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For Olympians, a medal changes your life ‘overnight.’ Here’s how it changed Ben Ogden’s.

PREDAZZO, ITALY — Ben Ogden, the U.S. cross-country skier, was ready to celebrate his historic Olympic silver Tuesday with his signature backflip off the podium. But there was a problem: He had to pee. After Ogden won the first men’s medal in cross-country skiing in a half-century, doping testers needed a urine sample. So, he did the obvious thing and “drank, like, three bottles of water, immediately,” he said. The need to relieve himself, he...

The new Diggins documentary is a crucible of elite sport and mental health

Two years ago, U.S. cross-country skiing star Jessie Diggins was battling a relapse of an eating disorder — an episode that she publicly acknowledged at the time. What she didn’t share until now, though, was how close it came to derailing a year in which she won cross-country skiing’s season title and celebrated the return of the top-level World Cup circuit to the U.S., in her home city of Minneapolis. In the middle of that winter,...

In Italy, four years after the COVID Games, Olympic teams are still isolating

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. PREDAZZO, ITALY — The Olympics have traditionally been known as a kind of sports melting pot, where competitors from different backgrounds and countries could share meals and trade pins at tight-knight athletes’ villages. For winter sports, though, those social traditions ground to a halt at the COVID Olympics in China in...

Far West Tour de Royale

Far West is happy to announce that the Far West Tour de Royale will take place on Sunday, January 18, 2026 at Royal Gorge. Last year, Royal Gorge stepped in as the venue for the 2025 Tahoe Rim Tour — and what a fantastic course they created! We decided to run it back and hold our fundraiser race here again this year — thank you, Royal Gorge! Racers start at the West Hut in Van...

5th ANNUAL Sovereign 2 SilverStar Ski Marathon (S2S):  Make it YOUR ‘Olympic’ Event

  APRIL 4 & 5, 2026 Canadian Olympic Trial Venue! Next price increase February 23, 2026 Accommodation deals Group savings REGISTER NOW! You qualify! In this Olympic year, what a great chance for skiers of all ages and abilities to plan their ‘Olympic event’. Make the S2S yours! Host of the Canadian Olympic trials in December 2025. Rub shoulders (likely best when not skiing!) with Canadian World Cup and Olympic team members and some top...

Ydalir Endurance Systems – Team YES

  Ydalir Endurance Systems – Team YES Pro and Gap Programs | 2026–2027 Ydalir Endurance Systems teams are built for one purpose: helping aspiring athletes discover their potential. We exist to help athletes maximize their training and focus, improve daily habits, and use athletics as a tool to develop the life they want to lead. For the 2026–2027 season, Ydalir Endurance Systems is opening its programs to 10 driven athletes. We have space for Gap...

Lumi Experiences Announces 2025/26 Headgear Sponsorship with Olympian Julia Kern

Lumi Experiences, the world’s premier provider of boutique cross-country ski vacations, is proud to announce an expanded partnership with US Cross Country Ski Team star, Julia Kern, designating Lumi Experiences as her official headgear sponsor for the 2025/2026 FIS Cross Country Season. This commitment helps support Julia as she prepares for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games in February. What is a “headgear sponsor?” The International Ski Federation (FIS) requires World Cup athletes to race...

Shoulda Seen This Coming . . . Russian Skiers Return to World Cup and Olympics

  It sounds like things just took a turn . . . and everyone really shoulda seen this coming. Articles published today (Dec 2) in both the New York Times and Langrenn reported that the Court of Arbitration for Sport had upheld the appeal submitted by Russian Ski Association (RSF) and select Russian athletes. What does that mean? Well, after a complex and convoluted set of explanations, it means that FIS cannot place a wholesale ban on...

5th ANNUAL Sovereign 2 SilverStar Ski Marathon (S2S):  Early season savings for your late season finale

Best pricing until midnight November 23, 2025 Accommodation deals Group savings Enjoy one of Canada’s most popular and scenic point-to-point ski marathon, with some night sprints too! Ski Marathon Two days: April 4 & 5, 2026 Two distances: 21km & 41km Two ski techniques: Classic (day 1), Skate (day 2); Wave starts Two world class venues: SilverStar Mountain Resort and Sovereign Lake Nordic Club, Vernon, British Columbia Rates steady for 5 years! With thanks to our...

