In a historic day for Team USA, two best friends who have grown up together, raced together and dreamed together did what everybody knew was possible — win an Olympic team medal. 

Ben Ogden and Gus Schumacher of Team USA skied a historic team sprint on Wednesday to earn a first ever men's Olympic team sprint medal for the United States, delivering a composed, high-powered performance when it mattered most. 

It was Ogden's second Olympic medal of the Games, having won silver in the classic sprint.

Team Norway won the gold medal with a time of 18 minutes and 28.98 seconds, with Norwegian powerhouse Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo winning his fifth gold medal of these games. Team USA took the silver with a quick time of 18 minutes and 30.35 seconds and the Italians came in third place to secure a bronze medal with a time of 18 minutes and 32.29 seconds. 

"It's insanely fun to do this with your best friend," said Ogden. "Back in the days, we'd go back and forth with winning and it's so incredible to do it with a teammate and today's memories are some I'll never forget." 

The historic silver medal by Team USA was one earned not only by quick skiing but impressive tactical teamwork put together by Ogden and Schumacher. On a course that offers no rest, it took absolutely everything to reach the podium. Everything is what Ogden and Schumacher gave.

"I think this era of U.S. skiing started a while ago," Schumacher said. "But it's cool to prove it to everyone at the Olympics that we're in the era." 

Team USA's Jessie Diggins and Julia Kern earned a fifth place finish in the women's team sprint free on Wednesday at the Olympics. This was Diggins’ final Olympic team sprint.  

Team Sweden won gold, Switzerland was silver and Germany bronze.

RESULTS
Women's Olympic team sprint free
Men's Olympic team sprint free

The U.S. men did it again, this time, in the 4x7.5k relay. Gus Schumacher, Ben Ogden, Zak Ketterson and John Steel Hagenbuch put together the best Olympic performance in the team relay since the Salt Lake Olympic Winter Games in 2002. In 2002, these men were toddlers. Today, they're racing on the World's stage and making history in the process. 

On the ninth day of the Olympic Winter Games, the men's 4x7.5k lit up the atmosphere at the Tesero cross country stadium in Val di Fiemme, Italy. 10 teams were on the start list today, with four men representing each relay team. 

Olympic silver medalist Ogden led the team in the first leg. Off the line, he was in the lead. In his typical fashion, it was all gas and very little brakes. Trading the lead with Norway, Ogden was comfortably in front and handily controlled the pace throughout the up and down of the classic course. 

"It was awesome," said Ogden, of his race. "I love being the scramble leg of a relay. It's a really fun position to be in, and it's not every day that I get to choose when the pace increases, but today, I got to be that guy, and it was pretty sick!"

Through the two laps of the scramble leg, Ogden came into the lap lane to tag off to teammate Schumacher. With a clean tag, Ogden and Schumacher were keeping the dream alive, sitting in the top. Schumacher skied the majority of his leg near the lead, but Norway began to kick it into their fifth gear. From there, the pack began to string out. Tagging off to the USA's third leg, Hagenbuch, the team sat in fifth, only 15 seconds out from Norway's Martin Lowestrom Nyenget. 

"You had to work for this one," said Schumacher. "Here at the Olympics, you want to do well. Today's race was a more representative result of how I've been feeling. After the handoff from Ben in first place, I knew I had an entire race to ski, so that was on my mind. But it's good to have momentum!" 

Onto the third leg, Hagenbuch, who skied to a 14th place just days ago in the 10k skate, kept contact with the group up the hill, but then lost many on the descent. Working his way through the two laps, he tagged off his teammate Ketterson for the anchor leg. 

"I was where I wanted to be at the top of the climb," said Hagenbuch. "Then I wasn't at the bottom of the climb. And you know, you could be really upset about that in the moment but I was just trying to ski the way I could, and I tried my best!"

Ketterson knew what he had to do in the final leg, and he did it. Across the line, the USA was sixth. Bringing home the best result for the USA men in a team relay since 2002 in Salt Lake City. Norway won the relay, with Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo becoming the most decorated cross country in history, setting a new record for most gold medals won at a Winter Olympics, overtaking Bjorn Daehlier's previous record of eight Olympic gold medals. This is Klaebo's fourth Olympic gold medal in a row. France took home the silver medal and Italy brought home the bronze medal in front of the home crowd. 

