Cross Country Skiing
Confirmed: Jessie Diggins will retire after this season
November 19, 2025 / Yle
U.S. cross-country star Jessie Diggins, 34, announced on Instagram that she will end her professional skiing career after the current season. One of the most successful skiers of recent years, Diggins owns three Olympic and seven World Championship medals, three overall World Cup titles, and two Tour de Ski wins. She plans to race through the final World Cup events, with the season starting in Ruka and concluding with a U.S. swing in March.
Therese Johaug slams Swedish national team over partnership with weight‑loss drug maker
November 19, 2025 / Yle
Norwegian cross-country legend Therese Johaug sharply criticizes the Swedish cross-country team’s sponsorship deal with Novo Nordisk, maker of Ozempic and Wegovy. She says weight‑loss drugs in sport are “crazy,” send a harmful message to young athletes, and should be banned according to a WADA medical expert quoted by NRK. Sweden’s team defends the partnership as a public‑health initiative, though star Ebba Andersson has said she was puzzled by the choice.
Cross-country: Gustaf Berglund says he’s improved since getting together with Ebba Andersson
November 19, 2025 / SVT Sport
Swedish cross-country skier Gustaf Berglund reflects on his breakthrough eighth place in the 50 km at the World Championships and a World Cup personal best in Cogne. Ahead of the Olympic season, he credits partner Ebba Andersson’s exceptional training ethic as a key inspiration and says living together has made him better.
Former cross-country skier Magne Myrmo has died: the last world champion on wooden skis
November 19, 2025 / NRK
Norwegian cross-country legend Magne Myrmo has died at 82, his family confirmed. He is best known for winning the 15 km at the 1974 Falun World Championships on wooden skis amid the fiberglass revolution, and for his silver medal in the 50 km at the 1972 Sapporo Olympics. After retiring, Myrmo coached and became a renowned wax technician for Norway and later Estonia.
Therese Johaug criticizes Swedish team’s Novo Nordisk sponsorship tied to weight‑loss drugs
November 19, 2025 / NRK
Therese Johaug reacts strongly to reports of weight‑loss drug use in sports and condemns the Swedish cross‑country team’s new sponsorship with Novo Nordisk, maker of Ozempic and Wegovy. She argues such ties send a harmful signal in a sport already vulnerable to eating disorders, while WADA health committee chair Lars Engebretsen also says the drugs should be banned for performance purposes. Sweden’s federation defends the deal as promoting public health, and skier Ebba Andersson voices mixed feelings; ski jumper Anna Odine Strøm questions pharma sponsorships but notes the financial realities of sport.
Cross-country: Jonna Sundling explains the clips of her lauded hop-skate technique
November 19, 2025 / SVT Sport
Swedish sprint star Jonna Sundling breaks down her celebrated hop‑skate technique after watching viral clips of herself, saying she thinks of “jumping forward like a frog.” Expert Anders Blomquist praises the approach, noting the clearly higher speed it generates. Sundling is slated to compete in Friday’s sprint in Gällivare broadcast by SVT.
Cross-country: Watch Frida Karlsson learn she’s nominated for Sweden’s Jerring Prize: “Is this Candid Camera?”
November 19, 2025 / SVT Sport
SVT shares a clip from the upcoming series “Utan filter – längdlandslaget mot OS” showing Frida Karlsson receiving a call from Swedish Radio informing her she’s nominated for the Jerring Prize. Karlsson earned the nod after winning the women’s 50 km at the Trondheim 2025 World Championships ahead of Norway’s Heidi Weng and Therese Johaug. The series premieres on November 27 on SVT.
Confirmed: Jessie Diggins will retire after this season
November 19, 2025 / SVT Sport
U.S. cross-country star Jessie Diggins has confirmed on Instagram that the current season will be her last. She said the decision is difficult but feels right, expressing gratitude and reflecting on what the sport has meant to her. Diggins’ career includes 21 individual World Cup wins, two team wins, three Olympic medals and seven World Championship medals, including 10 km freestyle gold in Planica in 2023.
Cross-country: Linn Svahn on the talked‑about SVT interview: “What? I was just fed up”
November 18, 2025 / SVT Sport
Swedish sprinter Linn Svahn reflects on a tense Tour de Ski media moment when she bristled at a question from SVT Sport after the Toblach pursuit on January 1, where she finished 19th. In SVT’s talk show Kallprat, Svahn and teammate Frida Karlsson explain why they felt the question about potentially quitting the Tour was unreasonable and how negative narratives can wear athletes down. They say media speculation about withdrawing from races can reinforce a false image of athletes as “weaker” when things go badly.
Cross-country: The Olympic gold Frida Karlsson wants most
November 17, 2025 / SVT Sport
Frida Karlsson says there is one Olympic title she most wants to win, drawing inspiration from Johan Olsson. After her World Championship success in Trondheim, she has had an unusual build‑up, training almost exclusively on roller skis and barely skiing on snow since Worlds. She mentions a summer film shoot in Ramsau as one of the few times she was on skis.
Doping case Victoria Carl – is a settlement imminent?
November 17, 2025 / Sportschau (MDR)
The WADA has become involved in the doping case of German cross‑country skier Victoria Carl, who tested positive for clenbuterol after the 2024/25 season, reportedly from a prescribed cough syrup during the Military World Games. According to Sweden’s SVT, WADA is now working with Germany’s NADA, which anti‑doping experts say could signal a negotiated, reduced sanction—similar to the three‑month ban agreed in Jannik Sinner’s 2024 case. Despite coach Peter Schlickenrieder’s belief that there was no intent, Carl remains provisionally suspended and is likely to miss the Olympics; she was 2022 Olympic team sprint champion with Katharina Hennig and runner‑up in last season’s overall World Cup.
Frida Karlsson’s unusual Olympic build-up: “Haven’t been on skis since Worlds”
November 17, 2025 / Sveriges Radio – Radiosporten
Swedish cross‑country star Frida Karlsson is preparing for the 2026 Olympic season by training largely on her own in Tenerife’s steep terrain instead of joining the national team’s altitude camps. After discovering last year during foot‑injury rehab that tough dry‑land work benefited her, she has delayed getting on snow and says she has not skied—aside from one summer filming session—since the World Championships. She looks forward to putting on skis again at Sweden’s season opener on Friday.