Climate activist and author Bill McKibben joins the show this week to recap some surprising results in Davos, including standout performances from a pair of Vermonters.
We’re hoping to land some interviews before the Tour de Ski kicks off, and we’ll be back with more recaps once racing resumes. Reach us at devon[at]fasterskier.com and nat[at]fasterskier.com.
We’re back to recap three days of racing in Trondheim and for Devon to eat some of his words from last weekend’s podcast.
We’ll have more after the World Cup swings to Switzerland this weekend. Reach us at devon[at]fasterskier.com and nat[at]fasterskier.com, and if you’re interested in supporting the podcast, visit fasterskier.com/support and email matthew[at]fasterskier.com with inquiries about ads or sponsorship.
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The men’s 20-kilometer Skiathlon at Granåsen never felt like an ordinary World Cup. From the moment the athletes stepped into the start pen, there was a tension in the air that didn’t match an early-December race. The stadium filled slowly; the fog sat low; the snow clung wetly to the klister underfoot. Yet the energy was unmistakable. It felt charged, anticipatory, almost uneasy.
You could see it most clearly in the uniforms. Twelve Norwegians stood in the field of 91, and every one of them carried something heavier than usual race nerves. This wasn’t just about points. It wasn’t just about winning. It wasn’t even about bragging rights.
Today, for Norway, was about the Olympics.
Earlier that morning, Austria’s Mika Vermeulen summed it up bluntly when asked what he expected:
“The Norwegians need to go fast to qualify for the Olympics.”
It was the truth that everyone else was dancing around.
On paper, this was a World Cup Skiathlon. On snow, it became something else entirely: an unofficial Olympic sorting ceremony, shaped by weeks of controversy, public criticism, and a federation under scrutiny.
The start of the Men’s 20 k Skiathlon Trondheim (NOR). (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
A Race Run Under a Shadow
The tension surrounding this race didn’t begin in Trondheim. It started with a roster decision — or, in the eyes of many Norwegians, an omission. Emil Iversen, the veteran racer with a World Championship gold and a decade of elite podiums behind him, was left off the opening World Cup weekend in Ruka.
The decision rippled across Norwegian media.
The loudest voice belonged to Johannes Høsflot Klæbo.
In a widely circulated VG article, Klæbo called the decision “dårlig håndverk” — poor workmanship — and argued that if the goal was to send the fastest athletes, Iversen had earned his seat on the plane.
“If you are good enough, you should get to go,” he told VG.
Former national-team director Espen Bjervig fired back in Stavanger Aftenblad, criticizing both Klæbo and Iversen for speaking publicly about selection practices, arguing that it “creates noise and negativity.”
Suddenly, what is typically a quiet, internal Norwegian debate had spilled into full public view. Selection wasn’t just a technical matter — it was a national storyline.
And this Skiathlon, the only one before the Olympics, sat squarely in the center of that storm.
Iivo Niskanen made his way to the front during the classic leg, but ultimately faded to 25th place on the day. (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
The Classic Leg: A Tense, Measured Beginning
When the field set off into the opening 10 k of classic skiing, the pace was high but controlled. Nobody wanted to take on the risk of an early break. The lead shifted lightly — Finland’s Iivo Niskanen testing, Norway’s Martin Loewstroem Nyenget responding — but the main pack stayed dense, the elastic never stretching too far.
What stood out was not who led, but how closely the Norwegians watched one another. Every surge drew an immediate answer. Every gap in the pack was filled. There was a vigilance to their movements: unspoken, but unmistakable.
Behind them, American Gus Schumacher skied with patience, always hovering near the front third, avoiding trouble. Ben Ogden played the elastic back-and-forth of the pack, feeling the surging, slowing, and reshuffling that characterizes Skiathlon racing.
Nothing broke the race open. But everything pointed toward what was coming.
Emil Iversen (#37, white hat), Zanden McMullen (#26 USA), Andrew Musgrave (GBR), Gus Schumacher (#18 USA) and Ben Ogden (#24 USA) navigate the pack during the classic leg. (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
The Transition: When the Real Race Began
At the stadium, skis were neatly arranged in assigned pens; in the grandstand, the crowd pressed forward on their seats, and the atmosphere shifted. The transition from classic to skate is always an inflection point in a Skiathlon. But today’s felt like the release of a held breath.
As athletes stepped out of classic skis and into skate gear, the pace vaulted. The race’s character changed instantly — no longer steady, but sharp. No longer patient, but aggressive.