"It's an honor to be able to join this relay team," said Ketterson, post-race. "To get handed the task of being the anchor leg at the Olympics, I mean, I think every kid dreams of that chance. I am really proud of the guys for the leg they skied." 

RESULTS
Men

In a team relay marked by upsets, broken skis, crashes, celebration and heartbreak, the four women representing Team USA in the 4x7.5k relay crossed the finish line in fifth place, tying the best Olympic relay finish in program history. The 2026 relay team consisted of Jessie Diggins, Rosie Brennan, Julia Kern and Novie McCabe.

It was a wet day at the Tesero cross-country venue, with weather conditions far from ideal for skiing. Rain, warm temperatures and cloud cover left the course in rough shape, yet the race went on.

"It was surfing snow," said Kern after the race. "You just gotta ride the slush."

But these conditions are something the athletes are used to. "The whole last month has been like this, including last year at Trondheim World Champs. We are unfortunately seeing more and more of these conditions, but also, snow can be different each day. We all stayed calm and collected, and I think that was the key to navigating it well."

Kern led off for the U.S., skiing the classic leg. Knowing the course would break down quickly, the task was simply to stay composed. Over two laps, Kern remained in the lead pack, maintaining contact with the leaders (Sweden at the time) before chaos unfolded.

On the second lap, Kern tagged cleanly to Brennan, but turmoil struck the front of the race. Ebba Andersson of Sweden received a clean tag from teammate Linn Svahn and crashed minutes into her leg. She recovered, but shortly after, on a downhill, her ski caught and she tumbled forward, completing a front flip, breaking the binding clean off. Andersson skied on one ski downhill until receiving a replacement, and although no other teams were involved, Sweden dropped handidly from the lead. At that time, Norway took off and never looked back. 

As often happens in relays, no one gave up. Brennan skied a strong leg and handed off to McCabe in fifth place. McCabe’s first lap was steady on firmer snow, but conditions deteriorated on her second lap. Despite that, she surged, gaining over 40 seconds before tagging Diggins for the anchor leg. 

"Today was tough, but I don't think I had as bad as conditions as Jessie did. I noticed on my second lap around, the corners were way sketchier, so for me, the conditions were pretty decent and I was happy with how I skied it. I gave it my all and I tried my best."

Diggins dug deep, battling for every second and giving the team a chance at the elusive Olympic relay podium.

The U.S. has never won a medal in a team relay at a major championship. Today, they were within reach. Finishing 1:52.2 behind the winners, the U.S. women tied their best Olympic result, finishing fifth. Sweden rebounded to take second, Norway won gold, and Finland finished third. Aside from the results, this was Diggins' fourth Olympic relay team and 12th major-championship relay team. 

"I went out hard and tried to be calm and deliberate and especially careful on the downhills because I knew that a really good crash was the one way to make sure that things aren't possible," said Diggins. "But I was just thinking, 'you never know' and trying to go out really hard and see what I could do. It wasn't quite enough, but at the same time, you just have to go out believing and give the best chance for your team and every single one of these girls went and skied their heart out, so I wanted to go and do the same thing."

McCabe, who made up an incredible 45-seconds on her skate lap, dug deep today. "Today was tough, but I don't think I had as bad as conditions as Jessie did. I noticed on my second lap around, the corners were way sketchier, so for me, the conditions were pretty decent and I was happy with how I skied it. I gave it my all and I tried my best."

"It was wet, sloppy and a little chaotic," said Brennan. "The downhills were scary, deep snow. But today, my focus was on skiing my best 7.5k possible. Ideally, latch onto some people and see what I had in me and I feel like I did an OK job!"

Though just off the podium, the performance featured strong skiing, fast skis and smart tactics. Now, the men get their chance tomorrow.

RESULTS
Women

John Steel Hagenbuch led the American men in the Olympic 10k skate, finishing 14th despite taking a wrong turn out of the start. This was Steel Hagenbuch's first Olympic start. Zanden McMullen, Zak Ketterson and Gus Schumacher also represented Team USA in Italy. 

