Cross-country skiing: the individual, alone against time and effort
A historic discipline in cross-country skiing, the individual remains the only fully timed race on the Olympic programme. Here, there are no direct duels or pack tactics: each cross-country skier is alone in the face of time, the track and his or her own effort.
Raced in classic style or freestyle depending on the competition, the individual event is run over a distance of 10 kilometres. Athletes start every 30 seconds from a starting gate, in a format that demands perfect effort management from the first to the last metre.
At the finish, the ranking is based solely on time, with victory going to the athlete with the best time performance. At the Milan/Cortina 2026 Olympic Games, the individual event will be contested in skateboard style (on 12 and 13 February).
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