The Stifel Lake Placid Finals are finally here, with three races on the calendar to wrap up the 2025-26 FIS World Cup season. This weekend also marks the final races of the most decorated American cross country skier of all time, Jessie Diggins, who officially announced her retirement at the beginning of the season in Ruka, Finland. 

More U.S. racers on the start list in the races, due to the Stifel Lake Placid Finals being at home. The USA is offering Nations Spots, meaning six more start opportunities are offered. Each night before the race, the starters will be announced at the conclusion of the Team Captains Meeting. 

Outside of racing, the organizing committee, ORDA and Mt Vanhovenberg offer several activities over the three days of the event, creating a festival-like atmosphere that features Olympic and Paralympic legends, kids' events, vendor activations, athlete signings and more. Find the schedule HERE. 

Jessie Diggins' film, Threshold, has its theatrical debut each night at 7:30 p.m. ET at the Palace Theatre in downtown Lake Placid. Tickets can be found at the box office, cash only. 

HOW TO WATCH STIFEL LAKE PLACID FINALS

All races will be LIVE with commentary on Outside TV via YouTube for FREE. NBC/Peacock will also stream the races at various times, including live coverage of the skate sprint heats on Saturday, March 21. 

(all times ET)

FRIDAY, MARCH 20
1:00 p.m. - men's 10k - LIVE on Outside TV (free)
3:00 p.m. - women's 10k - LIVE on Outside TV (free) 

SATURDAY, MARCH 21
10:30 a.m. - sprint qualifiers - LIVE on Outside TV (free)
1:00 p.m. - sprint heats - LIVE on Outside TV & NBC, Peacock 
3:00 p.m. - women & men's 10k - TAPE DELAY on CNBC, Peacock

SUNDAY, MARCH 22
12:30 p.m. - men's 20k skate mass start - LIVE on Outside TV (free)
2:30 p.m. - women's 20k skate mass start - LIVE on Outside TV (free)

SUNDAY, MARCH 29
1:00 p.m. - women's 20 skate mass start - TAPE DELAY on NBC, Peacock

STARTERS 
*subject to change

March 20, 2026 // 10k Classic

WOMEN
Emma Albrecht
Renae Anderson
Rosie Brennan
Katey Houser
Kendall Kramer
Novie McCabe
Emma Reeder
Sammy Smith
Hailey Swirbul
Alayna Sonnesyn
Ava Thurston

MEN
Brian Bushey
Benjamin Dohlby
Michael Earnhart
Reid Goble
John Steel Hagenbuch
Luke Jager
Zach Jayne
Zanden McMullen
Ben Ogden
JC Schoonmaker
Gus Schumacher
Hunter Wonders

March 21, 2026 // skate sprint 
WOMEN
Emma Albrecht
Renaie Anderson
Erin Bianco
Rosie Brennan
Jessie Diggins
Lauren Jortberg
Julia Kern
Nina Schamberger
Samantha Smith
Alayna Sonnesyn
Hailey Swirbul
Ava Thurston

MEN
Kevin Bolger
Zach Jayne
Zak Ketterson
Murphy Kimball
Will Koch
Zanden McMullen
Ben Ogden
JC Schoonmake
Gus Schumacher
John Schwinghamer 
Jack Young
Owen Young

March 22, 2026 // 20k skate, mass start 
TBD - start list will be released the evening before the race

In one of the most weather-y races of the season, the athletes took on the iconic 50k mass start at Holmenkollen under extremely difficult conditions. Heavy fog blanketed the iconic cross country and ski jumping venue throughout the day, making visibility limited to just a few feet at times. "I couldn't see 10 meters in front of me," said Zak Ketterson, post-race. The thick fog, paired with rain and soft, melting snow, posed a challenge for athletes and created a surreal scene for fans both on course and watching the broadcast, as skiers frequently disappeared. Diggins crossed the line in sixth place; Ketterson was 18th. 

Despite the demanding conditions, Jessie Diggins delivered another strong performance, finishing sixth in what marked her final European World Cup race of the season, and final 50k of her career. Diggins remained competitive throughout the eight-lap course. Through the laps, Diggins remained in the hunt, behind Sweden's Frida Karlsson. Karlsson, who missed the 50k at the Olympic Winter Games due to sickness, showed up to the Holmenkollen with one thing on her mind: first place. 