On the warmest day of the Games yet, athletes lined up for the individual start 10k skate with nothing to lose. One hundred and eleven athletes from around the world were represented and every 15 seconds, a new skier was off to tackle the technical, demanding course that offered little to no rest. First out of the start for the USA was Steel Hagenbuch. Unfortunately, taking a left instead of right led him to lose a few seconds, but he quickly realized his mistake, turned around, and got back on track. From there, he locked in, setting a strong pace and only looking forward. 

"I took a wrong turn, slammed on the brakes, turned around, and got on the right track," said Steel Hagenbuch. "I made a mistake, but I was more just proud of letting it go. I mean, when you mess up like that on the highest stage, you have nothing left to lose. I just sent it, was skiing really fast, so I knew I needed to keep pushing. I am not upset. I tried as hard as I could and pushed myself to the absolute limit. I have so many friends and family here cheering, and it's just a beautiful day... It's hard to be upset on a day like this and be with your team and represent the United States on the highest stage." 

"It was really hard," said McMullen. "This course is... There is just no rest. It's just 'working, working, working' and my goal was to pace it with that in mind, but I still think I went out a little too hot in certain spots."

Through the splits, the top of the field was owned by Norway, with two-time gold medalist (of just these Games) Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo battling it out with teammate Einar Hedegart, Harald Oestberg Amundsen and the Frenchman, Mathis Desloges, who claimed silver just days before in the men's skiathlon. Halfway through, Hedegart was in second place by 5.2 seconds. For the Americans, Ketterson was in 18th, 41 seconds out. 

Fast-forward to the final kilometer, Hagenbuch was still leading for the team, just 57 seconds off the lead. Hedegart was beating Klaebo, looking to dethrone the king from his third straight gold medal, but faded in the last kilometer. As the race wrapped up, it was Klaebo who came out golden, with his first 10k skate victory and his third straight Olympic gold medal. 

Steel Hagenbuch was 14th in his Olympic debut, McMullen 32nd, Ketterson 38th and Schumacher 39th. Desloges of France claimed his second Olympic silver medal and Hedegart was third. 

Tomorrow is the women's 4x7.5k mixed team relay, with two athletes racing classic legs, and two racing skate legs. 

RESULTS
Men's Olympic 10k

Jessie Diggins added another medal to her historic career Thursday, claiming bronze in the women’s 10k skate at the Tesero Cross Country Stadium. The third-place result marked her fourth career Olympic medal and the first Olympic medal ever won by an American in the 10k event.

Team Sweden's Frida Karlsson and Ebba Andersson took the gold and silver medals with Karlsson’s winning time of 22 minutes and 49.2 seconds. Diggins rounded out the podium 49.7 seconds behind with a time of 23 minutes and 38.9 seconds. 

Team USA’s Novie McCabe placed 31st with teammates Kendall Kramer in 38th and Hailey Swirbul finishing in 39th place. 

Diggins's bronze medal is a historic win for Team USA, as she becomes the first American woman to medal in the event. The Bronze secures another piece of hardware for Team USA and helps to build momentum and confidence as the women’s team heads into more events later this week. 

Going back to the race, it was a sunny day in Val di Fiemme. Spectators packed the stadium grandstands and lined the course, filling every available viewing point as more than 100 athletes took to the start line. Racing unfolded on firm, fast conditions, with a course set with salt in advance to keep the surface as firm as possible with the warming temperatures. 

Out of the start gate first was Kramer. This was Kramer's first Olympic start, after being called up just a day earlier as the first alternate. Skiing a composed race, only getting faster as the kilometers went by, she ultimately finished 38th. Next was 2022 Olympians Swirbul and McCabe. Swirbul ultimately finished 39th, and McCabe was just 2 seconds out from the top 30, in 31st. 

"Today I didn’t have the race of my life, we all come to this stage and wish for that, but that wasn’t the case for me," said Swirbul. "But that also isn’t what this is all about and today, I thought about what it means to represent and find the grit as much as you can... that is what the Olympics is about!” 

