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The 2025 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships ended in the Spanish Pyrenees with Team USA walking away from Canfranc with something they’ve rarely managed at this level: consistency across disciplines. Eight medals in total, both individual and team, marked one of the strongest overall performances in American mountain and trail running history.
A Strong Start in the Uphill
The medal count began with the Uphill 6K. Anna Gibson placed third in the women’s race, an early sign that the U.S. wasn’t just sending large rosters, but athletes ready to contend for hardware. The men added a team bronze with four finishers inside the top 35 against the vertical specialists from Kenya and Switzerland.
It was a promising beginning, medals earned in the purest mountain test: straight uphill, no pacing games, no hiding.
Short Trail Near Misses
In the Short Trail, both U.S. squads finished just off the podium in fourth. Individually, Jane Maus landed inside the women’s top 10, but the collective scoring left the teams a few places shy.
These results showed how tight the margins are in this discipline. A single mistake or one faltering scorer is enough to shift a team result from podium to empty hands. Still, the Americans were competitive in a format where they have often struggled.
Long Trail Breakthrough
The championships turned on the Long Trail, the 82-kilometer centerpiece with more than 5,000 meters of climbing. Here, the two biggest American names delivered.
Katie Schide dominated from the start, winning the women’s race in 9:57:59, nearly 25 minutes clear of second. Jim Walmsley, coming off a win at OCC just a month earlier, ran patiently with France’s Benjamin Roubiol and Louison Coiffet before making his move after 60 kilometers. He surged away to win in 8:35:11, adding a world title to a resume that already included Western States and UTMB.
Those wins gave the U.S. its first two individual gold medals of the Championships. In the team standings, Schide’s performance carried the women to silver behind Italy, while Walmsley and Adam Peterman’s top-10 finishes anchored the men to silver behind France.
Closing with the Classics
On the final day, the women’s team struck again in the Classic 14K, claiming silver behind a strong European contingent. It was a fitting close to the week: another podium earned in a short format far outside the U.S. ultra sweet spot.
The Totals
By the end of five days of racing, Team USA had collected:
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- 2 individual golds: Schide and Walmsley in the Long Trail
- 4 team silvers: men’s and women’s Long Trail, women’s Long Trail behind Italy, and women’s Classic
- 2 bronzes: Anna Gibson in the Uphill 6K and the men’s Uphill team
Eight medals in total.
That tally also earned the Americans third place in the overall Federation Award, behind France and Italy. It was recognition that the U.S. can now compete across the full spectrum of mountain and trail events, not just at one distance or in one discipline.
What It Means
Worlds has often been an event where the U.S. arrived with talent but left with mixed results. This time was different. From Gibson’s early bronze to Schide and Walmsley’s statement wins, the team proved it could perform in multiple formats and at multiple distances.
France and Italy remain the deepest federations, their Federation Award totals prove that. But the Americans leave Canfranc with something new: proof that they are not just sending stars. They are building teams that can contend everywhere.
Eight medals across four disciplines in a single championship. For U.S. trail running, it felt like a turning point
