Cross Country Skiing

Facts

Discipline of Skiing
Participants 2730
NOCs 90
Competitions held 181 (Venues)
Distinct events 34
IF International Ski & Snowboard Federation

Description

Cross-country skiing has been practiced in the Scandinavian countries since the 18th century, and competitions are known from the early 19th century. The sport has been on the Olympic Program since the Chamonix Games of 1924. It has been dominated, not surprisingly, by the Scandinavian countries, with Norway leading, followed by Sweden, the Soviet Union, and Finland.

The most successful cross-country skier has been Norwegian Marit Bjørgen, with 15 medals and eight gold medals, both absolute Winter Olympic records (through 2022). In the women’s competition, she is followed by Russian Lyubov Yegorova, with six gold medals, and by Raisa Smetanina and Stefania Belmondo, both with 10 medals.

Norwegian Bjørn Dæhlie leads the men’s medal tables, with 12 medals and eight golds, followed by his compatriots Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Thomas Alsgaard, both with five gold medals, and by Sixten Jernberg and Aleksandr Bolshunov, both with nine medals.

The sport is governed internationally by the Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS), which has 136 member nations as of 2022. The FIS also governs Alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, Nordic combined, ski jumping, and snowboarding.

Until the 1970s, all cross-country racers competed in the same style, alternating legs and arms with the stride being pushed straight backwards, remaining in the ski track. In the 1970s, a new style was developed by American Bill Koch, making a skating-like motion with one of the skis, and this technique turned out to be much faster. The FIS was pushed to ban this style by the North Europeans, but it was decided instead to allow two styles. However, races are now designated as either “classical” or “freestyle”, with skating being allowed only in freestyle races.

Originally, all cross-country races were held in a time trial fashion, with skiers starting in intervals. However, after revision of the program in the early 21st century, only one such race is left on the Olympic Program, the 15 km for men and the 10 km for women. The other individual events are: the sprint, in which four to six skiers race head-to-head in heats for approximately 1,500 metres; the skiathlon (formerly pursuit), in which half of the race is skied in classical style and half in freestyle; and the mass-start marathon, which is held over 50 km for men, and 30 km for women. In addition, two team competitions are staged for both men and women: the relay and the team sprint.

All-time medal table

Olympic Games

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
Norway NOR 52 43 34 129
Sweden SWE 32 27 25 84
Soviet Union URS 25 22 21 68
Finland FIN 22 27 37 86
Russian Federation RUS 14 10 9 33
Italy ITA 9 14 13 36
ROC ROC 4 7 8 19
Estonia EST 4 2 1 7
Switzerland SUI 4 0 4 8
Germany GER 3 10 4 17
Unified Team EUN 3 2 4 9
Poland POL 2 1 2 5
East Germany GDR 2 1 1 4
Canada CAN 2 1 0 3
Czechia CZE 1 5 3 9
Austria AUT 1 2 3 6
Kazakhstan KAZ 1 2 1 4
United States USA 1 2 1 4
Czechoslovakia TCH 0 1 4 5
France FRA 0 1 4 5
Slovenia SLO 0 0 2 2
Bulgaria BUL 0 0 1 1

Youth Olympic Games

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
Norway NOR 4 4 4 12
Sweden SWE 4 4 3 11
Russian Federation RUS 4 1 2 7
Republic of Korea KOR 2 1 0 3
Switzerland SUI 2 1 0 3
Germany GER 0 2 0 2
Slovenia SLO 0 1 1 2
Japan JPN 0 1 0 1
People's Republic of China CHN 0 1 0 1
Finland FIN 0 0 2 2
United States USA 0 0 2 2
France FRA 0 0 1 1
Kazakhstan KAZ 0 0 1 1

Most successful competitors

Olympic Games

Athlete Nat Gold Silver Bronze Total
Marit Bjørgen NOR 8 4 3 15
Bjørn Dæhlie NOR 8 4 0 12
Lyubov Yegorova RUS
EUN
6 3 0 9
Larisa Lazutina RUS
EUN
5 1 1 7
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo NOR 5 1 1 7
Thomas Alsgaard NOR 5 1 0 6
Raisa Smetanina RUS
URS
EUN
4 5 1 10
Sixten Jernberg SWE 4 3 2 9
Galina Kulakova RUS
URS
4 2 2 8
Gunde Svan SWE 4 1 1 6
Therese Johaug NOR 4 1 1 6

Youth Olympic Games

Athlete Nat Gold Silver Bronze Total
Kim Magnus KOR 2 1 0 3
Siri Wigger SUI 2 1 0 3
Märta Rosenberg SWE 1 1 1 3
Edvin Anger SWE 1 1 0 2
Nikolai Holmboe NOR 1 1 0 2
Thomas Larsen NOR 1 1 0 2
Johanna Hagström SWE 1 1 0 2
Aleksandr Selyaninov RUS 1 0 1 2
Anastasiya Sedova ROC
RUS
1 0 0 1
Ilya Tregubov RUS 1 0 0 1
Andreas Molden NOR 1 0 0 1
Silje Theodorsen NOR 1 0 0 1
Maya Yakunina RUS 1 0 0 1
Moa Lundgren SWE 1 0 0 1

Event types

Name Gender Still contested? Times held?
Sprint Men 6
15 kilometres Men 15
50 kilometres Men 24
30 kilometres Skiathlon Men 5
4 × 10 kilometres Relay Men 21
Team Sprint Men 5
Sprint Women 6
10 kilometres Women 16
30 kilometres Women 9
15 kilometres Skiathlon Women 5
4 × 5 kilometres Relay Women 13
Team Sprint Women 5
Sprint Boys 3
10 kilometres Boys 3
Cross Boys 2
7.5 kilometres Boys 0
Sprint Girls 3
5 kilometres Girls 3
Cross Girls 2
7.5 kilometres Girls 0
4 × 5 km relay Mixed Youth 0
10 kilometres Men 3
18 kilometres Men 6
30 kilometres Men 13
10/10 kilometres Pursuit Men 1
10/15 kilometres Pursuit Men 3
5 kilometres, B1 Men 1
5 kilometres Women 10
15 kilometres Women 4
20 kilometres Women 2
5/5 kilometres Pursuit Women 1
5/10 kilometres Pursuit Women 3
3 × 5 kilometres Relay Women 5
5 kilometres, B1 Women 1