Romanian Matei Petre wins U18 title at the 2026 ISMF Ski Mountaineering European Championships

Romanian athlete Matei Petre, affiliated with the Bucharest-based sports club Dinamo, won the European champion title in the individual event, U18 category, at the European Ski Mountaineering Championships held in Shahdag, Azerbaijan.

Previously, the Romanian won silver in the sprint event, coming second to Czech athlete Jopek Franciszek. Petre reportedly funded his own departure to Azerbaijan and has no coach.

“After the silver medal won a few days ago in the Sprint event, Matei continues the series of extraordinary results and climbs today to the highest step of the podium, confirming his excellent form and his value at the European level,” noted the Romanian Federation of Mountaineering and Climbing on Facebook.

“An exceptional result for Romanian ski mountaineering and for the new generation of athletes who represent Romania at the highest level,” the same source added.

Romania is an important country in ski mountaineering, being ranked 9th in the world in terms of performances, something that does not happen with any other winter sport, except for bobsleigh, according to Eurosport.

Present for the first time at an edition of the Olympic Games, ski mountaineering was the only sport at Milano-Cortina in which the tickets were sold in a proportion of 100%.

(Photo source: Federatia Romana de Alpinism si Escalada on Facebook)