Colorado’s Kyle Negomir relishes valuable experience on daunting Olympic course in Bormio

BORMIO, Italy — Notoriously icy, knee-rattling and unforgiving, any trip down the vaunted Stelvio downhill course is an accomplishment. Considering that the adrenaline-inducing World Cup track will serve as the men’s Olympic downhill course at the Milan Cortina 2026 Games raised the stakes this weekend in northern Italy.

Kyle Negomir was fast in Thursday’s opening training run on the Stelvio track, posting 19th, but didn’t execute as intended on Saturday’s race day. Nevertheless, the 23-year-old downhill racer from Littleton chalked up his run as another crucial learning experience on the future Olympic run.

“I don’t think it ever feels good here – you go into it knowing that it’s going to be a fight,” Negomir said, shortly after his run down the Stelvio. “Fast or slow, it feels bad. It’s dark, it’s bumpy, it’s icy.

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“It’s tough to complain too much about the course — it’s been the same way for 50 years. You sign up for it and you can’t moan about it when it turns out exactly like you expected to be.”

Negomir finished 39th with a time of 1:56.55, 3.22 seconds behind Swiss champion Alexis Monney on Saturday. He ended just behind U.S. teammates Jared Goldberg (38th), Bryce Bennett (37th) and Sam Morse (34th). World No. 4 ranked downhiller Ryan Cochran-Siegle sped to an auspicious start, before making a miscalculation and smashing through a gate. It abruptly ended his day.

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However, Negomir was resilient and rebounded nicely in Sunday’s super-G, posting a respectable 21st. It was the top U.S. result of an otherwise disappointing weekend.

“It was definitely a fight, still hard and bumpy, but personally I was able to put down a bit of my better skiing,” Negomir said, after Sunday’s run. “I made some big mistakes, but the skiing in between was some turns that I could be proud of.”

The solid showing and improved execution, from Saturday’s downhill to Sunday’s super-G, bodes well for Negomir looking ahead to Milan Cortina 2026.

“Obviously, we have a big year here next year with the World Cup and then the Olympics on this slope,” Negomir said. “Hoping that I’m able to qualify, having that last taste in my mouth being a little bit better here is definitely going to add some confidence going into those races and that will be huge for me,” Negomir said.

“It’s a hard place to trust yourself with it being so challenging, but that’s what separates those who are winning, from frankly everyone else.”

A friendlier Stelvio piste in February 2026?

Negomir and fellow World Cup racers are excited about running the Stelvio under different circumstances at the Milan Cortina Olympic Winter Games in February 2026. Tackling the daunting piste later in winter is expected to translate into better sunlight and a softer, more forgiving snow surface.

“When they ran world champs here back in 2005 and Bode skied on one ski, you could see that it runs a lot different,” Negomir said, referring to one of Miller’s entertaining feats, triggered after he lost his left ski near the top of the course. “The whole nature of the course changes, from it being this intimidating battle, to being something that you can really charge.

“Minus the snow and light, it’s not crazy steep, not crazy turny, there’s nothing so extreme past the snow and light, so if you remove some of that in February, it allows people to push harder and take more risk,” he said. “I think it will be more fun to watch.”

Qualifying for the 2026 U.S. Olympic team will be no cakewalk, with a maximum of four racers per country, per event.

“What’s so cool about being a part of a team like ours right now is that we have seven guys consistently in the top 30, skiing well and pushing each other,” Negomir said. “It’s fun to be part of and it also makes these big events, where you only have a select number of spots, a lot more challenging.”

Negomir is striving toward competing on his first U.S. Olympic team, in Milan Cortina 2026.

“It’s the pinnacle of sports for most everyone in the world,” Negomir says. “At the end of the day, whoever is the best is going to do it when the lights are brightest, and hopefully that’s me.”

Multiple crashes on the Stelvio

Despite expected good vibes and Olympic anticipation, the mood this weekend around the Bormio racing venue was somewhat somber. Frenchman Cyprien Sarrazin and Italian Pietro Zazzi were both airlifted off the mountain after scary crashes in Friday’s second training run.

Questions were raised about the preparation of the slope following the incidents, although most athletes concluded that it is just the perils and inherent risk of racing the Stelvio.

Sarrazin, the 2024 Hahnenkamm champion flew high and far launching off a roll in the course. He landed forcefully, smacking his head and back. He slid down the course, before crashing into and somehow exiting the safety netting. Sarrazin underwent a successful operation at a nearby hospital for subdural hematoma and is currently in stable condition after sedation.

A third crash occurred to open Sunday’s super-G as Swiss veteran Gino Caviezal, the first racer out of the gate, sustained a hard fall and was also airlifted off the slope by helicopter, resulting in a significant delay.

Negomir had a crash of his own on Friday, near the same spot where Sarrazin tumbled. Fortunately, it was only minor.

“It’s the same turn I fell on yesterday — I crashed coming into this last pitch, fortunately nothing too spectacular,” he said.

With an average gradient of 34%, and an exhausting length of 10,728 feet, the Stelvio is feared and remains as one of the most technically demanding courses on the circuit.

Veteran and young ski racers alike share the utmost respect for the venerable piste. It should be no different as the world’s premier racers pursue Olympic glory in February 2026.

Follow Brian on Instagram: @brian.pinelli

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