Viewing Guide: Olympics Days 1–3, Skiathlon and Sprint

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By Gavin Kentch

LAGO DI TESERO — Into day three we go. Racing at the 2026 Winter Olympics continues with the classic sprint. Seven out of eight Americans are in the heats today hells yeah.

Earlier this week I asked Matt Whitcomb if the Olympics schedule, with one race nearly every day, is harder or easier than the World Cup schedule, with two races nearly every day. “It’s easier,” he said. Instantly and unambiguously.

I’m writing this from the venue. The gates recently opened to spectators. I am sitting in the Enhanced Venue Media Center, a very large tent heated to approximately 100 degrees. I have never previously been at a ski race that had more than a dozen or so reporters at it (all-time shoutout to Anchorage for sending as many reporters to 2025 U.S. Nationals as were present at the Canmore World Cup swing in February 2024). This tent has a capacity for something like 200 journalists, and is filling quickly.

There are many people here, all typing very quickly. I would estimate the gender percentage breakdown at, oof, 90–10 male–female. Maybe 95 percent male. Negative shoutout to cross-country skiing media for largely mirroring the gender ratio of cross-country skiing wax rooms.

The Nordic Insights photographer just arrived, fresh off winning three medals at World Masters just up the road in Sappada. I congratulate Anna on doubling the number of female photojournalists in the room. This is in jest, but not by much. She tells me that our branded Nordic Insights hats, which are the brightest pink you have ever seen (I love them so much), are contraindicated for photo stations, as being too garish for the broadcast. Nordic Insights: too pink for public consumption.

On the bus ride over here a nice man from Holland, who works in broadcast, asked me, in impeccable English, about an American speedskater. Once we ascertained that he was not discussing, forgive me, Apolo Anton Ohno, I had to tell him that I was drawing a complete blank. If you’d like a whole lot of insights about nordic skiing, don’t touch that dial. For everything else, here’s the AP’s Olympics hub.

So. Here’s what I can tell you about the first three days of racing here.

When are the races?

Local time at the venue is Central European Time. This is six hours ahead of the East Coast, and 10 hours ahead of Alaska. We’re gonna lead with Alaska Time here, now, as always, because half of the Olympic roster is based there. Them’s the rules.

Who will be racing for the U.S.?

As noted, seven out of eight American starters made the heats today. For the women, all of Jessie Diggins, Julia Kern, Sammy Smith, and Lauren Jortberg qualified. For the men, Ben Ogden led the way in second (!), with JC Schoonmaker and Zak Ketterson in the top 30. It was the second rough day in a row for Gus Schumacher, following his fall in the skiathlon; he ended up tied for 31st, just 0.14 seconds away from advancing. Over a 1.5km course. That is sport, but that is also pretty rough.

What is the weather like?

Inside this tent, pretty frigging hot. Outside the tent, a few degrees above freezing and getting warmer. A bit more overcast than the first two days, though that could change soon.

Here is the point forecast for the venue fyi.

Where can you watch these races?

NBC, because Olympics. On broadcast television, and on something called Peacock. I think you can also watch events for free on olympics.com, but only so long as they’re live. The venue wifi is emphatically not letting me geolocate to the U.S. via a VPN, so I can’t tell you what this looks like from the states, sorry.

What background stories can you read?

Here is some recent Olympics coverage. And you can find all of our coverage from Val di Fiemme under this tag.

I think that’s it. Thanks for tuning in. We’ll have race reports up after each day.

And again, thank you SO much to everyone who has supported this site at any point in the last four years. I still can’t believe we’re here, candidly. You know how the athletes say that every message, every comment, every expression of support is noticed, and makes a difference? It sure as hell does. Thank you, and go team.

You’re reading this on Nordic Insights, one man’s labor of love dedicated to publicizing American skiing. We started with nothing and now we’re at the Olympics. You can read more about our first three years here, and donate to the Olympics fund here. Thank you for consideration, and, especially, for reading.