By Gavin Kentch
Once again, a race article is coming at some point today; the team is on site at Granåsen Skisenter as we speak, working hard, but everything about in-person reporting always takes longer than you think it should.
Until then, here are some photos from the day. It was gray. It was raining. I don’t work for Fischer and don’t have a dog in this fight, but it has to be said that, visually speaking, their bright yellow skis really did pop against the dark background and wet snow. The orange One Way poles, too.
Ebba Andersson of Sweden won the race, defending her title in the discipline from Planica in 2023. Therese Johaug of (you probably know this) Norway was second, technically, 0.006 seconds back, the front of her boot trailing Andersson’s by approximately one centimeter after 2,000,000 centimeters of racing. In interval-start races, they truncate times and award two medals if athletes tie. This was not an interval-start race, and the photo finish went to Andersson.
Jonna Sundling of Sweden was third. Jessie Diggins led the U.S. in 13th, 2:02.8 back, after skiing in the teens for most of the race. Sophia Laukli was 23rd, Julia Kern 26th, and Alayna Sonnesyn 40th. Full results are here.
All photos: Noah Eckstein for Nordic Insights.
You’re reading this on Nordic Insights, one man’s labor of love dedicated to publicizing American nordic skiing. Last season’s GoFundMe is literally the only reason why I turned a profit in years one and two of Nordic Insights, and in turn the only reason why there is a year three of Nordic Insights for you to be reading now: I was okay with working for very little money to get this love letter to American cross-country skiing off the ground, but I didn’t want to lose money for the privilege of doing so. If you would like to support what remains a brutally shoestring operation, last season’s GoFundMe may be found here. Thank you for your consideration, and, especially, for reading.


