One Fine Day—Olympic Team Sprint, 2026

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Track and Field’s Sprint Relay is a full-throttle dash of 4 x 100 meters transporting a sometimes-slippery baton around a single lap of the 400 meter track. True sprinters only, please. Track Cycling’s Team Sprint is a one kilometer max effort in which three cyclists team up to ride the quickest time, usually with each rider racing a third of a kilometer, dropping off the final rider (who has been sitting in the draft all along) with a short sprint-distance to go. It’s a race that is over in a flash. The same format is used in long track speedskating’s team sprint. All those formats produce a race that’s over in well under a minute.

Cross-country skiing’s Team Sprint is none of those things . . . and it’s never as simple as lining up a team’s best sprinters and letting speed rule the day. Skiing’s Team Sprint has evolved into a race that is not at all what its name implies—true, it’s a “sprint,” but it’s endurance (and each athlete’s ability to recover) that will determine which sprinters actually arrive at the finish line in positions of contention.

Women’s Team Sprint

With each team Sprint competitor completing three top speed 1.2+ kilometer loops (with only a few minutes of recovery between each effort), the Team Sprint is actually an endurance event, so the Americans have a chance. Julia Kern ended 2025 on World Cup and World Championship high notes in both Sprint and Distance events. If her form holds in 2026, she should be able to hold her own in the Team Sprint field, handing off to Jessie Diggins for a closely contested anchor leg. But the Americans (and everyone else) will need to find a way to deal with Jonna Sundling (SWE) who has evolved into not only the dominant sprinter in the world (reigning World and Olympic champion), but also one of the most capable racers in middle distances. No other sprinter has her speed, and she’ll be nearly impossible to drop. The only weakness in Sundling’s profile is that she typically insists on racing from the front. If Sundling exhausts herself in trying to drop Diggins, then the finish line could be reminiscent of 2018’s Diggins/Randall victory in Pyeongchang.

Norway has regularly been a contender in this event in the past, but they really don’t have a sprinter who can successfully contend with Sundling—not after three exhausting legs of the Team Sprint, anyway. Finland’s team selection will be difficult since their top sprinter—Jasmi Joensu—could be fast in the finish, but is also entirely vulnerable during the earlier legs where endurance will be at a premium. Switzerland has a fast finisher—Nadine Faehndrich—who also has shown great abilities in distance events. And Germany is always capable of beating the odds in relay events. With a finisher like Victoria Carl, they could definitely be a factor.

Men’s team Sprint

If Team Sprinting were like a playground basketball game, then Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) would be the first one picked. You want Klaebo on your Team Sprint roster . . . then all you need to do is hold position for the first five legs of the event, and turn Klaebo loose in the anchor leg. If Klaebo’s position is level with anyone else, he almost certainly wins. If Klaebo is given a lead, then he can ease up, grab a Norwegian flag, and coast across the line. Klaebo’s fine form in 2025 even suggests that Klaebo could trail by a bit entering the anchor leg, and still chase anyone down for the win (especially since the anchor leg is almost always another sprinter, not a distance skier). The odds favor Norway. The only question is who will share that gold medal with Klaebo? Maybe Erik Valnes, who has been such a reliable partner for Klaebo in the past? He’ll be pretty well rested, since the Norwegian team is likely to save him for this event (rather than exhausting him in distance races). Maybe Harald Oestberg Amundsen? He’s a truly solid sprinter (with plenty of World Cup Sprint podiums on his résumé) who also happens to be perhaps the strongest distance skier in the field. If Klaebo’s partner’s job is as simple as “dont’ get dropped,” then pairing with Amundsen could be the obvious solution.

The only real challenge to Klaebo’s coronation might come from Russia, and a team that could include Alexander Bolshunov skiing the anchor leg. Bolshunov is unafraid of Klaebo, and might be one of the few sprinters in the field who is also capable of dropping Klaebo on the more challenging sections of the Sprint course. If he gets a gap on the final leg, then Bolshunov might be able to hold on across the finish line. But Bolshunov and his Russian teammates need to be allowed into the Games, first . . .