Team U.S.A. excels at many sports at the Olympics — snowboarding, downhill skiing, curling — but traditionally, cross-country skiing is not on that list. In fact, a U.S. man hasn’t medaled in a single cross-country skiing event at the Olympics since 1976.
At least, that was the case — until today. After competing against a stacked field in the cross-country individual sprint, American Ben Ogden, 25, took home the silver medal.
The silver marks the first time in a half-century that an American has stood on an Olympic podium for cross-country skiing.
The Race
In the cross-country sprint final on Tuesday, Feb. 10, Ogden faced a stiff field, including Norwegian legend and seven-time Olympic gold medalist Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo. Other skiers included Oskar Opstad Vike (Norway), Lauri Vuorinen (Finland), Jiri Tuz (Czechia), and Erik Valnes (Norway).
To get to the final, these six skiers had to outlast their competitors in three prior rounds of competition. In the final, they faced a 1.5km-long (0.96-mile) course.
From the outset, Klaebo led and didn’t let up. The group quickly separated into two packs, with Ogden, Vike, and Ogden in front, and the remaining three athletes several body lengths behind.
Ogden stayed close to Klaebo until the Zorzy uphill, a 240m (740-foot) climb, around the 2-minute mark, where Klaebo entered another gear and took off.
Vike and Ogden stayed neck-and-neck until the last third, where Ogden’s strong finish powered him to second place. The athletes reached speeds close to 30 mph.
Klaebo let off the gas near the end in a celebratory fashion, finishing with a time of 3:39.74, with Ogden 0.87 seconds back and Vike a whole 6.81 seconds behind.
The History
While the women’s cross-country team has fared better in recent years — in part to strong performances from superstars like Jessie Diggins — the last (and only) time an American man medaled in any cross-country ski event was in 1976, when Bill Koch won silver in the 30km event.
Ogden and Koch both come from Landgrove, Vt., and their families have skied together, according to NBC.
Milano-Cortina is Ogden’s second Olympics. In Beijing in 2022, he placed ninth in the team sprint and twelfth in the individual sprint.
After the medal ceremony, Ogden celebrated with a backflip off the podium. “It’s an unbelievable dream come true. Everybody who races dreams of being on an Olympic podium,” Ogden said to NBC. “It’s the ultimate goal, and I feel like this last year I’ve dared to set my expectations on an Olympic podium.”
