From Lillehammer, NOR
(January 11, 2026) – Israel Blanco started the season in Lillehammer with a silver medal after being beaten by USA’s Robert Balk. The Spanish slider got a bit of revenge in the second race of the season, as this time it was he who came out on top ahead of Balk.
It was Italy’s Flavio Menardi who took the lead int he first heat. Off eighth, the Italian put down a very strong run to take the lead by a tenth over Blanco, with Swiss slider Christopher Stewart in third and Balk well back in sixth.
Balk’s second effort was far better than his first, and better than anyone else in the heat as he set the quick run of the second heat to take the lead from Austria’s Hermann Ellmauer. That lead held for a while, as he held off teammate Austin Parker, Switzerland’s Jonas Frei, and Stewart.
Blanco, while not able to out-slide Balk’s one-heat run, had enough in the bag after the first run to hold off the American and guarantee himself at least silver with Menardi still to come.
But the Italian had trouble right out of the start grooves and his second slide was only ninth quickest, enough to give him fourth place overall and give the win to Blanco.
Balk took silver and Frei bronze, with Menardi, Stewart, and Ellmauer rounding out the top six.
Great Britain’s Corie Mapp struggled to find his usual pace in the race and finished eighth, just a hundredth ahead of USA’s Guillermo Castillo. USA’sAustin Parker slid to 11th after the second heat, one spot ahead of teammate Tyler Jeffries, with Doc Jacobs 13th and Gabi Cha 15th.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Israel Blanco | ESP | 6 | 6.39 | 6.43 | 56.75 | 56.98 | 1:53.73 |
| 2 | Robert Balk | USA | 15 | 6.38 | 6.36 | 56.99 | 56.89 | 1:53.88 |
| 3 | Jonas Frei | SUI | 5 | 6.38 | 6.42 | 56.91 | 57.05 | 1:53.96 |
| 4 | Flavio Menardi | ITA | 8 | 6.34 | 6.40 | 56.65 | 57.35 | 1:54.00 |
| 5 | Christopher Stewart | SUI | 2 | 6.34 | 6.37 | 56.87 | 57.22 | 1:54.09 |
| 6 | Hermann Ellmauer | AUT | 1 | 6.37 | 6.37 | 57.01 | 57.23 | 1:54.24 |
| 7 | Fabrizio Caselli | ITA | 13 | 6.40 | 6.45 | 57.02 | 57.26 | 1:54.28 |
| 8 | Corie Mapp | GBR | 14 | 6.40 | 6.45 | 57.03 | 57.31 | 1:54.34 |
| 9 | Guillermo Castillo | USA | 3 | 6.38 | 6.39 | 57.12 | 57.23 | 1:54.35 |
| 10 | Tyler Jeffries | USA | 4 | 6.33 | 6.35 | 57.11 | 57.26 | 1:54.37 |
| 11 | Gabriela Knapova | CZE | 12 | 6.36 | 6.41 | 57.25 | 57.14 | 1:54.39 |
| 12 | Kristjan Peljhan | SLO | 11 | 6.39 | 6.43 | 57.22 | 57.48 | 1:54.70 |
| 13 | Doc Jacobs | USA | 10 | 6.37 | 6.41 | 57.09 | 57.66 | 1:54.75 |
| 14 | Gabi Cha | USA | 9 | 6.41 | 6.42 | 57.51 | 57.65 | 1:55.16 |
| 15 | Austin Parker | USA | 7 | 6.34 | 6.36 | 56.84 | 58.74 | 1:55.58 |