U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced the 18 athletes of the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team that will compete at the 2023 FIS Cross Country World Ski Championships in Planica, Slovenia, Feb. 22 – March 6, 2023.
The 2023 World Championships will take place in the Julian Alps at the Planica Festival Arena, a venue that features both cross country and ski jumping venues. Throughout the 12 days of competition, more than 2,500 athletes and staff members from more than 60 countries will be present.
“We are very excited to bring this group of talented athletes to the World Championships in Planica,” said U.S. Cross Country Program Director, Chris Grover. “We will be arriving at the World Championships with a lot of momentum after finishing the previous period of World Cup with multiple podiums and a ranking of third overall in the World Cup Nation’s Cup. We also will be bringing a very experienced and knowledgeable staff that is dedicated to helping these athletes achieve peak performances at the Championships. Planica has been one of our favorite venues over the years and we are really looking forward to coming back to the Julian Alps.”
For the women, three-time Olympic medalist and four-time World Championship medalist Jessie Diggins, who has landed on the podium seven times in the 2022-23 season alone, leads the women’s team. Along with Diggins are veteran Rosie Brennan, who had a career-best Tour de Ski finish in fourth place overall and several top-10 results; Julia Kern who has nine top-10 finishes this season alone; and Olympians Hailey Swirbul, Novie McCabe, and Sophia Laukli. New to the World Championship roster is young but talented athletes Alayna Sonnesyn and Sydney Palmer-Leger.
On the men’s side, Ben Ogden leads the charge. Ogden has found abundant success in the 2022-23 season, highlighted by a 13th-place finish at the Tour de Ski – the best-ever finish by a U.S. male. 2022 Winter Olympians Scott Patterson, JC Schoonmaker, Kevin Bolger, Luke Jager, and Gus Schumacher made the roster after finding their speed among the strong World Cup field. Zak Ketterson, Hunter Wonders, Johnny Hagenbuch, and David Norris will also travel to Slovenia; Patterson, Schumacher, and Wonders have consistently scored World Cup points throughout the 2022-23 season.
Planica will host six races, each playing to the various individual strengths of the U.S. team. The classic sprint on Feb. 23 will kick it off, followed by the men’s and women’s skiathlon on the 24th and 25th, the team sprint on Feb. 26, women’s 10k freestyle on Feb 28, men’s 15k on March 1, women’s 4x5k team relay on March 2, and the men’s 4x10k relay March 3. The World Champs will culminate with the 30k and 50k classic mass start on March 4 and 5.
All events will stream LIVE on the skiandsnowboard.live platform, with live commentary from five-time Winter Olympian Kikkan Randall and Chad Samela, who is known for his “HERE COMES DIGGINS” call at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
2023 FIS CROSS COUNTRY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM
(Name, hometown, ski club/school, birthday, past World Championship teams)
*Denotes first World Championships team
Women
- Rosie Brennan (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Ski Nordic Center; 12/21/88; 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021)
- Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 8/26/91; 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021)
- Julia Kern (Waltham, Mass.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 9/12/97; 2019, 2021)
- Sophia Laukli (Yarmouth, Maine; University of Utah; 6/8/00; 2021)
- Hailey Swirbul (Aspen, Colo.; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center; 7/10/98; 2021)
- *Novie McCabe (Winthrop, Wash.; Methow Valley Nordic Team/University of Utah; 12/15/01)
- *Alayna Sonnesyn (Stratton, Vt.; Stratton Mountain School, 6/22/96)
- *Sydney Palmer-Leger (Park City, Utah; Stratton Mountain School/University of Utah; 2/4/2002)
Men
- Ben Ogden (Landgrove, Vt.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team/University of Vermont; 2/13/00; 2021)
- Scott Patterson (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center; 1/28/92; 2019, 2021)
- JC Schoonmaker (Tahoe City, Calif; Sugar Bowl Ski Team and Academy; 8/12/00; 2021)
- Kevin Bolger (Minocqua, Wisc.; Sun Valley Gold Team; 4/11/93; 2019, 2021)
- Hunter Wonders (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center; 8/7/98; 2021)
- David Norris (Fairbanks, Alaska; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; 12/12/90; 2019, 2021)
- Gus Schumacher (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Winter Stars; 7/25/00; 2021)
- *Luke Jager (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center/University of Utah; 1/17/00)
- *Zak Ketterson (Bloomington, Minn; Team Birkie 4/2/97)
- *Johnny Hagenbuch (Ketchum, ID.; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation, 10/1/01)
COMPETITION SCHEDULE
2023 FIS Cross Country Ski World Championships—Planica, Slovenia
Thursday, Feb. 23
6:00 a.m. ET – Sprint Qualification, Classic, Men’s and Women’s
8:30 a.m. ET – Sprint Finals, Classic, Men’s and Women’s
Friday, Feb. 24
9:30 a.m. ET – 30k Skiathlon, Classic/Skate, Men’s
Saturday, Feb. 25
8:00 a.m. ET – 15k Skiathlon, Classic/Skate, Women’s
Sunday, Feb. 26
5:30 a.m. ET – Team Sprint, Skate, Men’s and Women’s
Tuesday, Feb. 28
6:30 a.m. ET – 10k, Skate, Women’s
Wednesday, March 1
6:30 a.m. ET – 15k, Skate, Men’s
Thursday, March 2
6:30 a.m. ET – 4x5k Relay, Classic/Skate, Women’s
Friday, March 3
6:30 a.m. ET – 4x10k Relay, Classic/Skate, Men’s
Saturday, March 4
6:00 a.m. ET – 30k, Classic, Women’s
Sunday, March 5
6:00 a.m. ET – 50k, Classic, Men’s
