Norway's Heidi Weng won the Women's 20km Skiathlon Classic/Free in Falun, Sweden, on March 1, 2026, marking her first individual World Cup victory since 2022. She edged out Jessie Diggins of the United States by 0.1 seconds in a thrilling sprint finish, with Sweden's Frida Karlsson taking third place. The 34-year-old Norwegian's success came after a strong attack on the course's steep climb.
Heidi Weng ended a four-year drought for individual World Cup wins by triumphing in the Women's 20km Skiathlon Classic/Free at Falun, Sweden, on Sunday, March 1, 2026. Her last victory had been the 10km Mass Start Free at the Tour de Ski's Final Climb in Val di Fiemme, Italy, on January 4, 2022. This marked her 11th World Cup win, following 23 podium finishes in the interim period.
The race unfolded with intense competition among the leading trio of Weng, Olympic Skiathlon champion Frida Karlsson of Sweden, and overall World Cup leader Jessie Diggins of the United States. Entering the final kilometer, Karlsson led, with Weng close behind and Diggins slightly further back. Karlsson maintained the lead through the downhill section, but Weng overtook her in the last right-hand turn into the home straight, pushing to victory. Diggins surged late to finish second, just 0.1 seconds behind, while Karlsson secured third.
Weng's strategy focused on the infamous 'Mördarbacken' climb during the final lap, where she accelerated to break away from a group of nine skiers, leaving only Karlsson and Diggins to follow. 'I feel so good,' Weng said post-race. She added, 'When I saw that it was only Frida and Jessie left, I felt that ’OK, that’s a podium today’. But then I feel like today is my day and it was quite good.' On her tactic, she noted, 'I tried to go fast in the murder hill the last time, to hope that everyone could get stiffer than me, so I feel that it was a good plan.'
Karlsson expressed satisfaction with third place, stating, 'It was much better than I thought, so I’m super happy.' She had missed the Olympic 50km Mass Start Classic the previous Sunday due to illness but achieved her second World Cup podium of the season. Sweden's Linn Svahn finished fourth, 11.3 seconds behind Karlsson, followed by Dariya Nepryaeva of AIN in fifth.
Diggins extended her overall World Cup lead to 1,619 points, ahead of Sweden's Moa Ilar with 1,400 points. The French skiers lagged, with Juliette Ducordeau in 24th (+2:33), Delphine Claudel 32nd (+3:55), and Mélissa Gal 43rd (+7:22) out of 46 finishers. The World Cup continues in Lahti, Finland, on March 7-8 with a sprint and 10km interval start.
