The 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics are all about redemption and making history. And truth be told, the participants are not leaving any stones unturned to show their fighting potential. And a US cross-country skier, Ben Ogden, has just etched his name as another bright sportsman. For half-a-century now, an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing was just a dream for the entire America. However, Ogden has made that dream come true.

Today, Vermont native Ben Ogden won the silver medal in the men’s sprint classic. This feat ended the 50-year-old drought of America not having a medal in that sport. He is now the second American male ever to get the podium in the sport, since Bill Koch in 1976. 

To be honest, it’s a huge day for Ogden and the entire America. But the drought mostly happened due to negligence. In countries like Sweden and Norway, athletes get proper funding for this sport. And on top of that, it’s well recognized by the public. In the U.S., it has historically been a niche sport, competing for athletes and funding with mainstream sports like football and basketball.

When Bill Koch won the silver, he revolutionized the sport and placed the popular freestyle skating technique under the spotlight. However, the American government and the people took a long time to become accustomed to it and to take it seriously. After college, American Nordic skiers often face a “funding cliff.” We have seen European athletes getting government or military support to train full-time into their late 20s.

On the other hand, many U.S. skiers retire around age 23 due to financial pressure. It’s just sad, but now with Ben Ogden’s performance, one can just hope that this niche becomes mainstream. The 25-year-old took just 3:40.61 to finish the race. The distance between him and the gold medal was just 0.87 seconds. He was trailing behind Norwegian legend Johannes Høsflot Klæbo at that time.

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In the final, Ogden stayed close to Klæbo for the duration of the race. While Klæbo used a punishing uphill run to pull away, Ogden maintained his pace to hold off Norway’s Oskar Opstad Vike, who took bronze.

While we celebrate Ben Ogden for making history, let’s not forget Alex Hall, who also took home a medal.

Alex Hall receives another Olympic medal

Alex Hall snagged a silver medal in the men’s freeski slopestyle final held today. He was all set to defend his slopestyle title at Livigno, and so he did. At the 2022 Beijing Olympics, he was a major head-turner for his gold medal-level performance. He wanted to repeat that dominance today, but fell on the first rail of his final run. That led to Norway’s Birk Ruud winning the gold. And now, while a level lower, Hall gets another opportunity to stand on that podium.

“I’ve never thought it was, like, ‘I got to defend the gold medal,’” he said Saturday. “I got one. No one’s taking that one from me. I don’t gotta defend nothing, like, you know what I mean?”

Hall got his silver medal with a second-run score of 85.75, finishing narrowly behind Norway’s Birk Ruud (86.28). A fall on the first rail of his final third run ended his chances of overtaking Ruud for the gold. Hall is pretty creative that way. He treats slopestyle as a canvas that he paints as he wants. On the snow, Hall performs unique tricks like the “pretzel” (a mid-air rotation reversal) that set him apart from more conventional competitors.

Hall is the first skier to win X Games gold in four different disciplines: slopestyle, big air, knuckle huck, and real ski. He also landed the first-ever 2160 (six full rotations) in a competition.