Cross-country skiing: instructions for sprinting, a high-intensity event
Spectacular, nervous and unpredictable, the sprint has established itself as one of the major disciplines in modern cross-country skiing. At the Milan/Cortina 2026 Olympic Games, this event will be contested in classic style on 10 February.
The sprint begins with individual qualifications over a course of 1 to 2 kilometres (1.6 kilometres in Val di Fiemme). At the end of this timed round, only the thirty best times advance to the final stages. The qualifying rankings then determine the choice of heats, an important strategic parameter.
The eleventh-placed athlete is the first to choose his or her quarter-final, before the selection is made in descending order down to bib number 1, the leader of the qualifying heats. Athletes ranked 12th to 30th then complete the heats.
The thirty male and thirty female cross-country skiers are then divided into five quarter-finals of six athletes. The top two finishers in each heat qualify for the semi-finals, along with two runners-up from the second round.
There are then twelve athletes, divided into two semi-finals, with the first two in each race, plus two new entrants, advancing to the final. This final is contested by six athletes, with victory going to the first to cross the line.
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