Cross-country skiing: Ben Ogden, fifty years of waiting wiped out in a single straight line
Milan-Cortina 2026 will go down as a historic year for American cross-country skiing: 25-year-old Ben Ogden won the silver medal in the classic sprint, becoming the first man from the United States to stand on an individual podium in cross-country skiing at the Games for 50 years. It was a resounding performance, confirming the rise of a cross-country skier who had long been seen as an outsider.
Originally from Landgrove (Vermont), Ben Ogden has worked his way up through the ranks. With a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Vermont, he made his World Cup debut in 2019, then went on to win his first places of honour in major international competitions.
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Prior to these Games, his performances already showed his high potential in the format: a 3rd place in the free sprint in Toblach in December 2023, as well as a podium in the team sprint with Gus Schumacher in Goms on 23 January, where the Americans stood on a World Cup team podium for the first time.
But it was on the Olympic stage that Ben Ogden really came into his own. In a highly competitive classic sprint in Tesero (Italy), he gave nothing away against specialists who were often better ranked. Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo, the inescapable Norwegian, took gold, but the American held off the rest of the field to take silver. This result is all the more impressive given that it marks the end of half a century without an American men’s cross-country skiing medal, the last being won by Bill Koch, also from Vermont, in 1976.
Outside sport as well as in it, Ben Ogden is a singular character. Known for his humour, his moustache and his hobbies – notably knitting, which has earned him a certain amount of media attention – he embodies an original and endearing approach to top-level sport.
