TESERO, Italy — Frida Karlsson of Sweden won gold at 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics in the 20-kilometer women´s skiathlon at the start of cross-country skiing on energy-draining wet snow.
Top-ranked Jessie Diggins of the United States fell in the early stages of the race and struggled throughout to fight her way forward as the Swedes held onto an early advantage.
Karlsson clocked 53 minutes, 45.2 seconds, ahead of fellow Swede Ebba Andersson by 51 seconds and Heidi Weng of Norway who pushed hard before the finish, ending 1 minute and 26.7 seconds behind.
The 26-year-old Swedish winner appeared unfazed by the snow conditions and performed a flawless ski exchange in the twin-style race, losing chasers early and lapping many at the back.
Confident in her finish Karlsson grabbed a large Swedish flag before crossing the line, hugging her teammate seconds later, cheered on by a large group of traveling fans.
“That was when the moment hit me. I was like, OK this is for real,” Karlsson, who previously won bronze medal in the relay at the Beijing Games four years ago, said after the race.
“I just had so much fun out there and I am really proud of my whole team,” she added according to AP.
At Milan Cortina, both men and women are competing over an equalized 20-kilometre distance for the first time at the Olympics.
Competitors cover half the distance in classic technique before a gear switch mid-race to finish in freestyle. The cloud-covered race on a Dolomite Mountain course familiar to World Cup competitors was on soft snow conditions in a relatively warm 5 Celsius (41 Fahrenheit).
“It was tough conditions out there with very wet snow,” Andersson said. “So, you have to be tough with your head and just try to keep up the pace even though you are really tired.”
Jessie Diggins fell on a bend in the classic stage of the race, and finished in 8th place after a late surge, 2 minutes, 21.1 seconds behind the leader.
Diggins, racing in her final season, tumbled together with Norway’s Karoline Simpson-Larsen but said she was happy with the way performed in the second stage of the race.
“There’s a lot of the things outside of my control. It just didn´t work out for me, but that´s OK,” Diggins said.
“I was very proud of my heart and my grit and the amount of energy and commitment that I brought to, not just today, but every single day in the lead up to this.”
Sofia Goggia had a key role in securing the hosting rights of the Milan Cortina Olympics for Italy.
So, it seemed fitting that the Italian downhiller lit the cauldron in Cortina to conclude the opening ceremony, while retired Olympic skiing champions Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni performed the honors simultaneously in Milan.
Gustav Thoeni, the 1972 Olympic giant slalom champion, was the penultimate torch bearer up on the mountain and handed off to Goggia.
