Cross-country skiing. Every nation. Every race.
Cross-country skiing. Every nation. Every race.
A Russian state agency says FIS wants Aleksandr Bolshunov to wait until next season for neutral status. Russia’s federation says it has heard nothing. FIS sources told NRK that the softer rules FIS adopted this autumn may in practice entitle him to race, and its board is expected to take up the problem on Tuesday.
The Italian valley named as a back-up host for the 2027 World Championships says it was never asked and could not do it. FIS has told the Swedish Ski Association that a move was not even discussed, and the federation now says it is not lobbying for visa refusals.
The Swedish government has written to the European Commission asking for EU rules that would let member states refuse visas on the basis of citizenship, and for stricter common guidelines until then. Under today’s rules, the Migration Agency can only refuse case by case, and new EU rules are not expected to be proposed before early 2027.
The FIS list of neutral athletes dated 30 October adds 12 Russian and 13 Belarusian cross-country skiers, most of them juniors. None of them has the FIS points needed for a World Cup start, so Russia still has seven eligible men and five women for Ruka. Bolshunov and Stepanova are still missing.
Sweden’s national team has moved its first snow camp from Bruksvallarna to Trysil in Norway and pushed it back four days. Several of the usual Alpine glacier venues have no ski tracks open. The Ruka opener and both Nordic national openers depend on stored snow, and FIS’s formal snow check for Ruka is due on 12 November.
Finland’s ski federation says it will not try to stop neutral Russian athletes from racing at the World Cup opener in Ruka, unlike Sweden’s push to deny visas for Falun 2027. The visa needs an invitation from the organiser, a company the federation owns and its president chairs. The foreign ministry then decides each case individually.
The FIS list of neutral athletes now has 47 cross-country skiers. Two of the ten new Russians have the FIS points to race the World Cup, which gives Russia seven eligible men for six start places. The women’s side is unchanged at five, and Bolshunov and Stepanova are still missing.
Russia’s ski federation has picked eight skiers for the World Cup openers in Ruka and Trondheim, including Aleksandr Bolshunov and Veronika Stepanova. Only three of them have FIS neutral status. On today’s FIS list, Russia could enter five skiers per gender, not the ten it plans.
Russia’s ski federation and several outlets say FIS warned it could move the 2027 World Championships if Sweden refuses visas to Russian neutral athletes. FIS has said no such thing on the record. Its neutral-athlete policy says entry rules are the host country’s call, and that FIS bears no responsibility for refusals.
The Olympic relay champion has not sent FIS the documents it needs to clear her as a neutral athlete. Russia’s ski federation says she is still deciding whether to sign the neutrality declaration. Aleksandr Bolshunov is still waiting for an answer.
The FIS list of neutral athletes now has 37 cross-country skiers, up from 15. Among the new names is Natalia Terenteva, who won the World Cup as Natalia Nepryaeva in 2022. Our check of the points list shows ten Russians could now start in Ruka, twice as many as a week ago.
Coop’s exit after eight years leaves the Cross-Country World Cup without a title sponsor, and FIS is already discussing lower prize money. The 2026/27 World Cup rules show that organisers, not FIS, pay most of the money handed out on race day.
A year after the row over Emil Iversen’s omission from the Ruka opener, the Norwegian ski federation has published its 2026/27 selection criteria. They make the Falun World Championships the season’s main goal, let Tour de Ski races count toward championship selection, and have to work inside FIS’s tighter per-weekend squad limits.
FIS is launching Ski & Snowboard World Cup, a free, ad-supported 24/7 streaming channel for the U.S. and Canada, in November. Cross-country is part of more than 600 hours of live coverage, alongside NBC in the U.S. and CBC in Canada.
The Swedish Ski Association and the Swedish Sports Confederation are lobbying the government to refuse visas to Russian neutral athletes before the World Championships in Falun. Russians raced in Falun and Lahti last season, and Schengen visas make a national block hard to enforce.
Carl’s doping ban ends on 25 November, but she has no FIS points left. Results from her planned comeback races in Gålå only reach the points list on 24 December, so a World Cup start before the Tour de Ski needs an exception from FIS.
FIS will give Russian neutral athletes the same World Cup quota as in 2021/22. But World Cup starts also need FIS points, and eight of the 13 cleared Russians currently have none. Our check of the FIS points list.
Retired since the end of last season, the most successful cross-country skier in U.S. history has picked her next race: the Birkie in Wisconsin on 27 February 2027, which she won in 2024.
The FIS list of approved neutral athletes has tripled in cross-country since August, to 13 Russians and two Belarusians. Only four of them scored World Cup points last season, and the two biggest Russian names are still missing.
After its best Olympics in cross-country, the U.S. starts the new cycle with three men on the A Team, no women on it, three new national team members and a reshaped staff.
A season finale built around the Crystal Globes, with a smaller start field and wild cards, is planned from 2027/28. Italy has also proposed a World Cup stage on roller skis. What FIS has said, and what is still open.
From the Ruka opener on 27 November to the Falun World Championships and the Ulricehamn Finals: the full calendar, what’s new, and where the season will be decided.
Three races, two of them classic, open the 2026/27 World Cup in Ruka on 27–29 November. Formats explained, last year’s results, and what to watch.
Last season a court ordered their readmission. This season FIS set the conditions itself. The timeline, the rules and the impact on racing.
Jessie Diggins retired as three-time defending Overall champion. A look at the 2025/26 standings and who can take over.
Klæbo swept the Olympics and all three Crystal Globes in 2025/26. The numbers show where his rivals stand and where the openings are.