What a performance by Federico Pellegrino! © ANSA / HANNIBAL HANSCHKE

The icing on the cake: Pellegrino's crowning finale

Italy's cross-country skiing superstar Federico Pellegrino wrote his own personal fairytale on Saturday in Lake Placid (USA).

March 21, 2026

From: det

Federico Pellegrino is ending his illustrious career after this season. And this career is getting its icing on the cake right at the very end. In his very last career sprint, the unleashed 35-year-old ran to victory. It's almost too good to be true!

Pellegrino is a true icon of cross-country skiing. Four Olympic medals, seven World Championship medals, two Crystal Globes, 22 World Cup victories, and 41 other podium finishes – these are outstanding figures that the Aosta native has amassed in recent years. The sprint has always been Pellegrino's signature discipline, where he celebrated all his triumphs. And now, in his very last appearance in this discipline, he was able to celebrate one last victory.

He runs away from everyone.

In the absence of Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, who sat out Saturday's race, Pellegrino was incredibly strong from the start in Lake Placid, posting the second-fastest qualifying time. He won his quarterfinal heat convincingly, had a close call in the semifinals, but still managed to reach the final. And there, "Chicco" left everyone behind. Norway's Lars Heggen finished second, and Sweden's Anton Grahn came in third.

"My career couldn't have ended better." Federico Pellegrino

For Pellegrino, it's his first sprint victory since December 2022. "I felt a lot of energy during the warm-up and gave it my all in the race. My career couldn't have ended better," said an overjoyed Pellegrino. Just how strong the Aosta native has been this year is evident in the individual standings: he's third in the overall World Cup and also third in the Sprint World Cup.

In the women's race on Saturday, Sweden swept the podium, with Linn Svahn taking first place ahead of Jonna Sundling and Maja Dahlqvist. The World Cup season for cross-country skiers concludes on Sunday with the 20-kilometer mass start races.