Within seconds of leaving the exchange zone, the field stretched into a long, thin line—athletes who had looked comfortable in the first half suddenly fought to hold contact. The front swallowed the course in powerful V2 tempo, and what had been a race of restraint transformed into a race of revelation.
From this point on, the Skiathlon resembled more of a Norwegian internal selection trial than a World Cup.
With Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) and Emil Iversen (NOR) at the front, Federico Pellegrino (ITA), Elia Barp (ITA), (l-r) and the rest of the lead pack try to match pace during the initial kilometers of the skate leg. (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
The Skate Leg: Norway Sorts Itself Out
With 10 kilometers to go, the lead group had thinned to about twenty athletes. By the next climb, it was closer to fifteen. And among those fifteen were eleven Norwegians — each racing not only the field but each other.
Every shift in tempo felt deliberate.
Every climb tested hierarchy.
Every acceleration seemed to ask a quiet question:
If this is for a trip to Milan–Cortina, who survives?
Nyenget pushed the climbs with authority. Harald Østberg Amundsen pressed from the front like a man intent on staking a claim. Mattis Stenshagen floated with the leaders, unfazed by the fire around him. And somewhere in that pack, Emil Iversen — overlooked just one week earlier — had battled from the 37th starting position and was skiing with a visible urgency, a visible hunger.
The pace was unrelenting. When Andrew Musgrave surged near 15 km, the field snapped back immediately. No one would be allowed to disrupt the internal Norwegian calculus.
This was not a race that welcomed outsiders.
Behind them, Schumacher held position just beyond the front group, skiing an intelligent and confident race on a day that didn’t cater to anyone not wearing red. Ogden fought through the volatility of the middle pack as the front repeatedly drove the pace into the threshold.
Ben Ogden (USA) finding his skate legs in his first freestyle race of the season during the 20 k Skiathlon in Trondheim (NOR). (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
American Reactions: Schumacher and Ogden Describe the Chaos
Schumacher, who had circled this Skiathlon as a key Olympic-learning opportunity, said the day unfolded exactly as he expected:
“I’m still kind of building into the season… but I’ve got some good skiathlon experience, and they don’t feel so crazy now. Treat it like a race, try to do my best, and definitely learn some stuff.”
He found those lessons quickly — particularly in the transition to skate:
“The pace was definitely hot… right out of the start of the skate, they went hard. A lot of those fitness guys are trying to put some distance to the faster people. It’s tough on this course. I felt ready for it, but struggled a little bit with the skis. They were digging too much in the hills.”
And he could feel the intensity radiating from the Norwegians:
“It absolutely was their Olympic trial. There’s definitely some intensity from their side. A lot of those guys are really nervous — and to be honest, they don’t seem to be having that much fun right now. It’s a tough fight for those four spots.”
Ogden, who finished 35th, echoed the shock of the pace — especially coming off a demanding classic leg:
“The pace today was probably the hardest thing for me. The classic was just so fast… and I haven’t skated a lot this year. It came after the world’s hardest 10k classic.”
He battled through the skate leg, trying to recalibrate on the fly:
“I don’t think I skated very well. I didn’t push into the downhills very well, and I was just tired. You can go hard in the classic and still be competitive in the skate, but you have to be a little more tactical.”
And, like Schumacher, he found himself needing to rewrite his goals mid-race:
“Reevaluating your plan on the fly is always the hardest part. Once your plan falls apart, it’s easy to lose a little bit of grit mentally. Today, the goal just became to hang onto the back and try to beat a couple of them.”
Maybe it isn’t in focus, but what is clear is Harald Oestberg Amundsen (NOR), Mattis Stenshagen (NOR), Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR), Emil Iversen (NOR), Jan Thomas Jenssen (NOR), Erik Valnes (NOR), Martin Loewstroem Nyenget (NOR), (l-r) all charging up the final climb of the 20 k Skiathlon in Tronheim, Norway. (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
The Final Kilometers: A Reckoning on the Last Climb
With three kilometers left, the stadium roar began to build. The final climb hovered ahead — long, grinding, decisive. The pack tightened—the Norwegian national and club team suits clustered near the front. And then the sorting began in earnest.
Amundsen drove up the hill with power.
Klæbo hovered, always exactly where he needed to be.
And Iversen — the man left off the Ruka start list — refused to yield a single meter, emerging along the outside edge of the trail toward the front of the pack.
The race crested the final hill, swept through the big left turn, and spilled into the descent where Skiathlon medals — and today, Olympic dreams — are so often decided.
Klæbo did what only Klæbo does: timed the moment flawlessly, slid into open snow, and glided away with the control and confidence that has defined his career. Behind him, Amundsen locked up second.
