Karlsson storms to first Cross-Country gold at Milano Cortina

Sweden’s Frida Karlsson took on world champion and compatriot Ebba Andersson to take the first Olympic Cross-Country gold on offer at the Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games in the Women’s 10km + 10km Skiathlon at the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium on Saturday.

A fall just after the 1.5km mark killed Jessie Diggins (USA) chances of winning her first Olympic gold as she collided with Norway’s Karoline Simpson-Larsen, which was a surprising early setback for two of the big names in the race, with both failing to recover finishing in eighth and 13th respectively.

While Andersson appeared to lead the way early on, Karlsson broke away with 5km left to go, eventually finishing in 53 minutes 45.2 seconds, 51 secs ahead of Andersson who claimed silver.

Norway’s Heidi Weng finished with bronze, having done well to catch the chasing pack in the last part of the Freestyle and disappoint team-mate Astrid Oeyre Slind, who had been part of the leading pack in the first half of the Classic phase. It was a promising start for Slind in her first Olympics, who at 37 was the oldest of the field.

Karlsson’s huge lead even allowed her to collect a Swedish flag from the crowd before the finish line, of which she said: “That was the moment it hit me. I was like, ‘OK this is for real.’ I just had so much fun out there today.

“I am really proud of my whole team that has have made this happen. The skis were super and the body felt amazing.”

Team-mate Andersson was happy to claim her first individual medal at her third Olympic Games and said: “It was about time and it is really nice to share the podium with Frida, who was incredibly strong and came out winning this race.”

Diggins, who came into the race as a strong favourite as overall World Cup leader, said: “I’m in the best shape of my life and my body felt really good, but there’s a lot of things that need to come together for a good ski race to happen. 

“I was really encouraged by the skate [freestyle] half, but the classic half, the things out of my control did not go very well.

“I had a crash on the first lap, where my tip just disappeared in the slush, and unfortunately it was a tough spot where you lose all your momentum.

Sweden’s other big hope, Jonna Sundling, initially kept up with the leading pack, but the multiple sprint champion struggled and fell away before the transition to Freestyle, eventually finishing in 11th.

Wet conditions also tripped up several other the athletes with Dariya Nepryaeva (AIN) falling in the same spot as Diggins, and Nadezhda Stepashkina (KAZ) suffering a fall earlier in the race.

“It was tough conditions with very wet snow and the tracks are also really hard,” said Andersson. “You have to be tough with your head and just try to keep up the pace, even though you’re really tired.”

Moa Ilar (SWE) struggled to find her grip and failed to challenge the leaders, eventually finishing in 14th.

For the full Cross-Country schedule for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games click here.