One Fine Day—Olympic 10 k Freestyle, 2026

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In an earlier era of our sport, all Nordic ski races were interval start events; every distance at every championship, individual skiers racing against the clock, disappearing into the woods on a single sinuous track, returning to a finish line after the challenging completion of an appointed distance. That kind of racing was a test of courage and discipline, of fitness and grit. It was pure, and simple, and true. Cyclists call such time-trials the “race of truth,” a term both descriptive and appropriate. But, in cross-country skiing, the format proved poor for spectating, weak for television broadcasts, not as exciting as watching racers competing shoulder to shoulder. Predictably, the modern Olympic cross-country skiing schedule includes only one interval start race, all the rest being some form of mass start. Only one race of truth remains—the 10 k.

Women’s 10 k Freestyle Interval Start

This is the one Jessie can win . . . but any athlete who hopes to win Olympic gold will need to ski the race of their lives. That’s because everyone who lines up for this race has been pointing toward this race for their entire athletic life. This is the day they’ve trained for, and peaked for, and tapered for. This is the day they’ve sacrifice for, the day they’ve dreamed of. At the end of this day, someone will be awarded Olympic immortality and a medal of gold. Everybody in this race wants this . . . and if desire and determination provided the only measures of worthiness, then Diggins could certainly win. But those are not the only factors affecting the outcome of the Olympic 10 k.

Frida Karlsson (SWE), Ebba Andersson (SWE), and the immortal Therese Johaug (NOR) will have circled this day on their calendar months ago. Their entire year of training will have been planned and designed and refined to bring them to such levels of performance and fitness that they’ve never heretofore achieved. The 10 k will be a race of the very best cross country skiers at their very best. And these are not the only contenders: Heidi Weng (NOR) has been conducting a slow-motion, multiple-season comeback, one that has often taken her onto World Cup podiums. She’s been preparing for the opportnity to return to the very top. Natalya Neprayeva (RUS) may be returning form her nation’s competitive suspension. And Jonna sundling (NOR) showed in 2025 that she possesses perhaps the greatest sustainable speed of any of the racers in the field. If she paces it perfectly, Sundling could race away with gold in the 10 k.

Men’s 10 k Freestyle Interval Start

Nobody knows whose gonna win this one; there are simply too many good skiers, too many variables, too much that remains unknown, too much at stake. Sure, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo is a favorite (maybe the favorite), but he could also finish behind all of his own countrymen, not to mention the potential of an as-yet-unannounced team of redemption-seeking Russians (but don’t call them “Russians;” they don’t ski for Russia).

Norway recently announced its Men’s team for 2025-2026. Perennial contenders—Erik Valnes, Even Northug, Harald Oestberg Amundsen, Simen Hegstad Krueger, Martin Loewstroem Nyenget, and Klaebo—fill Norway’s roster: Recently added to that already formidable team were Iver Tildheim Andersen, Andreas Fjorden Ree, Oskar Opstad Vike, and Ansgar Evensen. How do you even pick the entrants for a 10 k Freestyle Interval Start race out of a roster like that?

And the short, explosive nature of a 10 k puts other racers into contention. Edvin Anger (SWE), Ben Ogden (USA), Gus Schumacher (USA), and Italy’s favorite son, Federico Pellegrino (ITA), will all have much to say about the outcome of the Olympic 10 k. And if Alexander Bolshunov (RUS) returns to Olympic competition, then this field will feel the pressure of his influence, as well. The key is likely to be pacing: too fast at the start, and skiers will blow up; too slow at the start, and skiers will not have time to catch those who choose to go fast early and are able to hang on. It’s such a complicated little race, but one capable of reminding spectators just how exciting an Interval Start race can be.