So, You’re Telling Me There’s A Chance?—Russia, FIS, and the Court of Arbitration

  A recently published Langrenn story reported on the possibility that FIS may be forced to reconsider its recent ruling an Russian and Belarusian eligibility for participating in Period 1 of the 2025-2026 World Cup season. According to those reports, Russian athletes and para athletes—and the Russian Ski Federation—filed a law suit with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) seeking to overturn the recent FIS decision to bar Russian and Belarusian athletes from events...

Training Philosophy—a Holistic View

What follows is a simplified training philosophy that works, if you apply it consistently. I’m focusing on the core elements of endurance sports: aerobic endurance and capacity (VO₂max), strength, speed, and appropriate training volume. These are the levers that matter. Coaches love to talk about nuance and the next latest and greatest shinny object: not going too hard during distance days, going hard enough during high-intensity sessions, finding the right dose of speed and strength,...

From Grassroots to the Summit: The Mt. Greylock Hill Climb Marks a Storied Ascent

LANESBORO, MA — On a crisp Sunday morning, nearly a hundred rollerskiers lined up at the base of Massachusetts’ highest peak, ready to test themselves against one of New England’s classic ascents. The Mount Greylock Hill Climb has always been more than a race—it’s a rite of passage, a season-ender that blends community, endurance, and a dash of history stretching back four decades. A Long Tradition on a Steep Road The Mt. Greylock Hill Climb...

FIS Schedule, 2025-2026

Between World Cups, the Tour de Ski, and the Olympic Winter Games, there will be 72 elite cross-country ski races contested this winter on the international scene. FasterSkier remains committed to covering each and every international race—we’ll get up early to prepare race reports based on live results, and publish them here in our online forum. And when we have all the information on streaming, viewing, and network broadcast coverage, we’ll pass that along, too....

Lack of Accountability in Youth Sports Abuse

This is a follow up to the reporting of an abuse case that occurred in March of 2025 within a major Colorado club. An initial report was posted on Faster Skier earlier this summer. This subsequent article is an attempt to keep all such issues front and center so that athletes and coaches will feel safe, so that families will feel faithfully represented, and so that governing bodies will stand behind their responsibility to protect...

Corners and Confidence: Kate Oldham’s Steady Rise to the U.S. Ski Team

At the World Championships last winter, a slushy, rutted corner near the finish line became a proving ground for precision and poise. The turn was taking down skiers all week — an icy edge here, a soft patch there — the kind of technical trap that can shake even the most seasoned racers. On the U.S. team’s final course preview, Jessie Diggins, Julia Kern, Rosie Brennan, and newcomer Kate Oldham took turns testing different lines....

Why “Training Volume Is the Biggest Predictor of Success” — and Why That’s Only Half True

We read it again and again in studies, articles, and coaching posts: “Training volume is the best predictor of performance.” It’s one of the most consistent findings in exercise science, appearing across endurance sports for decades, and in national training systems. But the statement is often repeated without understanding what it really means, or more importantly what it doesn’t. One reason this line gets repeated so often is that “train more” is an easy message...

FIS Ruling: Russia is Out

It’s a funny time we live in . . . one in which many of us struggle with harboring multiple opinions on particular topics (especially political ones). That’s me when it comes to whether or not Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed to enter the Olympic Games . . . multiple opinions make sense, and no easy or straightforward decisions seem likely. One thing’s for sure: when it comes to those decisions, someone’s going...

From Olympian to Coach to Mentor: Patrick Weaver, the Quiet Architect of UVM’s Ski Culture

The first time you meet Patrick Weaver, you might not realize you’re talking to one of the most quietly influential coaches in American skiing. There’s no bravado, no self-promotion. Just an easy Vermont calm — a man who measures his words the same way his athletes measure their training: carefully, purposefully, with feel. On a fall morning, the UVM Nordic team threads through the mist at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, the quiet hum of rollerskis...

Cross Country Skiing Participation: What Does the Data Suggest?

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.   I’ve been curious for a long time about participation trends in cross-country skiing and what direction the data might point. Ideally, I’d like to see longitudinal data over 10-20 years, but that kind of dataset doesn’t appear to be publicly available. Still, there are several...

Language Matters: The FIS Statement on “Athlete Safety”

Annie McColgan is an independent writer contributing to FasterSkier. The opinions in this Op Ed are her own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of FasterSkier and its staff. By: Annie McColgan On September 24, 2025 the FIS released a statement titled, “FIS Council Reinforces Commitment to Athlete Safety,” in which three announcements were made. First, the FIS wrote about the importance of establishing clear and consistent safety guidelines, further homologation of training slopes,...