One Fine Day—Olympic 50 k, 2026

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers.  If you would like to see more articles like this one, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription.  

When it comes to the Olympics, every skiing nation may dream of winning the relay, but every skier dreams of  winning the 50 k. It’s the race with history; it’s the race with bragging rights. Even more so when it’s raced in Classic technique . . . as it will be in the Olympic Winter Games in 2026.

Men’s 50 k

One of the greatest, most strategic, and most successful skiers of all time—Petter Northug—scolded his Norwegian countrymen after the Skiathlon at the 2025 FIS World Championships in Trondheim, Norway. He accused them, he exposed them, he shamed them. Not for what they had done, but for what (in his opinion) they had failed to do: they had failed to put Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo on the ropes. Klaebo is a sprinter, the greatest ever in the sport of cross-country skiing (greater, even, than Northug, who built his own sprint reputation by sitting in during mass start races, and stealing victories at the very end). When Northug says that the other skiers need to attack Klaebo relentlessly, he knows what he’s talking about. And the situation faced by all other skiers in the 50 k Classic Mass Start is starkly simple: either drop Klaebo well before the finishing straightaway, or he wins.

Iivo Niskanen is likely to be the difference-maker. time and again he’s proven himself to be the dominant Classic skier of this generation. If Niskanen shows up healthy, he can potentially ski away from anyone—but he’ll definitely receive a spirited chase from Klaebo, from Harald Oestberg Amundsen, from Martin Loewstroem Nygenet, and from any Russians that the organizers allow into the Games.

Women’s 50 k

With the recent announcement of Therese Johaug’s retirement, the nature of the women’s 50 k Classic Mass Start just became a race of a different sort. True, it may still be a speed-fest driven by the pace of Frida Karlsson, or Ebba Andersson, or Kerttu Niskanen. Or it may be a sit-in-and-sprint strategy employed by the likes of Jonna Sundling or Jessie Diggins. One way or another, it’s certain to be exciting racing. What it won’t be—strategically—is simple and straightforward as it would’ve been if Johaug were in the field on race day. If Johaug were in the race, she’d go straight to the front, and punish anyone who followed her. It might’ve worked (as it did so often in her long and illustrious career), or it might not have worked (as it didn’t at the 2025 World Championships in Trondheim). But now that Johaug has sailed off into a well-earned retirement, the dynamics of the race will be delivered by someone else. It’s kind of wonderful that we don’t yet know who that will be . . .

Astrid Oeyre Slind (NOR) is the most experienced marathon skier in the field; she would seem to be logical contender. She’s a fearless racer, and quite adept in Classic technique. Teresa Stadlober (AUT) may ski among the leaders, but she may lack the finishing speed to win it all. Jessie Diggins (USA) may go with the pace of the lead group, but her presence in there would likely result in an even higher pace (as the field would certainly work hard to drop her). And she’s nowhere near as adept at Classic technique as she is at Skating.

The 50 k is the concluding marathon of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, a closely contested mass-start event in which team tactics are most likely to be employed. But that’s only if the “teams” decide to work together for the benefit of only one of their stars. Norwegian skiers (both men and women) have rarely shown each other such generosity . . . which may open the door for Swedes and Russians to steal the glory of the Olympic 50 k Classic.