But all eyes were on third.
There, straining every muscle, skiing with unmistakable desperation and defiance, was Emil Iversen.
He crossed the line in third place — a podium on the only Skiathlon before the Olympics.
For him, it was not just a race result.
It was a reclamation.
Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) leads a Norwegian train down the home stretch. (Photo: Thibaut/NordicFocus)
A Sweep That Spoke Volumes
Norway swept the top eight.
The best non-Norwegian — the always-impressive Mika Vermeulen — finished ninth.
The top nine were separated by five seconds.
The top fifteen by fifteen seconds.
It was depth displayed as dominance, and dominance displayed as a message.
For Klæbo, the picture is clear.
For Amundsen, clearer still.
For Stenshagen, it was a breakthrough.
And for Iversen, it was a revival that carried the weight of the last two weeks on its shoulders.
For the American men, Schumacher’s 21st showed consistency and smart racing in a field that spent much of the day executing internal warfare—Ogden’s 35th offered lessons in reading a volatile race and surviving wave after wave of pace changes.
Harald Oestberg Amundsen (NOR), Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR), Emil Iversen (NOR), (l-r) take the Skiathlon podium in Trondheim (NOR). (Photo: Thibaut/NordicFocus)
What This Means for the Olympic Picture
Klæbo, with a smirk on his face, didn’t hesitate after the race:
“I think I made the team now for sure.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Amundsen likely solidified his place as well.
Stenshagen made himself hard to ignore.
And Iversen forced the federation to confront the conversation it had hoped to avoid.
Performance is supposed to matter.
And Iversen delivered the clearest performance of anyone not named Klæbo.
In the eyes of fans, teammates, and media, he didn’t just earn consideration — he demanded it.
Emil Iversen may be the happiest person in Trondheim (NOR) today. (Photo: Thibaut/NordicFocus)
A World Cup in Name Only
As the sun faded over Granåsen and crews raked the sugary snow from the corners, it became apparent that what we had just witnessed was something far larger than a World Cup.
This race was a referendum on form.
A public test of internal politics.
A stage where the world’s strongest skiing nation sorted itself out in real time.
The stadium announcer called it the men’s 20 k Skiathlon.
But everyone who watched, coached, raced, or cheered knew better.
This was the reckoning.
This was the day Norway began choosing its Olympic distance team.
Feature stories like this one take time, access, and care to produce. If you value thoughtful storytelling and independent ski journalism, please consider becoming a Voluntary Subscriber. Your support directly fuels the work we do to cover the people, places, and moments that make our sport special.
Emil Iversen (NOR) was so happy to be back on the World Cup podium, but clearly his smiles were about something even bigger. (Photo: Thibaut/NordicFocus)
This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.
Okay, who else didn’t sleep last night? It felt like waiting for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve — that fizzy, restless anticipation you can’t shake, even as an adult who should know better. Part of it was simply the joy of finally watching World Cup racing again after eight long months. But more than that, this morning in Ruka felt like the beginning of something bigger: the start of the Olympic year, the opening chapter of a season that will define so many careers, answer so many questions, and launch a web of storylines that will stretch from today all the way to Milano-Cortina.
This year, the stakes are different. For veterans, it’s legacy. For rising athletes, it’s opportunity. For everyone, it’s a race against time.
And for those of us who follow this sport as if it were a second bloodstream, the first race in Ruka is the moment winter starts breathing again.
Frida Karlsson (SWE) poses with Mr. and Mrs. Claus following the 10k Classic in Ruka (FIN). (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
Before the Gun: What Was at Stake
Even before the racers hit the snow, there were subplots everywhere.
Norway opened the season in a moment of transition. Therese Johaug — retired again and pregnant with her second child — leaves a vacuum on the women’s team that hasn’t existed in over a decade. Who leads now? Is Heidi Weng’s late-career renaissance real? Is this the year Norway’s depth must finally be enough?
Sweden, meanwhile, enters the Olympic season with the most complete women’s distance squad on earth. Their classic technique is crisp, balanced, efficient — a signature advantage on days like this.
Finland carries the emotional core of the weekend. Krista Pärmäkoski, racing her final season, took her last opening-day start in Ruka on home snow. Kerttu Niskanen, always a threat in classic, lined up ready to test herself in front of the home crowd.
And for the United States, the arcs were wide-ranging:
Jessie Diggins begins the final season of her career.
Rosie Brennan enters winter in deeply untraditional circumstances after an Epstein-Barr reactivation.
