Mount Beauty’s Winter Olympian, Phil Bellingham, proved he had what it took to compete at the highest level following his efforts at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games.

Taking to the slopes at Bormio’s Stelvio Ski Centre last Thursday and Saturday, Bellingham was part of the Olympics debut for the discipline of ski mountaineering, making it all the way to the semi-finals against some staunch European adversaries.

Ski mountaineering, or SkiMo as it’s more commonly known, consists of a field of athletes ascending a course on skis, climbing stairs without skis, more climbing on skis, then descending after removing a skin from the bottom of the skis.

It is a gruelling, tactical and physically demanding event.

Bellingham was placed in the second heat of the men’s sprints - the top three in each heat and the fastest three 'lucky losers' overall qualify to the semi-finals.

Up against some of the best SkiMo practitioners in the world, it would be a tough climb for the Aussie.

As the starter’s gun fired, the four-time Olympian kept pace with his younger competition as they navigated their way through the initial stages of the climb.

At the first transition, Bellingham trailed pacesetter Jon Kistler from Switzerland by just 4.5 seconds, a margin which had extended to 7.1 after the second transition.

By the time he had reached the top of the climb and was ready to descend on skis, he was 10.3 seconds behind Kistler, ultimately finishing fifth with a time of 2:48.39

Due to the other heats being slower than his, Bellingham was one of the three fastest to not qualify automatically, meaning he had earned a place in the semi-finals.

With barely a break, Bellingham was back on the starting line in the first semi, one step away from a chance at an Olympic medal.

The top two would advance automatically, with the two next fastest finishers from each race joining them.

Bellingham’s tank was running low as the race began, but he shot out of the gates, keeping pace with leaders Kistler and Spain’s Oriol Cardona Coll in the early stages.

Bellingham began to fade as the race progressed, and ultimately finished sixth in his heat with a time of 3:13.53.

Cardona Coll would go on to claim the gold medal with a time in the final of 2:34.03, with individual neutral athlete Nikita Filippov taking silver and France’s Thaibault Aneselmet the bronze.

"I was sort of towards the front, but I'd basically gone all out in my first heat to get through," Bellingham said of his semi-final run.

"So, I got about halfway through, and I was just completely cooked, had nothing left in the tank, and then when I went before the steps, I was sort of physically finished.

“Then I got to the top of the steps and went to put my skis back on, and I basically, I kicked it in the wrong position and closed the binding without my skiing it.

"So then I just had to reset and go again because I was so mentally tired, it's hard to have that fine dexterity in your hands and feet in that condition.”

As if the individual efforts in the sprint wasn’t enough, Bellingham had to front up just a few days later as part of Australia’s SkiMo mixed relay team, the seasoned campaigner alongside Olympic debutant Lara Hamilton.

In the relay, the women commence the race, doing a lap of the longer course before handing off to the men, with each athlete having to complete two laps.

Hamilton and Bellingham fought hard, ultimately finishing 12th overall with a combined time of 32:33.45.

Bellingham confirmed the Milano Cortina games would be his final competitive appearance.

The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games have been Australia's most successful campaign in history, with thee gold medals, two silver and a bronze, landing the nation 14th overall.

Cooper Woods (gold, single Moguls), Jakara Anthony (gold, Dual Moguls), Josie Baff (gold, snowboard cross), Scotty James (silver, snowboard halfpipe), Danielle Scott (silver, Aerials) and Matt Graham (bronze, Dual Moguls) all stood on the podium.