Anttola storms to Finland’s first U23 Worlds gold with 10km masterclass

Niko Anttola won Finland’s first gold medal of the FIS Junior and U23 World Ski Championships in Lillehammer, Norway, as he finished first in the U23 Men’s 10km Interval Start Classic on Saturday.

The 23-year-old, who was part of the Finnish team that finished fourth in the Men’s 4x7.5km Relay at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, beat silver medallist Casper Kvam Grindhagen (NOR) by more than half a minute. Sweden’s Anton Grahn claimed bronze.

”It feels very good,” Anttola said.

Starting as No. 20, Anttola opened the race at a furious pace and recorded the fastest times from the 1.4km mark onwards. After the first of two laps, he had a 7.9-second advantage over the first chaser. In the second lap, Anttola kept increasing the gap.

”The plan was to open with control and then keep up with the group until the finish,” he said.

The victory proved he did not skip the Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup stage in Lahti, Finland, this weekend in vain.

”It was a tough decision where I would compete this weekend,” Anttola said.

”But I’m happy with my choice and now I’m done with the under-23 races and will hopefully compete in the World Cup in the next years.”

Grindhagen was well aware of his opponents’ times when he started as the 44th skier. The best skier starting after him, Oleksandr Lisohor of Ukraine, finished 36th. After 5km, the home hope had been in third place, 13.7 seconds behind Anttola. Jiri Tuz, with start number 28, who was second, however, ran out of steam in the second lap and at the 7.6km mark, Grindhagen had beaten his time, taking over second place.

The Trondheim skier kept the pace for the remainder of the race to clinch the silver medal, making up for his 12th place in Thursday’s 20km Mass Start Free.

”I was a bit disappointed after the (20km) skate so I had to do better today,” the 21-year-old said.

”I was also racing in the Norwegian Cup (5km Interval Start Classic in the SPAR Norgescup Senior Skeikampen on Friday), so I was kind of struggling with cramps in the second lap and was a bit tired, but I think I did a good last 1k, so I’m happy today.”

He is one of many talents – including the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) – produced in Trondheim.

”In Trondheim and Byaasen, you can’t do anything but skiing when you’re like 10 to 20, so we’ve just got to keep skiing,” Grindhagen explained about the Norwegian ski talent factory.

He hopes to conclude the championships with the Mixed 4x5km Relay Classic/Free on Sunday. Plan B is another Norwegian Cup start.

”I hope I can race the relay tomorrow. If not, I’ll do a 30k skate tomorrow. We will see,” he said.

Last year’s U23 Sprint world champion Grahn enjoyed being able to win a distance medal. The 21-year-old was eighth after the first lap but paced his race well and moved into a podium position with 1.5km left to ski. With start number 30, he crossed the finish line 39.2 seconds behind the winner.

"It feels really good. I’ve been waiting a long time for a good distance race, to show that I’m not only a sprinter, so it feels really good to take this third place today,” Grahn said.

After competing at the Olympic Winter Games, he preferred another championship to the World Cup stages in Falun, Sweden, and Lahti.

”It feels like I had a lot to do here in Lillehammer and it feels really cool to do the U23 championship,” Grahn said.

Grahn is also aiming for Sunday’s relay.

”I hope so. If I get the chance I will go and hopefully go for the first place. It will be really fun,” he said.

Matyas Bauer of Czechia finished fourth, 43.2 seconds behind the winner, and Tobias Ganner (AUT) completed the top five. Tuz, who had been in second place after the first lap, finished sixth, 49.3 seconds behind Anttola.

Ingebrigtsen dominated from start to finish

Eva Ingebrigtsen (NOR) won the Women’s 10km Interval Start Classic gold medal on Saturday to end the individual U23 World Championships on a high.

The 21-year-old had been 0.7 seconds from the gold medal in the 20km Mass Start Free on Thursday, when Canada’s Alison Mackie clinched the title ahead of her.

On Saturday, no one could get close to Ingebrigtsen, with start number 20, as she set the fastest times throughout the entire race.

Her winning time was 32.8 seconds faster than that of silver medallist Marina Kaelin (SUI). France’s Leonie Perry, who had finished third in the 20km Mass Start, made it back-to-back bronze medals as she completed the podium, 1:03.6 behind the winner.

”It feels very good. I didn’t know what to expect before the race today. It was a very good day on Thursday, but you never know if it’s a good or a bad day,” Ingebrigtsen said.

Her tactics had been to try to save energy for the second lap.

”I’m known to open a little bit too fast so I tried to just stay calm as I needed to have a little bit more to push with in the last lap,” she said.
”But it’s never too slow when I open so it was very hard in the last round. But it felt good.”

Next up for the winner is Sunday’s relay. After that, she has set her sights on the longest distance of the World Cup season at the Holmenkollen course in Oslo, Norway, next Saturday.

”I really hope I’ll ski the 50k in Holmenkollen. I’m not sure how that would feel – I’ve never skied a 50k before, so it’s a little nerve-racking but I think that would be fun,” Ingebrigtsen said.

Kaelin, with start number 42, had been racing against Ingebrigtsen’s times and kept calm throughout the race even though she was 19.9 seconds behind the leader after 3.5km.

”I knew that I shouldn’t start too fast, because in the middle (of the course) there is quite a lot of uphill and it gets tough, so with the other categories, there were a lot of gaps (between the skiers), so it (the gap to Ingebrigtsen) didn’t really bother me,” Kaelin said.

She kept her patience and her second place until the finish line to pick up her second U23 World Championship medal, after winning the 20km Mass Start Free in Planica, Slovenia, two years ago.

”It’s really cool,” the 22-year-old said.

She trains together with her older sister Nadja, 24, who won an Olympic 50km Mass Start Classic bronze and a Team Sprint Free silver at Milano Cortina 2026 last month.

”It’s fun that you can train with someone who you know is on a high level,” Marina Kaelin said.

”She’s my sister, we grew up together and that’s how it’s always been.”

Perry was surprised by her bronze medal.

”It was a very good race, because I literally cracked in the last lap,” the 21-year-old said.
”I thought I’d finish 10th but I gave all that I had today and I finished third, so that was very incredible.”

Perry prefers to compete in freestyle technique and was pleased to perform well in a Classic race.

Evelina Crusell (SWE) finished fourth, 1:11.4 behind the winner, as Oline Vestad (NOR) and Mali Eidnes Bakken (NOR) made it three home skiers among the six best.

The FIS Junior and U23 World Ski Championships end on Sunday with the Junior and U23 Mixed 4x5km Relays Classic/Free, where Perry hopes to finish on top of the podium.

”I hope that the team are in good shape and I think we can do the best and take the first place,” she said.

Click here for full schedule and results from Lillehammer 2026, and here to follow FIS Cross-Country on Youtube.