Phil's Story
Fast Facts
Sport: Cross-Country Skiing and Ski Mountaineering
Events: 30km Skiathlon, Freestyle Sprint, 15km Classic, Team Sprint, 50km Freestyle and Sprint, Mixed Relay
Olympic History: Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018, Beijing 2022, Milano Cortina 2026
Highlights: Four-time Olympian, 5x World Championships
Coach: Mattias Nilsson
Year Born: 1991
About Phil
Phil Bellingham joins elite company as a four-time Australian Winter Olympian. At Sochi 2014, PyeongChang2018 and Beijing 2022, he competed in Cross-Country Skiing, and at Milano Cortina 2026, he’ll contest the new Olympic sport of Ski Mountaineering.
Born and raised in Mount Beauty at the base of Falls Creek, Phil grew up in a community where winter sport was part of everyday life. He first stood on skis as a toddler and joined his local Birkebeiner Nordic Ski Club, moving quickly from play to competition. Phil often says he simply loves sport, all sport, and still calls Mt Beauty home while doing much of his training on the trails at Falls Creek.
By his early 20s he had won his first Cross-Country national title, earned selection for the 2013 World Championships and made his Olympic debut at Sochi in 2014, racing the 15km classic, the individual sprint and the team sprint with Callum Watson. Four years later, in PyeongChang, he broadened his range, lining up across four events, including the gruelling men’s 50km classic, and again took on sprint and distance racing during the fortnight.
At home, Phil became a multiple national champion and a serial winner on the Australia–New Zealand Continental Cup circuit. Highlights included a sprint–distance double at the 2019 Australian Championships at Falls Creek, and, during the 2021 domestic winter, overall victory in the FIS Australia–New Zealand Continental Cup series alongside national titles in the 15km classic and sprint freestyle.
Beijing 2022 marked his third Olympic appearance. Braving severe cold and wind, he took on five events, with the 50km mass start free shortened to 30km due to conditions. Phil finished 53rd in that race, teamed with Seve de Campo for 22nd in the team sprint, and also contested the sprint freestyle, skiathlon and sprint classic.
After Beijing, Phil added a new dimension and challenge to his career by competing in Ski Mountaineering as it moved towards its Olympic debut, while continuing to race Cross-Country at the elite level. He represented Australia at the 2023 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Planica, contesting the sprint and the skiathlon, and then crossed to the Ski Mountaineering World Championships in Spain, where his best individual result was 46th in the sprint, and he placed 23rd with Kate Zander in the mixed relay.
The 2024 home winter underlined his longevity. Phil topped the Australia–New Zealand Continental Cup standings for the seventh time in his career, built on consistent Cross-Country podiums, including a classic sprint second place and won the 15km freestyle on a busy Falls Creek championship weekend.
Phil’s 2024–25 northern season brought fresh milestones. In January 2025 he completed the Tour de Ski for the first time, finishing 57th overall, and then raced the Falun World Cup tune‑up, placing 71st in sprint qualifying. At the Trondheim 2025 World Championships he again shouldered a heavy program: 63rd in sprint freestyle qualifying, 87th in the skiathlon and 60th in the 50km mass start free.
Ski Mountaineering remained part of Phil’s calendar in 2024–25. He produced career‑best World Cup performances, including 41st in the sprint at Shahdag, Azerbaijan, and top‑50 finishes at Boí Taüll, Spain. Phil and Lara Hamilton also set personal bests in the mixed relay in Bormio. He capped the winter with 48th at the World Championships in Morgins, and was recognised as Snow Australia’s Ski Mountaineering Male Athlete of the Year in 2025.
Back in Australia in August 2025, Phil was prominent throughout the Cross-Country domestic season. He won the Perisher sprint freestyle on 1 August, took second in the 15km classic the following day, and ended the series as runner‑up overall in the 2025 Australia–New Zealand Continental Cup to Seve de Campo. He also claimed a crowd‑pleasing win at the 42km Kangaroo Hoppet at Falls Creek, outsprinting de Campo to the line.
The final months of his preparation for Milano Cortina 2026 have seen Phil continue to race often across Europe. Across November and December, he competed in four Cross-Country World Cups across the sprint, 10km and 20 km distances. In January, he switched back to racing Ski Mountaineering World Cups. At Courchevel in France he placed 52nd in the sprint and 71st in the vertical race.
Away from the start line, Phil juggles training, study and work. And when he can find the time he is white‑water kayaking, paragliding, surfing and helping on the family farm. His competitive drive has kept him at the elite level for a decade of World Cups and World Championships, and now to a remarkable fourth Olympic Games as Ski Mountaineering makes its Olympic debut.
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