The 50k also introduced a unique format change on the World Cup circuit. For the first time, the men started 45 minutes before the women, meaning both fields were on course simultaneously. At times throughout the race, men and women skied side-by-side on the Holmenkollen trails—an unusual and historic moment in World Cup racing. 

Across the finish line, Diggins was in sixth place; however, first in an even bigger race: the distance World Cup standings. With Saturday’s results, Diggins has officially secured the distance Crystal Globe, her third season in a row, finishing the season with an insurmountable lead of 255 points, beyond the 230 points needed to clinch the Globe. She now sits just points away from clinching the overall Crystal Globe, which would also mark the third consecutive year she has won both the overall and distance titles —and the fourth overall title of her career. Diggins remains the only non-European athlete to ever win the overall World Cup title.

While the trophies will not be formally presented until next weekend, Diggins’ dominance across the season has effectively sealed the distance title ahead of the Stifel Lake Placid World Cup Finals in Lake Placid, where the Crystal Globes will be awarded following the sprint and 20k mass start race on Sunday, March 22.

"We basically wrapped up two Crystal Globes today," said Diggins, post-race. "I still have to race in Lake Placid... not counting my chickens too early, but, it is so cool and meaningful to have done this with the team, and I all I really want to say is a huge thank you to the team... This is really important to me because I feel like it represents years and years of hard work and so much dedication. It makes me really proud to be a part of a caring and loving team that works so hard and is willing to spend so much time on the road to make these big crazy dreams and big goals possible. 

To have worn the yellow bib for the last three years of my career, pretty much straight, is an insane dream come true. I mean, 10 years ago, I would have no believed that that would even be possible. So, it's really humbling to live out my childhood dreams and I am sure there are going to be a lot of tears and emotion going into Lake Placid!" 

On the men’s side, Zak Ketterson delivered a strong 50k, finishing 18th overall in the demanding conditions. Like the women’s race, the men battled through steady rain, dense fog and deteriorating snow conditions over the full 50 kilometers.

With the European World Cup calendar now complete, the circuit heads home for the final races of the year in Lake Placid, where Diggins will look to officially secure the overall Crystal Globe and close out her storied career in front of the community that got her there. 

The podiums of the day were a Norwegian sweep for the men and a Swedish sweep for the women. Einar Hedegart took first in the men's race, followed by Harald Oestberg Amundsen in second and Martin Loewstroem Nyenget in third. Karlsson took the victory for the women, with Linn Svahn in second and Jonna Sundling in third. USA's results were led by Diggins in sixth, Ketterson 18th, Kendall Kramer 41st, Hunter Wonders 45th, Kevin Bolger 48th and Brian Bushey 59th. 

RESULTS
Women
Men

In front of packed grandstands and crowds lining the course in Lahti, three American athletes landed in the top-15, with Jessie Diggins powering to a third-place result, Rosie Brennan back in a familiar place in 12th, and Gus Schumacher in 15th. This is the final race of the Lahti World Cup and now the field will head to Norway for a city sprint in Drammen and the infamous 50k Holmenkollen in Oslo. 

In a race that requires your classic skiing to be dialed, with the long climbs and technical descents. For the women's race, it was all gas, no brakes. From the gun, with an athlete taking off every 15 seconds, the Swedish women were setting the pace. But, Diggins was not far behind. Throughout the time checks, Swedish gold medalists Frida Karlsson and Linn Svahn battled throughout the course, each setting the tone. At the first time-check, marked at the 1.1k, Diggins was 7.3 seconds behind Svahn, then at 3.4, only 6.4 seconds off. At 6.1k, only 3.1 seconds off and then at the final time check, at 8.4k, was sitting in third place. Obviously, this shows that Diggins found speed in the latter stages of the race, gaining crucial seconds on the descents—something she is well known for—to push onto the podium. For Brennan, the sentiment was similar. This season, Brennan's goal was to find herself again after battling an illness that has made it difficult for the three-time Olympian to regain her speed. Yet, she never gives up and today was a testament to that. 

