Olympic message sent as Amundsen and Hedegart win Goms Team Sprint

Harald Oestberg Amundsen and Einar Hedegart won the Men’s Team Sprint Free for Norway I at the Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Goms, Switzerland, on Friday, sending a message to the Norwegian management ahead of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

The battle for race starts in the star-studded Norwegian team is fierce, but Amundsen and Hedegart certainly did not weaken their positions with their dominant display as they claimed Norway’s second Team Sprint victory in as many events this season.

Elia Barp and Federico Pellegrino brought Italy I to second place as United States I, with Ben Ogden and Gus Schumacher, completed the podium.

”It was my debut and at the prologue, I didn’t know what to expect,” he said.

For three of the six 1.5km laps, the group stayed together, six teams crossing the 4.5km line within two seconds of each other. At end of the fourth lap, the former biathlete Hedegart, who was competing in the first World Cup Team Sprint of his career, made a push. In the last 500m of his second leg, Hedegart opened up a gap to the rest of the field as Amundsen carried the momentum into the fifth leg.

”The course here in Goms is extremely tough and with the altitude, you need to be quite careful in the beginning,” Amundsen said.

”But I know that Einar and I are quite good distance skiers, so we put the pressure in early and it seemed like the other guys got quite tired.”

When the World Cup Overall No.2 handed over to Hedegart for the last time, Norway were 3.7 seconds ahead of the rest and as it looked like Schumacher and Pellegrino were catching up on him in the first uphill section, he set off again, showing the opponents that the race for first place was over.

As Hedegart cruised to his first Team Sprint victory, in his first attempt, he took off his ski poles and celebrated with a military-style salute before crossing the finish line.

”Message sent, I hope message is received,” Hedegart said, hoping that Norway’s coaching staff selecting the team for the Olympic races had enjoyed the show.

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo and Erik Valnes claimed Norway's last Team Sprint victory, in Davos, Switzerland, in December, but did not compete on Friday.

Klaebo has won the past two Olympic Team Sprint gold medals, with two different partners, and is the favourite to win it at Milano Cortina 2026.

At Beijing 2022, Klaebo claimed the Olympic title with Valnes, with whom he has also won two World Championship titles in the event.

Pellegrino, 35, who has less than a month left of his professional career, as he has announced he will quit Cross-Country skiing after the Olympic Games, looks in good shape coming into his last dance.

Last weekend, he was 0.32 seconds from the victory in the Sprint Free in Oberhof, Germany, but had to settle for second place. On Friday, he stayed behind Schumacher until the final stretch, where he sprinted past the USA skier to secure the silver medal position.

”Today it felt hard in the qualification, then better and better in the final,” Pellegrino said.

”In the end, I feel that I could’ve maybe made it a bit more of a battle against the Norwegian team, but it is what it is.”

Italy II, with Davide Graz and Martino Carollo, finished in fourth place, 12.35 seconds behind the winners as Gustaf Berglund and Edvin Anger in Sweden I completed the top five.

”I’m happy that there were two vert good Italian teams in the race,” Pellegrino said.

”Even if we’re working hard to be in the best shape at the Olympic Games, these signals are much better for the mind than the body, so we believe a lot in ourselves.

Switzerland I, with Janik Riebli and Valerio Grond, beat Norway I by 0.21 seconds in the prologue, where they had the best time. In the final, however, the home hopes were in second place after four legs but could not keep up as the Norwegians drove up the pace, having to settle for sixth place.

Norway increased their lead in the Men’s Team Cup, where they have 4,942 points – 2,265 more than Italy in second place on 2,677. Sweden hold the third place with 2,318 points.

Next up in Goms is Saturday’s Sprint, which will be contested in Classic style just like when the Olympic Sprint medals are up for grabs on 10 February.

Click here for full results from the Men’s Team Sprint Free and here to follow FIS Cross-Country on Youtube.