Sammy Smith Continues Climb Taking 23rd in Skate Sprint at Sweden World Cup

Up next Smith to compete this week at U23 Cross Country World Ski Championships in Norway

SVSEF XC Gold Team and U.S. Ski Team member, Sammy Smith, was the second American at the Coop FIS Cross Country World Cup at Falun, Sweden on Saturday. Smith finished 19th in the qualifier earning her a spot in the quarterfinals where she placed fifth in her heat landing her in 23rd overall and not far behind Jessie Diggins who placed 17th.

“It is great to see Sammy skiing right up there with the best in the world!” said Becky Flynn, SVSEF Cross Country Program Director. “Each time she races in the heats, she is learning important tactics that will help her in the future! She has the speed and technical ability to be right in there. We are all excited to see how she will do at the World Junior Championships this week as she has a skate sprint scheduled for Tuesday, March 3.”  

Smith has been on a whirlwind of a race tour—straight from the Winter Olympic Games in Italy to the World Cup in Sweden and immediately onto the 2026 Junior/U23 Cross Country World Ski Championships March 2-8 in Lillehammer, Norway. Her coaches are confident that if anyone can handle it, Sammy can.

Ahead of the Junior Worlds this week, SVSEF XC Gold Team Head Coach Peter Holmes applauded Smith for her strong and courageous performance in Falun. “Sammy had an awesome day in the sprint in Falun. She started with a solid qualifier and then made a really good gutsy move in the quarters. Unfortunately it didn’t stick and her day ended there, but that’s how you need to ski at that level sometimes to move into the semis. We’re both super excited to have her representing Team USA at U23 World Champs in Norway. We’re super excited for her and hopefully will be cheering her all the way to the finals in tomorrow’s Sprint.”

Smith will be racing as a U23 where her first and one of her favorite events is slated for Tuesday in the Skate Sprint. She will potentially race in all U23 events.

U23 Race Schedule (+8 hours to local Lillehammer, Norway race start times)

• March 3 – 2:00 a.m. MT – Skate Sprint
• March 5 – 2:00 a.m. MT – 20km Skate Mass start
• March 7 – 4:30 a.m. MT – 10km Classic Interval start
• March 8 – 4:00 a.m. MT – 4 X 5km relay – Classic/Free

For complete event schedule of the Juniors/U23 World Ski Championships, please visit: https://www.skiforbundet.no/arrangementer/jwsc26/program/ 

For live streaming of the Juniors/U23 World Ski Championships, please visit: https://watch.fis-ski.com/section/Cross-Country 

For live results of the Juniors/U23 World Ski Championships, please visit: https://www.fis-ski.com/DB/general/event-details.html?sectorcode=CC&eventid=62427&seasoncode=2026 

Photo: Reese Brown/NNF