"This has been a game of time all along, and of course, there have been many moments in which I've wondered (and continue to do so) if I will ever feel normal again in my life, and that is a very difficult place to be, but I have worked extremely hard on my mind and body to try to show up again-and-again with a sliver of hope that someday my body will return," said Brennan, post-race. "The last three days are the most normal I have felt in racing since December 2024. 

Lahti is a course that requires good technical skiing, so I felt that if I relaxed and put together good classic technique, I'd be giving myself the best chance. I had good skis, so it was easy to relax out there today. I do believe in my classic skiing, so I feel I executed that well. I don't think this is a linear process, so I'm sure I still have some ups-and-downs in this process, but I do finally feel and deeply hope that I've moved into a healing phase."

For Diggins's podium, the result marks Diggins’s 90th career FIS Cross Country World Cup podium in a record-setting 379 starts, and her first 10k classic interval start World Cup race (outside of the Tour de Ski stage races) and continues an exceptionally consistent season. She has finished no worse than 10th in every classic race this winter and has a top-10 result in every classic start of the season. Diggins also maintains her lead in the overall World Cup standings as the season enters its final stretch, in both the overall standings and distance standings. 

"That was really cool and really special," said Diggins, speaking to the atmosphere in Lahti. "There were so many people out on the course with signs that said, 'thank you, Jessie,' and it was just really emotional in the best way. It was really touching and cool to see little kids wearing glitter after the race and just honestly a really fun way to go out." 

"I really enjoyed just going really hard one more time on this course. I feel like the Lahti course is one that honestly has not suited my strengths in classic, so it was really cool to feel like I was able to pull it together more today and I feel like I had great skis, which is a huge part of the equation, espeically when the conditions get slushy. So I feel like this podium belongs to the team, and I am grateful to them for all their hard work!"

On the men’s side, Gus Schumacher skied a controlled race to finish 15th. Schumacher currently sits sixth in the overall World Cup standings, in line with his personal goal of finishing the season inside the top 10.

The women's race was ultimately won by Karlsson of Sweden, with her teammate Svahn in second. For the U.S. women, Kendall Kramer, who skied to her career-best result just last week in the 20k skiathlon, was 41st, Novie McCabe 43rd, Julia Kern 45th, Lauren Jortberg 57th and Emma Albrecht 58th. For the men, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway continued his win streak of 12 in-a-row, taking first. His teammate, Martin Loewstroem Nyenget, was second and Savelii Korostelev was third. The U.S. men were led by Schumacher, with Zanden McMullen in 32nd, just .05 off the top-30, Ben Ogden 33rd, Hunter Wonders 46th and JC Schoonmaker 53rd. 

The World Cup now moves to Norway for a sprint and 50k before the final three races of the season in Lake Placid for the Stifel Lake Placid Finals at Mt Van Hovenberg in Lake Placid, NY. 

Results 
Women
Men

In the final race Jessie Diggins will ever race in Falun, she delivered. In an all-out sprint to the finish, with three women vying for the top spot, Diggins crossed the line .01 behind Norway's Heidi Weng to claim second place and her 88th career World Cup podium. Kendall Kramer also had a stand-out day, crossing the line in ninth place, a career-best result for the young Alaskan and Gus Schumacher continued his strong streak of results in seventh, respectively. 

It was a team-effort type of day - from the wax technicians to the support staff, and all who wear the Stifel U.S. Ski Team badge on their jackets. A skiathlon, which features both skate and classic skiing in one race, mixed with variable snow and weather conditions, was one of those challenging days that keep wax technicians up at night. But the team put together strong skis for the field, with techs making upwards of 20 pairs per athlete to find the perfect ski. At the end of the day, their work paid off, with a podium finish for Diggins, Schumacher in seventh and Kramer in ninth. 

For the women, it was a true race from the start line to the finish line. The lead pack never ventured too far ahead of the chase, and there was a new leader nearly every kilometer. Sweden's Frida Karlsson was back in the mix after recovering from the Olympic-sickness and Heidi Weng was on a mission to take home her first World Cup win since 2022. Then there was Diggins. In the first 10k of the race, Diggins raced conservatively, sitting behind the leaders and drafting on the long downhills and hammering over the top of the massive climbs that the Falun course is known for. With a clean transition to skate, there was 10k to decide who would take home the victory. In that time, Kramer made a decisive move and managed to ski up to the pack that had the leaders in sight, showing that she deserved to be there. For her, a career-best result was in sight, and she wasn't going to let it go. 

