Mexican skier Regina Martínez will make history as the first to compete in cross-country skiing at a Winter Olympics. Her debut is in the women's 10 km freestyle event on February 12 in Milano-Cortina 2026. The emergency doctor, who dislikes the cold, qualified after her performance at the 2025 Trondheim World Championships.
Regina Martínez, born December 29, 1992, started cross-country skiing at age 27 while studying medicine in Minnesota. She previously played soccer in Pumas de la UNAM Femenil youth teams and in Costa Rica's first division. Inspired by Germán Madrazo's participation in PyeongChang 2018, Martínez decided to try after learning no Mexican woman had competed in this Olympic discipline.
"Everything started when I went to Minnesota to study medicine. I had my first winters and they were super cold, super long, really a very hostile environment," she recounted in an interview with Sports Illustrated. Despite being "very friolenta" and admitting "I hate the cold," she faced temperatures down to -50 degrees. In an ESPN interview, she described the impact: "It wasn't just the cold part… it's also the loneliness, being away from family. It's the darkness, because in winter it gets dark around 3 in the afternoon".
After graduating, she moved to Miami for her emergency medicine residency, working up to 80 hours weekly. She adapted training with rollers on asphalt and six to 10 hours per week. "It's a very demanding job, both physically, emotionally, and mentally," she explained. The sport became "my escape from the stress of all the difficult cases we see in medicine".
In February 2025, she secured the spot at the Trondheim World Championships. "It was super exciting and at first hard to believe," she recalled, calling it "the end of one dream and the beginning of the next". Her debut is on Thursday, February 12, at 06:00 central Mexico time at Tesero Cross-Country Stadium, in the 10 km individual freestyle event with interval starts. The winner is the one who completes the distance in the least time.
The event will be broadcast live on Claro Sports and ViX. Martínez, who walked dogs to fund her training trips, marks a milestone for Mexico at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Games.