Diggins paced her 10k race carefully across the rolling Tesero course, staying within striking distance through the early checkpoints before delivering a decisive effort in the latter stages to secure her podium spot. The pace was securely set by Sweden's Karlsson, who secured a gold medal just days ago in the women's skiathlon. At the 3.7 checkpoint, Karlsson was 5.9 seconds ahead and at 4.9k, she gained 23.4 seconds on second place. With those splits, it was clear that Karlsson was in the clear for the gold. But that never stopped Diggins. Her coaches and wax technicians lined the course, providing splits so Diggins knew her position in the pack at all times. Digging deeper than ever, with bruised ribs making it harder for her to keep her normal composure, Diggins never left the top three. With Andersson and Diggins fighting for silver, in the last kilometer, Diggins knew the medal was on the line. Giving everything she could, Diggins crossed the finish line just 4 seconds out from silver, and 49.7 seconds out from gold. Across the line, Diggins gasped for breath. She achieved her mantra of doing everything she needed to do in the moment. 

"Today, I went into the race with a mantra of: "Focus on what I could do right now. Focus on what I could do in the moment," said Diggins. 

With the bronze medal, Diggins now owns four Olympic podium medals. Her first came at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, where she teamed up to win gold in the team sprint with Kikkan Randall, the first cross country Olympic gold medal for the United States. She followed that performance in Beijing in 2022 with silver and bronze medals, and now adds bronze from Milano Cortina to her collection.

Competing in her final season and final Olympic Winter Games, Diggins continues to define the standard for American cross country skiing. Already the most decorated U.S. cross country skier of all time, her performance in Tesero reflects both her longevity and her ability to contend on the sport’s biggest stage across multiple Olympic cycles.

Tomorrow, the men have their chance at the 10k skate, with Gus Schumacher, Zak Ketterson, John Steel Hagenbuch and Zanden McMullen. 

RESULTS
Women

Team USA's Ben Ogden won the Olympic silver medal in the classic sprint at the Tesero Cross Country Skiing Stadium on Tuesday, ending a 50-year-long drought of American men on the Olympic podium. Julia Kern finished sixth, JC Schoonmaker rounded out the top 10 in eighth. 

It was one of those days that many will look back on and say, "this is the day cross country skiing changed in America." On another partly cloudy day in the valley of Val di Fiemme, Italy, eight athletes lined up on the start line for the Olympic classic sprint. Ogden, Gus Schumacher, Zak Ketterson and JC Schoonmaker represented the men, while Jessie Diggins, Kern, Lauren Jortberg and Sammy Smith represented the women. With a challenging course featuring steep, long uphills that required excellent kick and ripping downhills that required tactical skiing and fast glide, it was truly anyone's game. 

Out of the qualification round, it was Ogden setting the tone, crossing the line in the second fastest time behind Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo. Ketterson, Schoonmaker, Diggins, Kern, Jortberg and Smith joined in on the top 30 fun. This was the first Olympic start for Smith and Jortberg, and Jortberg's first time in the classic sprint heats in her professional career. 

Into the quarterfinals, Ogden, Schoonmaker and Kern made their way through. For Kern, her speed was there and so was her luck. Sitting in the lucky loser position is hard for any athlete, but for Kern, being in this position in both the quarterfinals and the semifinals was even trickier; she advanced nonetheless. For Ogden, he played the game. He handily won his quarterfinal heat to punch his ticket to the semis. Schoonmaker also showed his speed, placing second in the fourth quarterfinal heat and advancing to the next round. 

Then, the semis and finals. Ogden punched his way to the finals by placing third in his heat. Schoonmaker was fourth, and despite his day ending there, his eighth-place overall finish shows how far he has come this season. Now, the final. Women were off first. Kern was settled in the back, hammering her way around the course. On the steep uphill, with thousands of fans lining the course, Kern pushed to her max. Across the finish line in sixth. Her career-best Olympic result. 

