Ogden, Schumacher Win Silver In Olympic Team Sprint
Ben Ogden and Gus Schumacher won silver in the men's team sprint in Val di Fiemme, finishing 18:30.35 behind Norway's Klaebo and Hedegart.
Overview
Ben Ogden and Gus Schumacher won silver in the men's Olympic team sprint in Val di Fiemme with a time of 18:30.35, finishing 1.37 seconds behind Norway.
The medal marked Team USA's third cross-country podium at these Games and was Ogden's second medal at the Olympics.
Ogden said "It's insane" and that the USA are "here to stay," and Schumacher called the result his "proudest moment."
Norway's Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Einar Hedegart won gold, giving Klæbo his fifth gold of these Games, his 10th Olympic gold and 13th Olympic medal overall.
Jessie Diggins and Julia Kern fell short in the women's team sprint and are expected to ski the women's 50-kilometer race—the first time women have been allowed the same endurance distance as men—while Ogden and Schumacher are expected in the men's 50k.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame this as a U.S.-centric, celebratory breakthrough: they lead with American success ("unprecedented silver," "strongest pair"), foreground U.S. athlete quotes and history while treating Norway's win as expected. Structural emphasis and upbeat language elevate American achievements and marginalize rival perspectives and context.
Sources (3)
FAQ
Ben Ogden's silver medal marks the first time a U.S. man has reached the podium in Olympic cross-country skiing since Bill Koch's silver medal in 1976—a 50-year gap.[1][2] Ogden and Schumacher are described as the strongest pair of U.S. male skiers ever to race in the men's Olympic team sprint, making their silver medal unprecedented for American men in this event.[1]
Norway has been extraordinarily dominant. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo won his fifth gold medal in five events at these Games, bringing his total to 10 Olympic golds—the most gold medals of any athlete ever in Winter Olympics history—and 13 Olympic medals overall.[1]
The upcoming women's 50-kilometer endurance race represents the first time women have been allowed to ski at the same endurance distance as male skiers in the Olympics.[1] Jessie Diggins and Julia Kern are expected to compete in this historic event, which Diggins will enter as her final professional competition before retiring next month.
Jessie Diggins made history eight years ago at the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea by winning gold in the team sprint with Kikkan Randall—the first time in decades that a U.S. cross-country skier had reached the Olympic podium and America's first-ever gold in the sport.[1] This victory launched a barrier-shattering career that includes four Olympic medals total. She is retiring after competing in the 50-kilometer race next month in Lake Placid, New York.
Ogden and Schumacher demonstrated their readiness through strong performances leading into the Olympics. In January 2026, just weeks before the Games, they won bronze at the Goms World Cup in Switzerland—the first podium ever for American men in the team sprint event, signaling the rise of U.S. cross-country skiing heading into the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics.[3]
History
This story does not have any previous versions.