'Finally!' Matintalo claims first World Cup win in final race before Olympics

Johanna Matintalo (FIN) put her hand up as a potential medal contender at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games next month by claiming the first win of her FIS Cross Country Skiing World Cup career more than 11 years after her first race.

The 29-year-old, a former middle-distance runner, didn’t claim an individual podium place until 2022. She has earned two more since but has flown mainly under the radar of more successful Finns such as Krist Parmakoski, Kerttu Niskanen and Jasmi Joensuu, all of whom she has shared team World Cup podiums with.

Matintalo is considered more of a short-distance specialist, having only claimed one top five place in races of more than 10 kilometres. But she timed her run brilliantly in Goms, Switzerland on Sunday, putting her sprinting prowess to perfect use to edge out Jessie Diggins (USA) and Astrid Oeyre Slind (NOR) in the 20km Mass Start Classic.

Klaebo goes into the Olympic break as the Overall World Cup leader, with sixth Crystal Globe – and the second consecutive – within reach. With xxx points, he is xxx points ahead of his compatriot Amundsen in second place. Mattis Stenshagen, also from Norway, is in third place with xxx.

The Milano Cortina 2026 Men’s Cross-Country competitions start with the 20km Skiathlon Classic/Free on 8 February. Click here for the full schedule.

Click here for full results from the Men’s 20km Mass Start Classic, here to see the Men’s World Cup standings and here to follow FIS Cross-Country on Youtube.

Three big-name Swedes - Jonna Sundling, Ebba Andersson and Frida Karlsson – as well as Heidi Weng (NOR) were missing in Goms as athletes make their final preparations for Milano Cortina 2026. But it was still a strong field that took to the tracks on the Swiss border with Italy.

An unconventional course in Goms features 10 short, sharp climbs and longer, more gradual descents, making it hard to get away from the field.

Slind identified this before the race, saying she intended to set a fast pace and hoped others went with her so that could share the workload at the front – and, crucially, avoid a sprint finish, which wouldn’t suit the Norwegian, who has a background in marathon skiing.

In increasingly snowy conditions, Slind made the early running alongside reigning World Cup champion and current runaway leader Diggins, and by the end of the first lap they had opened up a six-second gap on the rest of the field.

But Karoline Simpson-Larsen (NOR) spotted the danger. A two-time winner this season, she worked with Kerttu Niskanen (FIN) and Katharina Hennig Dotzler (GER) - both distance classic specialists – to close the gap by the middle of the second lap. To most people’s surprise, they were joined by Matintalo and alongside compatriot Niskanen, she sat at the back of the group, conserving energy and biding her time.

Slind continued to do most of the pace setting but she couldn’t shake the pack and in the end her fears of a sprint finish came true.

Matintalo hit the front with a burst up the final climb, but most still expected Diggins – no mean sprinter herself – to use her experience to overtake on the finishing straight. But the American wasn’t close enough to use the slipstream of Matintalo, and the Finn streaked away to claim victory by 0.9 seconds, punching the air and screaming as she crossed the line. Slind was a further 0.8s back.

“Ah finally!” said the Matintalo of her first victory. “I’ve been pretty close to being on the podium this season but now my first win, so I’m very happy. Of course, it’s great before the Olympics to be in your best shape of the season.

“First lap I felt quite terrible after yesterday – it was quite hard with four heats in the sprint. I was thinking, ‘will I even make it to the finish?’ But during the race it started to feel better and better and I felt like the pace was going a little bit slow in the lead group."

With her closest rival Moa Ilar (SWE) only managing to finish 12^th, Diggins extended her lead in the Overall standings as the athletes now turn their attention to the Olympic Winter Games.

The World Cup returns in Falun, Sweden on 28 February.

For the full results from Goms, click here