Then, it was all eyes on Ogden. Off the line, Ogden settled in alongside Klaebo and Oskar Opstad Vike of Norway, and immediately split up the field. With the three men charging up the hill, it was Klaebo vs. Ogden, or as ski fans would say, the "Klaebo Kick" vs the "Benny Shuffle." Into the finishing straight, Ogden was second behind Klaebo. Across the finish, his hands shot straight up into the air; screams from his family members and the athletes and staff flooding the finish line were heard for miles, and Ben Ogden crossed the line to secure the first Olympic medal since Bill Koch in 1976. 

"I have dreamed about being the one to bring home an Olympic medal for the vermont cross country ski community and here we are," said Ogden. "Its unbelievable. I am so proud. I mean, you think about winning a medal so often, but I can confidently say that nothing prepares you for this."

"I hope it gives the future of the sport in the U.S. a big boost. I know that Bill Koch winning his medal gave a big boost to all the young skiers and all the people who dreamed that the U.S. could be champions in cross country skiing. I hope that this will help propel us into the next 50 years."

Norway's Johannes Klaebo took his second gold medal of the 2026 Games, while his countryman Oskar Vike took the bronze. In the women's final, Sweden swept the medals with Linn Svhan taking gold, Jonna Sundlin silver and Maja Dalhqvist winning bronze.

RESULTS
Women's classic sprint
Men's classic sprint 

Gus Schumacher led Team USA in the men’s skiathlon Sunday at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, placing 24th at the Tesero Cross Country Stadium after battling back from an early-race fall.

Schumacher covered the 20k course, which features 10k of classic skiing and 10k of skate skiing, in 48:27.5, finishing 2:16.5 behind Norway’s Johannes Klaebo, who captured gold in 46:11.0. France’s Mathis Desloges earned silver in 46:13.0, while Klaebo’s teammate Martin Nyenget took bronze in 46:13.1. Hunter Wonders was the second American finisher in (49:02.1) in his Olympic debut, alongside teammate Zanden McMullen in 36th (49:26.3), followed by Zak Ketterson in 43rd (50:23.5); both also are first-time Olympians. 

Schumacher’s race was defined early by chaos in the pack. Skiing near the front, he tangled behind Ketterson after a fall that sent both Americans to the back of the field. Ketterson broke a pole while Schumacher quickly recovered and worked his way back into top-30 contention.

“I was dead last after the fall,” said Gus Schumacher. “Unfortunately Zak fell right in front of me and, you know, it was tight coming into that corner and I didn't see what happened to Zak, but into the dropdown, I got one ski around him but the other caught him and spun me around off track. I did what I could, but when the other people at the front are still going as fast, it's hard to catch them. All I could do was ski as smooth as I could for the next 18k. I mean, at that point, it's an individual race for 18k. I feel like I skied well for being back there.”

Schumacher improved on his Olympic skiathlon result from Beijing 2022, where he placed 39th. That year, Scott Patterson — who finished 10th — was the only other American on the start line. With four U.S. men entered in today's event, the lineup reflected growing depth within the U.S. men's cross country program. Despite early starts and tricky maneuvering through the 73-deep field of athletes, each delivered a solid performance in the first race of the Olympics. 

“Today's race was not great, but not horrendous,” said McMullen. “I felt really good in the classic leg and then I don't know what happened in the skate portion. I was cramping up quite a bit, and just didn't have it."

“I fell on that same corner Jessie (Diggins) fell on (yesterday) and I was hopeful that we'd ski it well but coming into it, everyone started snowplowing and freaking out and someone in front of me fell. I fell pretty hard, but I got back up and just burned so many matches catching up to the whole group,” said Ketterson. “I was fighting from there to the finish.”

"It was hard," said Wonders. "It was a hard course with tricky conditions. The skiathlon is difficult because it mixes it up with the muscle groups you use and takes a second to transition, but it was fun! Great Olympic debut."

Team USA will now reset with a rest day before competition resumes Tuesday, Feb. 10, with the men’s and women’s classic sprint.

RESULTS
Men

In the first cross country event of the Olympic Winter Games in Milano Cortina, Jessie Diggins led the U.S. contingent in a hard-fought skiathlon to take eighth place. 

It was warm and slushy at the Tesero Stadium in Val di Fiemme, Italy, creating tricky conditions for the pack. Despite early challenges, including a fall right at the beginning of the race, Diggins rallied in the skate portion of the event to ultimately cross the line in eighth.

