Young, Ogden Score Top Five Results in Davos Sprint
Ben Ogden marked his 100th World Cup start with his best result of the season, finishing fifth in Friday’s skate sprint in Davos, while Jack Young delivered a breakthrough performance with a career-best fourth place in his first-ever World Cup sprint final.
It was another sunny day in the Swiss Alps, where the third World Cup of the season landed in Davos, Switzerland. With three races for the weekend, today was the second, and the first skate sprint of the 2025-26 season. Six Americans advanced through to the sprint heats, including Ogden, Young and JC Schoonmaker on the men’s side, along with Jessie Diggins, Julia Kern and Alayna Sonnesyn for the women.
The day started out with fast results in the quarterfinals, with Ogden crossing the line in second in a blistering 2:20.70 seconds. Young finished sixth. Based on those results, everyone knew it was going to be a big day. Fast forward to the final lunge across the finish, it was two U.S. men in the top five... and not only two top-five results, but a career best by Young and a season's best by Ogden.
Young, the Vermont native, quietly emerged onto the international scene after an unconventional path to elite cross country skiing. A former football quarterback and baseball outfielder, Young chose to focus on skiing in high school before competing collegiately at Colby College, where he became the program’s first athlete to earn a spot on the Stifel U.S. Ski Team.
Now a regular World Cup starter, Young showed that he belongs here.
In the quarterfinals, Ogden controlled his heat, taking the win, with Young close behind in second, moving both athletes into the semifinals. A notable moment came in the men’s heats when Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo failed to move on after a near-fall in the final corner — an uncharacteristic exit for the multiple-time Olympic and world champion.
Then, it was onto the semis. Ogden and Young lined up together again and both advanced through.
In the final heat, Ogden and Young, who stayed composed, positioned themselves patiently before launching a late surge down the finishing straight. Young edged past Ogden in the final meters to a fourth-place finish. Ogden followed closely in fifth, capping a memorable day for the Stifel U.S. Ski Team. The race was ultimately won by France's Lucas Chanavat, who surprised everyone by missing most of fall training due to injury. Second place was won by Italy's Federico Pellegrino and third was Norway's Oskar Opstad Vike. For the Americans in the heat, Schoonmaker, who had an unfortunate crash that took him out of contention in the heats, was 27th.
"This result means so so much," said Young. "It really feels like proof that I can make it to the top on this sport. If I told myself just 3 years ago that I would have a 4th place on the World Cup I would have thought I was insane. I still don’t think today has really set in."
For the women, though Diggins, Kern and Sonnesyn did not advance out of the quarterfinals, it was a step in the right direction and a good race to get the legs heated up for tomorrow's 10k skate.
"I’m proud of making a detailed race plan and starting faster in the qualifier today!" said Kern. "I felt much more like myself out there today, and played the tactical game, with some good moves, and unfortunate outcomes with an obstruction by another athlete. I’m excited to take this fresher energy into tomorrow, and the endurance base I feel to build on my momentum in a distance race and see what happens tomorrow."
The women's podium was topped by Sweden's Jonna Sundling, with Norway's Mathilde Myhrvold in second and Nadine Faehndrich third in front of her home crowd. Diggins was 15th, Julia Kern 16th, and Sonnesyn 27th.