Julia Kern arrives healthier and steadier than in years.
Sophia Laukli brings a redesigned training life out of Norway.
And three additional American women (Kate Oldham, Kendall Kramer, and Alayna Sonnesyn) who begin the short, intense race for Olympic qualification.
Alayna Sonnesyn (USA) lunges for the line at the end of the 10k Classic in Ruka (FIN). (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
A Day Shaped Before It Started: New Snow, Glazing Tracks, and Wax Tech Calculus
Ruka had been bitterly cold in recent weeks — until a foot of new snow fell and temperatures climbed toward freezing. The result was a wax technician’s nightmare: soft snow in the shade, glazing climbs in the sun, and a classic course twisting through varying microclimates.
Kick wax that worked at the start failed on the climbs. Skis that kicked well on the climbs dragged on the flats. Double-pole sections demanded freedom; the final climbs demanded grip. There was no perfect answer — only compromise and risk.
This race was always going to reward the skiers with the best technical balance and the wax techs bold enough to choose the right kind of “wrong.”
Moa Ilar (SWE) charges down the finishing stretch at the end of the 10k Classic in Ruka (FIN). (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
The Race: Karlsson Sets the Standard, Weng Returns, Ilar Rises, Diggins Surges
1.1 km — Jessie Diggins Takes the First Lead of the Season
From the moment the race began, the tone was unmistakable.
With bib #1 Julie Bjervig Drivenes setting the baseline, Jessie Diggins blasted through the first checkpoint with the early lead — 1.3 seconds ahead of Frida Karlsson.
It was classic Diggins: joyful, aggressive, fearless.
3.3 km — Karlsson’s Stride Takes Control
By 3.3 km, the race reshaped itself. Frida Karlsson, with her strong hip stability and long, economical stride, surged into the lead on the climbing sections. Diggins, whose double-poling and downhill flow looked excellent, lost time on the steepest pitches and slid to seventh.
Behind Karlsson, Sweden formed a front of precision:
Moa Ilar at +3.0
Ebba Andersson at +5.1
Three Swedes in the top three splits.
A message, delivered early.
6.1 km — Heidi Weng Charges Back Into the Story
Heidi Weng, skiing 30 seconds behind Diggins, mounted the late charge of the day. She began cutting into Karlsson’s lead — from 14 seconds at 6.1 km to only 10.5 by the line.
After several up-and-down years, Weng signaled something unmistakable: she’s not done yet.
Final Kilometers — Diggins Closes Hard, Ilar and Andersson Duel, Fosnæs Threatens
Jessie Diggins mounted her own push on the flats and downhills, gaining time between 6.1 and 8.1 km. She crossed the line in a time that held the top spot until the final seeded skiers, ultimately placing fifth — one of her strongest classic results ever on this course.
Moa Ilar executed a poised final push, taking third and bumping Andersson to fourth. Kristin Austgulen Fosnæs threatened Diggins’ time but ultimately finished behind her in sixth.
Jessie Diggins (USA) was all smiles after the 10k Classic in Ruka (FIN). (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
Jessie Diggins: Racing the First Day of Her Last Season
As Diggins enters the last year of her storied career, her goals have nothing to do with podiums.
“My goals are really not about race results at all,” she said. “My goals for the season are to be happy and healthy and just in the present moment… just really soaking in the moment and the feeling of, like, wow, I get to do this.”
She brought that joy directly into today’s start.
“I just wanted to go hard and use this race to get the season started.”
And yet, the question remains: when Diggins puts on a bib, does instinct overtake the plan?
“I do like to push myself to the max whenever I race — maybe not 100% where I’m scraped off the snow, but really darn close,” she said.
“It’s part of my training plan with Cork — we use early season races to build sharpness.”
On a tricky waxing day, Diggins was clear-eyed about the team effort.
“I was really happy with my skis… a great mix of just enough kick but also really free. We needed the skis to be fast in the double-poling, and knowing I was going to herringbone the climbs anyway, we went for that in-between.”
For Diggins, this wasn’t just a top-five finish. It was a signal: the last season of her career may feature some of her best classic skiing.
Rosie Brennan (USA) with her signature long stride during the 10k Classic in Ruka (FIN). (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
Rosie Brennan: “This Is Uncharted Territory”
Rosie Brennan entered the winter with one of the most unconventional lead-ups of her career — a necessity after an Epstein-Barr reactivation forced her into weeks of “micro-intervals” and tightly controlled volume.
Her return to full-distance racing revealed both progress and uncertainty.