“There’s a lot of pieces that need to come into place and I was really really encouraged by the skate half, but the classic half, the things out of my control did not go very well,” said Diggins. “I had a crash on the first lap where my tip just disappeared in the slush, and unfortunately, it was a tough spot where you lose all your momentum."

The skiathlon - an event combining 10k classic with 10k of skate - was won by Sweden’s Frida Karlsson, who powered away from the field to claim gold with a commanding performance. Her teammate Ebba Andersson took silver, while Norway’s Heidi Weng, who made up several places in the skate leg, rounded out the podium with bronze. Diggins' fall on the first 10k led her to fall back in the mass start pack, and as the classic skis turned to skate, Diggins turned on the jets, and skied the top three fastest skate legs of the field. Though it was not enough for the medal podium, Diggins gained significant ground and showed her shape and form for the days to come. 

Julia Kern finished in the top 30, finishing in 24th, as well as Novie McCabe, who showed an impressive skate section to move up to 26th place. Rosie Brennan was 37th after one of the best classic events of her season, where she skied in the top 10 for most of the classic 10k.  

Though the race did not produce a medal, it offered promising signs for the races remaining on the calendar. With additional distance and team competitions to come, American skiers will look to build on this foundation and aim for medals in the days ahead.

“It’s nice to know my body is in a good place,” said Diggins. “I’m really happy about that and it’s nice to get things rolling and get into the rhythm of things.”

RESULTS
Women’s Olympic skiathlon

In the final event of the three-race series, the 20k classic, Jessie Diggins was the top American finisher, bringing home her eighth podium of the 2025-26 season and 88th of her career, with a second-place result. The result wrapped up a successful Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team weekend of racing in Goms, Switzerland with three podiums, including the team sprint podium for Gus Schumacher and Ben Ogden, an individual podium for Schumacher and one for Jessie Diggins.

Nestled into the valley below the Swiss Alps, Goms is home to one of the more challenging World Cup courses on the circuit. Similar to what the athletes will race on in the Olympic Winter Games in Val di Fiemme, the course features steep, long uphills, technical descents and little rest in a mass start format. At 5k into the race, Diggins was comfortably in the lead and setting the pace for the lead pack. 5k later, Diggins continued to sit comfortably in the lead pack, surrounded by Norway and Finland. On the final lap of the course, the pace increased, with Diggins, Norway's Astrid Oeyre Sline and Finland's Johanna Matintalo fighting for position. Into the final straightaway, it was a double pole sprint to the finish. Matintalo crossed the line first, throwing her hands in the air, securing her first-ever World Cup win. Diggins was second, only .9 seconds behind, and Slind was third. 

The podium adds another tally to Diggins' illustrious career. She now heads into the Olympics with 88 World Cup podiums and leads the overall World Cup rankings by 223 points over Sweden's Moa Ilar. Diggins also leads the World Cup distance standings, 127 points ahead of Ilar. 

For the U.S. women, Julia Kern had a strong day, in 16th place. Novie McCabe and Hailey Swirbul, who fought their way from the back of the mass start pack, were both in the top 30, in 22nd and 24th. It was McCabe's season-best World Cup result, after taking the 2024-25 season off. Kendall Kramer was the final American woman in the top 30, in 27th. Rosie Brennan was 40th and Sammy Smith 41st. 

For the men, Zak Ketterson was the leading man, in 18th. Shumacher, coming off a World Cup podium 24 hours earlier, was 22nd. Outside of the top 30, Hunter Wonders was 36th, Zanden McMullen 38th, Zach Jayne 52nd, John Steel Hagenbuch 55th and Luke Jager 59th. 

For Diggins, today was all about skiing hard for her family, friends, staff and teammates. "Today, I tried really hard to bring a little joy to people back home watching the races and to leave it all out there - and do what I can here to fight for every second and honor all the people who have been working really hard to get us good skis," she said.  

Now, the athletes will head to a pre-Olympic camp to rest and reset before the Games, which begin with the women's skiathlon on Feb. 7. 

RESULTS
Women
Men