. It’s not at all the scenario we imagined. After qualifying well and being well placed for the first two laps, we were unlucky. It was a very fast track, with very few gaps. Naturally, when you’re changing on a small zone with 15 teams looking to win a medal, there can be collisions. We had to put up with them. Mathis broke a stick twice and left last twice. He did his best.
Mathis Desloges’ first Olympic race without a medal
After winning three silver medals in his first three events of the Games, Mathis Desloges – who did not stop in front of the microphones – finished his first Olympic race without a medal. This made his partner smile: “I thought he wasn’t human. In the end, he was a bit: with all the effort, the last lap was hard for him. That’s life: we came here for a medal and I don’t even know where we’ll finish… and who cares?
It was France’s worst final result in this event since the format was introduced in 2006. In Turin (Italy), no pair was entered, and in Sochi in 2014, Cyril Miranda and Jean-Marc Gaillard were unable to compete in the final as they were qualified but too tired.
- Mathis Desloges and Jules Chappaz sixth in the sprint skate team qualifier, Ben Ogden and Gus Schumacher first.
- Gold for Einar Hedegart and Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo in the sprint skate team, the French finish twelfth
- With five titles this year, Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo equals the legendary record set by skater Eric Heiden.
- “We’ve been waiting for this for years”: second-placed USA take silver in the men’s team sprint
- Italy’s first Olympic sprint team medal thanks to Federico Pellegrino and Elia Barp
- Cross-country skiing: the medals table and the full list of winners at the Milan/Cortina 2026 Olympic Games
