Kilian Jornet pulls out of UTMB 2026
Kilian Jornet won’t be on the UTMB 2026 start line after all. Eight days before the race, the 38-year-old Spaniard announced on Thursday 20 August that he’s withdrawing from the Chamonix showdown, still hampered by a left-knee injury.
The suspense lasted until the final days. After several weeks focused on recovery, Kilian Jornet still hoped he’d be able to line up at UTMB, a race he was set to return to four years after his last appearance. But a recent long run brought the knee pain back.
The Catalan spoke with his medical team before deciding not to race on 28 August (5:45 p.m. start). Surgery now looks like the next step to address an issue that has disrupted his season for months.
« Sometimes plans change, and this year I won’t race UTMB », Jornet posted on social media. The NNormal athlete added that the initial approach was more conservative and that his return to training had been going encouragingly. But that last prolonged effort showed the problem still isn’t fully resolved.
A knee that’s derailed his season
The first issues surfaced in spring, ahead of Zegama-Aizkorri. Jornet started the Basque classic despite knee pain. Chasing a 12th win at Zegama, the Spaniard ultimately finished 43rd. A few weeks later, he toed the line at Western States. But after around 50 kilometers, the pain became too much and forced him to stop.
UTMB remained his main target of the season. The four-time winner had even chosen to skip Sierre-Zinal on 8 August to maximize his recovery ahead of the Chamonix rendezvous. In the end, it wasn’t enough. Despite a gradual return to training, his knee doesn’t allow him to consider an effort of nearly 174 kilometers with 10,000 meters of climbing in the right conditions.
A fifth win will have to wait
His absence robs UTMB of one of its biggest headliners. Jornet owns four wins in Chamonix, in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2022. He currently shares the all-time record with France’s François D’Haene. His comeback had been especially anticipated after four years away from the race. So he won’t have the chance this year to chase a fifth win and stand alone at the top of the all-time list.
The men’s field is still stacked for this 2026 edition, with Jim Walmsley, Vincent Bouillard, Théo Detienne, Baptiste Chassagne, Ben Dhiman and Caleb Olson among the standout names.
For Kilian Jornet, the priority now is to fix the knee issue for good. After months of trying to manage the injury, the Catalan is expected to go under the knife, with plenty still uncertain about what comes next for his season.