"It was so enjoyable to feel I was skiing to my potential," said Kramer. "Even the top 20 felt like a ceiling for me this year, and today surprised me. I was sticking with girls I thought I’d never be around in my ski career. Everything just went right in a way you can never predict in ski racing because you prepare to do your best every single day, but the stars aligned today. A lot of confidence was gained today and I’ll be chasing the feeling of feeling this good during a race for a while!"

The pace quickened with 5k to go with Weng turning on the jets. Diggins, Weng and Karlsson gapped themselves from the field and it was just a matter of which of the three would win. With 1k left in the race, Weng was right behind Karlsson, and Diggins was behind Weng. 

"For me, I was just trying to ski a gutsy race and ski smart," said Diggins. "I kept telling myself, 'just try and be there' at the finish, and then you can dig deep and see what's at the bottom of the tank. I pushed myself really hard and was psyched that the energy and the fitness are still there."

Into the final downhill section and the final right-hand turn into the home straight, the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic team sprint moment was coming back to life, with "Here Comes Diggins" happening right before everyone's eyes. Weng and Diggins managed to surpass Karlsson and across the line, Weng lunged to just beat Diggins by .01 seconds. It was Weng's first World Cup victory since 2022 and her 144th of her career. 

"That was a really cool last race here in Falun," said Diggins. "My first thing to say is a huge thank you to our technicians. I don't know if you could tell from the broadcast, but the weather was crazy for the classic half of the race. I am so grateful to have competitive skis; they make such a big difference. And it was truly a team effort out there."

Schumacher's seventh-place finish is a testament to his strong form this late in the season. Kevin Bolger, racing in his "second home," was behind Schumacher in 36th, Hunter Wonders was 47th, JC Schoonmaker 58th and Zanden McMullen 61st. For the USA women, Hailey Swirbul was just outside of the top 30 in 33rd, Rosie Brennan 35th, Novie McCabe 42nd and Emma Albrecht 44th. 

The men's podium was a Norwegian sweep, with Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo first in both races in Falun, Harald Oestberg Amundsen second and Martin Loewstroem Nyenget third. Weng was first for the women, Diggins second and Karlsson third. 

Results
Women
Men

One week removed from the closing ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games in Milano Cortina 2026, the World Cup circuit roared back to life in Falun, Sweden, the future host of the 2027 World Championships. With a skate sprint and skiathlon on the program, the Olympic field quickly traded Olympic medals for World Cup race bibs, reacquainting themselves with familiarity.

Five Americans advanced through qualification in the skate sprint: Gus Schumacher, Kevin Bolger, Jack Young, Jessie Diggins and Sammy Smith. For Diggins, the day carried historic significance. The four-time Olympic medalist made her 357th World Cup start, the most in FIS World Cup history. Her first came in 2011 in Drammen, Norway, a race won by her then-teammate Kikkan Randall, marking the beginning of a career that continues to rewrite the history books.

Fresh off his Olympic silver medal in the team sprint, Schumacher carried his momentum through the qualifications to the quarterfinals with strong skiing. Diggins, Bolger, Smith and Young did not advance past the quarterfinal round. 

Schumacher lined up in the first semifinal heat, continuing a breakthrough season that now sees him ranked inside the top 10 overall on the World Cup standings. On the women’s side, Diggins maintains her grip on the overall World Cup lead, holding the yellow bib ahead of Sweden’s Moa Ilar as the season enters its final stretch.

At the top of the men’s podium once again was Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo. The Norwegian superstar, who swept all six gold medals at the Milano Cortina Games to become the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time, returned to the World Cup circuit as if no time had passed, claiming victory in Falun and reinforcing his dominance in a season for the history books. Lars Heggen of Norway was second and Benjamin Moser from Austria was third. For the women, Olympic gold medalist from Sweden Linn Svahn was first, Norway's Kristine Stavaas Skistad was second and Switzerland's Nadine Faehndrich third. 

USA's Schumacher was 11th, Young 12th and Bolger 29th. For the women, Diggins was 17th, Smith 23rd.

RESULTS
Women
Men