Ana Alonso Rodriguez’s hard climb to Olympic skimo bronze began off the snow, after being hit by car

BORMIO, Italy (AP) — The steepest hill ski mountaineering athlete Ana Alonso Rodriguez had to climb on her way to an Olympic bronze medal involved no course at all. No snow or competitors, either.

Just trusting in herself, and an injured knee, to give it a try and get to the starting line at the Milan Cortina Games.

In September, while riding her bike in a training session, the Spanish racer was hit by a car. She tore ligaments in her knee and injured her shoulder. Surgery would've surely meant sitting out the Winter Games, where her sport — one that involves skiing uphill and then downhill — was making its Olympic debut.

So, she rehabbed, instead, and hoped just to be able to compete in Bormio in some fashion. This bronze medal, the one she earned Thursday, felt almost surreal. On her way to the finish line, she even glanced over her shoulder not once or twice but three or four times just to make certain the medal, indeed, belonged to her.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said the 31-year-old Alonso Rodriguez, who is expected to combine with teammate and Olympic men's gold medalist Oriol Cardona Coll for the mixed relay on Saturday. “I was so emotional. Trying to believe that I achieved this medal, it was a beautiful moment for me.”

Back in September, Alonso Rodriguez posted the news of her crash on Instagram. Along with it, a picture: Her left arm in a sling and her left knee in a bulky brace. She explained that she saw the car at the last moment and, realizing there was no escape, braced for the impact.

That, she wrote, prevented something worse from happening. There was another picture of her sitting on the street, with people around, and a car windshield smashed in the background.

She vowed to work her way back to the skimo course, posting a note at the time that read, through translation: “Just 7 months ago I fulfilled a dream (of making the Olympics) that was born when I was 7. I don’t think life has taken me this far to leave me here. This is not an end. It’s just a new challenge to climb with determination, faith and a lot of passion.”

About three months after the crash, she returned to skis. By mid-January, she was back on the World Cup racing circuit.

And by early February, she was on the podium again, taking second with Cardona Coll in a relay race.

That's why she had so much confidence Thursday as she navigated a course that included traversing through a diamond-shaped pattern before taking the skis off to go up stairs in ski boots, followed by another vertical ascent with skis back on and finally the downhill. She finished 10.45 seconds behind winner Marianne Fatton of Switzerland, but, truth be told, just lining up was the goal.

This medal, well, it was extra.

“I wanted to focus on myself and be proud of my performance, no matter the results,” said Alonso Rodriguez, the silver medalist at the 2025 world championships. “So I only wanted to cross the finish line being happy with my performance.”

Next up, the mixed team event on Saturday to close out the racing program in Bormio. She and Cardona Coll are expected to be paired up — the official pairings come out later — and will be among the favorites. It's a powerful field that includes Emily Harrop, the silver-medal winner, who's expected to combine with Thibault Anselmet, the bronze medalist in the men's race, to represent France. A Swiss team, led by Fatton, will be in the medal mix, too.

Count teammate Cardona Coll as impressed with Alonso Rodriguez's performance.

“We were warming up and we realized Ana got third place and we had the first medal with us,” Cardona Coll explained. “That was a push of motivation.”

For Alonso Rodriguez, her push of motivation came from another mountain, in Cortina, where Italian ski racer Federica Brignone captured gold in the super-G and giant slalom. Brignone returned after breaking multiple bones in her left leg last March.

“We always had belief I could be here and give my best performance,” Alonso Rodriguez said. “The last days when Federica won two gold medals were an inspiration, because I know she has been working very hard.

“At the end, the hard work paid off. I’m so happy for her and for myself.”

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Spain's Ana Alonso Rodriguez competes during a ski mountaineering women's sprint heat, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Spain's Ana Alonso Rodriguez celebrates taking third place in a ski mountaineering women's sprint final, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Spain's Ana Alonso Rodriguez reacts after winning the bronze medal in a ski mountaineering women's sprint final, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

Spain's Ana Alonso Rodriguez celebrates after winning the bronze medal in a ski mountaineering women's sprint final, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland will use antipersonnel as well as anti-tank land mines to defend its eastern border against the growing threat from Russia, Poland's deputy defense minister told The Associated Press on Friday, as the country officially left an international convention banning the use of the controversial weapons.

The 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Convention, prohibits signatories from keeping or using antipersonnel mines, which can last for years and are known for having caused large-scale suffering among civilians in former conflict zones in countries including Cambodia, Angola and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Poland, which ratified the document in 2012 and completed the destruction of its domestic anti-personnel mine stockpile in 2016, withdrew from the treaty on Friday and says it plans to renew manufacturing weapons.

“These mines are one of the most important elements of the defense structure we are constructing on the eastern flank of NATO, in Poland, on the border with Russia in the north and with Belarus in the east,” Paweł Zalewski, Poland's deputy defense minister, said.

He said Poland needed to defend itself against Russia, a country which “has very aggressive intentions vis a vis its neighbors” and which itself never committed to the international land mine ban treaty.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, nearby countries have been reassessing their participation in the international treaty. Last year, Warsaw joined Finland, the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and Ukraine to announce it would leave the treaty.

Russia is one of nearly three dozen countries that have never acceded to the Ottawa treaty, alongside the United States.

Zalewski said that Poland will begin domestic production of both antipersonnel and anti-tank land mines, adding that the government would cooperate with Polish producers. He said Poland was aiming for self-sufficiency.

Land mines are an explosive weapon that's placed on or just under the ground and blows up when a person or a vehicle crosses over them. Anti-tank mines, which are designed not to be triggered by a person's weight, are not forbidden by the Ottawa Convention.

Speaking on Thursday after attending a demonstration of Bluszcz, an unmanned vehicle designed to distribute anti-tank mines produced by Polish company Belma S.A. and a military research institute, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland would “soon” have the ability to mine its eastern borders within 48 hours in case of a threat.

Given the length of the country's eastern borders, Zalewski said, “a lot” of land mines will be needed.

Poland plans to prepare mine stockpiles as part of the so-called Eastern Shield, a system of enhanced fortifications Poland has been building on its borders with Belarus and Russia since 2024, Zalewski said.

But he said that Poland would only deploy the mines along its borders “when there is a realistic threat of Russian aggression.”

“We very much respect our territory and we don’t want to exclude it from day to day use for the Polish citizens,” Zalewski said.

Human rights groups have condemned moves to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention, arguing that anti-personnel mines are too dangerous to civilians.

But Zalewski responded that the country is striking a balance by keeping the mines in reserve unless the country faces attack.

“We are not an aggressive country,” he said, “but we have to use all means to deter Russia.”

This image obtained from video shows military vehicles, including the hybrid mine layer called Bluszcz or Ivy, in Zielonka, Poland, Thursday Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo)

FILE - Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk looks on in the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)

FILE - Armoured vehicles are parked at a section of Poland - Belarus border near the Polowce-Pieszczatka, Poland, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Rafal Niedzielski, File)