Winter Olympics 2022: Cross-country skiing preview

Inform your cross-country skiing predictions ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics with insight, analysis, and odds from Pinnacle.

Cross-country skiing once again promises to be amongst the highlights of the Winter Olympics, which are taking place in Beijing in 2022.

Cross-country skiing is one of the original disciplines of the Winter Olympics, having been included in the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, in 1924. While there were just two events in the first Winter Olympics, both for men, cross-country skiing will feature six different events for both men and women in Beijing. They will be split into two different types of skiing - freestyle and classical. Freestyle sees competitors move from side to side, while the technique for classical is based on striding forward.

Where will the cross-country skiing events at the Winter Olympics take place?

All events in cross-country skiing at the Winter Olympics will take place at the Kuyangshu Nordic Center and Biathlon Center in Zhangjiakou. The snowboarding, freestyle skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined, and biathlon events will also take place here.

What cross-country skiing events will take place at the Winter Olympics?

There are Skiathlons for both women and men on February 5 and 6 respectively. This event sees participants complete two stages, one using classical skiing and another doing skate skiing. In the Women's event, there will be two stages of 7.5km, while the Men's will comprise two 15km stages.

The Women's and Men's Sprint Freestyle events take place on February 8, while the Women's 10km Classical is on February 10, and the Men's 15km Classical is on February 11. Then it is Relay time, with the Women's 4 x 5km Relay on February 12 and the Men's 4 x 10km Relay on February 13.

The Women's and Men's Team Sprint Classical takes place on February 16 before the Men's 50km Mass Start Freestyle on February 19. The final event for cross-country skiing, the 30km Women's Mass Start Freestyle, takes place on February 20.

There are 148 places for both women and men, meaning there will be 296 athletes in total competing in cross-country skiing at the Winter Olympics.

Who are the big names to look out for in cross-country skiing at the Winter Olympics?

Norway is by far the most successful country in Winter Olympics history in cross-country skiing, and they look set to lead the way again. Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, especially, has every chance of adding to his country's 121 Winter Olympic medals. The 25-year-old won the Sprint, Team Sprint, and the 4 x 10km Relay four years ago in PyeongChang and repeated that hat-trick at the 2021 World Championships. Having also won gold at the 2021 World Championships in Oberstdorf, fellow Norwegian Emil Iversen looks the one to beat in the 50km Mass Start.

In the women's events, Norwegian Therese Johaug's controversial past means she is not universally popular but remains a superstar nonetheless. The 33-year-old won 4 x 5km Relay gold at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and a bronze and silver in other events four years later in Sochi.

More recently, she won gold in the 10km Freestyle Individual, 15km Skiathlon, 30km Classical Mass Start, and 4.5km Relay at the 2021 World Championships. She also won the 10km Individual at recent events in Rukatunturi, Finland, and Davos, Switzerland, and will be looking to shine in what could prove to be her final Winter Olympics.

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