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