Cross Country Skiing
Cross-country: Maja Dahlqvist’s Olympic plan — cutting 100 training hours
October 06, 2025 / SVT Sport
Swedish sprint star Maja Dahlqvist says she will reduce her annual training volume by about 100 hours ahead of what she expects will be her last Olympics at Milan–Cortina 2026. She wants to focus on fewer but harder sessions and believes doing more won’t make her better now. Expert Anders Blomquist calls the approach exciting; the interview was recorded during a high‑altitude camp in Lavazè, Italy.
Pia Pekonen shatters Finnish cross-country team’s glass ceiling — why did it take until 2025?
October 06, 2025 / Yle
Yle profiles Pia Pekonen, who has become the first female coach in the over 100-year history of Finland’s national cross-country skiing team, joining Reijo Jylhä’s staff ahead of the Milan-Cortina Olympics. The piece examines why female coaches have been absent despite women delivering the majority of Finland’s ski medals, outlines Pekonen’s background and duties, and gathers reactions from figures like Sirpa Korkatti, Krista Pärmäkoski, and Johanna Matintalo. It also notes Nordic precedents such as Ida Ingemarsdotter and Marit Bjørgen and discusses structural barriers including hiring pathways and family responsibilities.
Ski Classics director Oskar Svärd responds to criticism: “I don’t agree”
October 05, 2025 / SVT Sport
Ski Classics director Oskar Svärd defends the series’ new 2025/26 schedule, which adds a sprint in Bedřichov on the same weekend as Jizerská 50 and introduces women’s and men’s 50 km individual time trials at Orsa Grönklitt between Vasaloppet and Birkebeinerrennet. Several team managers, including Espen Trældal (Team Eksjöhus) and Magnar Dalen (Ragde Charge), criticized the changes, especially adding sprint to a long‑distance tour. Svärd says many Central European teams support the ideas and that February is left empty due to the 2026 Olympics and TV considerations.
Cross-country: Discontent in Ski Classics — several teams slam new formats as a “parody”
October 05, 2025 / SVT Sport
Multiple Ski Classics teams and athletes criticize two new formats added for 2025/26: a 1.5 km sprint in Bedřichov on the Jizerská weekend and a 50 km individual time trial in Orsa placed between Vasaloppet and Birkebeinerrennet. Team Eksjöhus boss Espen Trældal calls the sprint a “parody,” while Ragde Charge’s Magnar Dalen says sprints don’t belong in a long-distance series. Max Novak says the sprint replaces a “real” race and questions the timing and structure of the calendar set by new director Oskar Svärd.
Cross-country: Moa Ilar on battling injury: “I stuck my head in the sand”
October 03, 2025 / SVT Sport
Swedish cross-country skier Moa Ilar reveals she raced the entire previous season with a painful, swollen foot that she had first operated on in 2017, only fully realizing the extent of the issue at season’s end. Despite the problem, she won a World Cup 10 km in Oslo but left the World Championships without major results; she has since undergone surgery and says a rehab-heavy summer has her close to full form again.
Report: Jessie Diggins to retire after the upcoming season
October 03, 2025 / SVT Sport
Norwegian outlet langrenn.com reports that U.S. cross-country star Jessie Diggins will retire after this season, with FIS official Simon Caprini saying on a podcast that the World Cup finale in Lake Placid will be her last race. Diggins, 34, has 63 World Cup podiums, Olympic and World Championship golds in team sprint, and an individual World Championship gold over 10 km freestyle. Diggins herself has not yet confirmed the report.
Linn Svahn says she has finally put her World Championships nightmare behind her
October 01, 2025 / Yle
Sweden’s sprint star Linn Svahn recounts how a training crash before the Trondheim 2025 World Championships left her with a concussion and neck injury, forcing her to withdraw and endure months of debilitating symptoms. After roughly five months of recovery, she has returned to full training and is targeting the upcoming Olympic season, hoping to compete consistently and avoid further setbacks as she still chases her first senior championship medal.
FIS Cross-Country committee discusses World Cup calendar and rule changes in Zurich
October 01, 2025 / FIS
At the FIS Autumn Meetings in Zurich, the Cross-Country committee confirmed tweaks to the 2025–26 World Cup program and discussed rule updates. Notable changes include an adjusted Trondheim weekend format, a new Heat Mass Start for Stage 3 of the Tour de Ski, lengthening the Toblach pursuit to 20 km, and switching Lahti’s 10 km to classic technique. The committee also reviewed rollerski developments, proposed an obstruction sanction for head-to-head races for 2026–27, and outlined youth and popular skiing initiatives and leadership changes.
Linn Svahn after difficult period: “You gain quite a lot of respect”
September 30, 2025 / Sveriges Radio – Radiosporten
Swedish cross‑country star Linn Svahn says she is fully recovered after the concussion that followed a crash just before the Trondheim 2025 World Championships, which forced her to miss the event and end her season early. Speaking to P4 Jämtland, the 25‑year‑old reflects on a humbling recovery and mixed emotions heading into the Olympic season, noting the respect the process has given her for returning to full training and competition. The piece highlights her outlook after an injury‑hit winter and her readiness for the coming year.
Frida Karlsson after talked-about post: “I’ve felt boxed in”
September 30, 2025 / Sveriges Radio – Radiosporten
Swedish cross-country star Frida Karlsson expands on a recent social media post where she questioned whether elite athletes are being shaped more like machines than humans. In an interview with P4 Jämtland, she says she has sometimes felt constrained and calls for more room for play, instinct and emotion in top-level sport. The piece focuses on her reflections rather than a specific competition result.
Para skier Inkki Inola criticizes reinstatement of Russia and Belarus by IPC: “Wrong decision on every level”
September 29, 2025 / Yle
Finnish para cross-country skier Inkki Inola condemned the International Paralympic Committee’s decision to lift the suspension on Russia and Belarus ahead of the Milano–Cortina Paralympic Winter Games. Inola, a member of Finland’s Paralympic athletes’ commission, said the move is unethical while the war continues and could pit Ukrainian war‑injured veterans against Russian athletes. He added that although sport federations like FIS will make final eligibility calls, the IPC’s signal “looks really bad”; Finnish Paralympic Committee chair Sari Rautio also voted against the reinstatement.
Stars react to Frida Karlsson’s post: “The joy must not disappear”
September 29, 2025 / Sveriges Radio (Radiosporten)
Swedish cross-country star Frida Karlsson posted on social media that elite athletes are being shaped more like machines than humans and called for more space for playfulness and feelings in top sport. National team teammates Ebba Andersson and William Poromaa supported her reflections, with Andersson stressing that skiing began with joy and passion and that this must not be lost along the way. The item highlights a broader conversation in elite cross-country skiing about mental well‑being and balancing performance demands with intrinsic motivation.