“If I’m honest, I had a little higher expectations for myself today, so I’m feeling a bit mixed about it,” she said.
“There were some moments of skiing I was really happy with and some that left me wanting more.”
The hardest part, she explained, has been adapting to Europe — travel, fatigue, recovery — with a body that no longer responds as it used to.
“It’s been a really hard adaptation to Europe with a body that isn’t as resilient as I’m accustomed to… this is uncharted territory for me, and I just don’t know what will happen.”
Still, she holds hope — and patience.
“I have to keep trying and experimenting and figure out what will work for me this winter. I’m sure there will be a lot of ups and downs in the process.”
For Brennan, today wasn’t a verdict — it was the next step in a complicated, courageous return.
Ebba Andersson (SWE), Julia Kern (USA), (l-r) push up the climb in Ruka (FIN). (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
Julia Kern: A Personal Best Hidden Behind the Result Sheet
Julia Kern’s final ranking might not have turned heads on the results page, but the performance meant far more than the number beside her name. For Kern — often a slow starter in Ruka — today marked meaningful progress.
“Actually, I’m proud of my race today,” she said. “If you just look at the result… You would think I’d be quite dissatisfied, but this was a personal best for me in the opening Ruka 10km.”
The opener in Ruka has long been one of the toughest venues for her, a course whose steep climbs, cold temps, and early-season timing rarely align with her strengths.
“This was my eighth time doing this race, and the result has never been great or representative of other races later in the season,” Kern explained. “I was proud of having moments out there where I skied with good technique, and my body had good energy.”
Her long-term confidence remains intact — today was a step, not a verdict.
“Of course, I want to climb higher in the results list, but my result today doesn’t worry me,” she said. “I use this race to race myself into shape and wake up the body for the sprint tomorrow and the rest of the season.”
Like many in the field, she dealt with some of the day’s most fickle challenges: a mix of new snow, fog, drizzle, and instant glazing that made finding kick nearly impossible.
“It was on and off snowing/light fog or drizzle… a classic Ruka day where the tracks seem to glaze in an instant,” she said. “The glaze made it really challenging to kick from the start, and even harder in the second lap.”
But where the climbs demanded compromises, the flats rewarded her strengths.
“Otherwise the conditions felt fast on the downs and flats,” Kern added, “and I felt strong on the flatter terrain today.”
Kern leaves day one not discouraged, but energized — a skier who knows this course never tells the whole story and who trusts what today’s moments of good skiing suggest about what’s ahead.
Heidi Weng (NOR), Frida Karlsson (SWE), Moa Ilar (SWE), (l-r) share the podium of the 10k Classic in Ruka (FIN). (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
The Podium: Sweden Opens the Olympic Year With Authority
The final standings reflected both power and depth:
Frida Karlsson (SWE) 23:31.8
Heidi Weng (NOR) +10.5
Moa Ilar (SWE) +18.3
Ebba Andersson (SWE) +21.2
Jessie Diggins (USA) +27.6
Kristin Austgulen Fosnæs (NOR) 37.2
Sweden finished with three in the top four. Karlsson earned her 16th career victory; Weng her 139th career podium; Ilar her 9th.
On the Finnish side, Krista Pärmäkoski delivered a valiant final Ruka classic performance. Kerttu Niskanen, traditionally a force here, struggled to find her usual early-season spark.
And for the Americans, the opener delivered clarity: Diggins strong, Brennan resilient, the younger athletes gaining essential early-season data for Olympic qualification.
The 10k Classic podium with Heidi Weng (NOR), Frida Karlsson (SWE), Moa Ilar (SWE), (l-r) in Ruka (FIN). (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
What It All Means
Today’s 10k classic didn’t answer every question — but it answered enough to shape the early contours of an Olympic year:
Sweden has the momentum.
Norway has a leader again.
Finland is beginning a farewell tour.
The U.S. has real reasons for belief — and real reasons for patience.
The waxing cabins will decide as much as the athletes.
The Olympic shadow looms over every split, every selection, every training day.
And for those of us lying awake the night before the opener, waiting for winter like children waiting for Christmas — the season is here again.
It begins in Ruka, with a direct path to the Olympics in Italy, and ends in Lake Placid.
Feature interviews like this one take time, access, and care to produce. If you value thoughtful storytelling and independent ski journalism, please consider becoming a Voluntary Subscriber. Your support directly fuels the work we do to cover the people, places, and moments that make our sport special.
Frida Karlsson (SWE) looked pretty comfortable in the reindeer pelt-covered leaders chair following the 10k Classic in Ruka (FIN). (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
