Cross Country Skiing at the 1952 Winter Olympics

The men’s schedule was the same as it had been in 1936 and 1948, with three events – 18 km, 50 km, and a relay. But the big news in Olympic cross-country skiing was that women competed for the first time, in a single 10 km race. Women had not yet competed at the World Championships, that début coming in 1954. When the FIS had voted on adding women’s cross-country to the Olympic programme, the only dissenting vote came from the 1952 host country, Norway. In the 10 km, Finland’s women swept the medals, and the first 12 places went to Scandinavian women. Finland was the leading nation in 1952 Olympic cross-country skiing, winning three of the four gold medals, and eight of 12 medals overall, from a possible 10.