China dominant as Trondheim 2025 kicks off with Cross-Country qualifiers

The wait is finally over. The Trondheim 2025 Coop FIS Nordic World Ski Championships kicked off on Wednesday, marking the Cross-Country competition's return to Norway's third largest city for a second time after the memorable 1997 edition.

The season's main event started with an exciting mix of nations rarely seen among the top positions of international Cross-Country competitions, as skiers from Haiti, Colombia and Australia grabbed top-10 spots in the Interval Start 7.5km Classic Qualification Race to qualify for the 10km Interval Start Classic.

Best were however the skiers from China, who made up five of the six podium spots, including a clean sweep in the Women's race that Chen Lingshuang (CHN) won by almost a minute.

In the first race of the World Championships, 59 starting athletes representing 28 different nations battled it out for the Women's top-10 and a ticket to the 10km medal event on Tuesday 4 March.

Chen, with start number 29, started at a high pace and finished 54.9 seconds faster than her teammate Meng Honglian (CHN), who had started with number 22 and had previously held the first place. Their teammate Yilamujiang Dinigeer (CHN) completed the all-Chinese podium, less than two seconds behind Meng.

"It was very good," said Chen, who had won the 4x5km Relay Classic/Free gold medal at the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China, together with Meng and Yilamujiang two weeks ago.

The 23-year-old winner was the only skier who made a time below 23 minutes, with a time that would have given her a top-20 finish in the Men's race. Now she is curious to see how well she will do against the world's best women in the 10km Classic race on Tuesday.

"I feel very good and happy and (in the 10km) I will do the best I can," Chen said.

Australia's Phoebe Cridland, with bib No.40, beat Chen in the first kilometer and was in second place at the 2km mark, crossing the finish line in fourth place, 1:34.3 behind the winner. 

"It was a good day. I felt quite good and it's just nice to be here," Cridland said.

"It was tough. The tracks here are tough. But it was good fun and the conditions are quite nice."

The 23-year-old made her best Coop FIS World Cup result 10 days ago, when she finished in 44th place in the 20km Mass Start Free in Falun, Sweden. In her second World Championships, she hopes for a new distance success on Scandinavian snow.

"My focus is probably on the 10k Classic and the 50k Skate, so it was good to get through this race," Cridland said.

Armenia veteran Katya Galstyan, 32, in her seventh World Championships, clinched the fifth place and will go for a career-first top-50 finish in Trondheim, a 52th place in the Skiathlon in Oberstdorf, Germany, 2021 being her previously best World Championships result.

Jialin Bayani (CHN), who won the Asian Games gold medal in 5km Interval Start Free on 9 February, finished six to make it four out of four Chinese qualifying from the Women's race.

Nina Reidener from Liechtenstein and Ariuntungalag Enkhbayar from Mongolia finished seventh and eighth respectively as Hungary's Sara Ponya and Lara Vanda Laczko grabbed the last two tickets to the 10km race.

"I'm really happy because this was what I wanted," said Laczko, who finished three minutes and 10 seconds behind Chen.

Brazilian veteran Jaqueline Mourao, 49, who has competed at eight Winter and Summer Olympic Games, in Cross-Country skiing, biathlon and mountain bike, won the 5km Qualification Race at Planica 2023 and finished in 63th place in the 10km race, but had to settle for a 17th place this time.

Kuerbanjiang Wuerkaixi (CHN) won the Men's Interval Start 7.5km Classic Qualification Race, 18.6 seconds before runner-up Liu Rongsheng (CHN) and said it was "very good, perfect" to get to compete against the world's best in the Men's 10km Interval Start Classic next week.

"Today was very good. I am a little bit tired but it was nice," said the 24-year-old winner, who made the two 3.75km laps in 20:32.2.

The Chinese top duo had the first and second best times from the 3.2km mark and were the only skiers to finish under the 21-minute barrier.

Micha Buechel from Lichtenstein broke up the Chinese dominance in the first day of action on the Granaasen tracks, claiming the third place 42.6 seconds behind the winner.

Denmark's Joachim Weel Rosbo finished in fourth place, 54.5 seconds after Kuerbanjiang and Haiti's Stevenson Savart finished fifth.

Iceland's Astmar Helgi Kristinsson and Belgium's Samuel Maes claimed places six and seventh as Slovakia's 16-year-old talent Jan Adamov made an impressive effort to finish in eighth place.

Latvia's Jekabs Skolnieks and Magnus Tobiassen (DEN) grabbed the two last spots for the 10km race, the 20-year-old Dane in 10th place beating No.11 Davis Kalnins (LAT) by six 10ths of a second, 1:40.3 behind the winner.

The oldest competitor, 61-year-old Frederick Arthur Crosetto, became Malta’s first participant at a World Championships as he finished 83rd and last of the finishing skiers, 12 minutes and 44 seconds behind the winner.

"There were a couple of falls there, that woke me up," said Crosetto, who picked up the sport two years ago.

"It was a great time, it's been a great race. The FIS people have done a great job here and it has been a lot of fun to be part of the small nations being able to compete. So, it's been outstanding.

"I am a lot older than these guys. I should get a discount on time for every grandchild I have. But it's been great."

The World Championships ending on 9 March continue on Thursday with its first medal events; the Men's and Women's Sprint free. Read more about the favourites to claim medals in Trondheim in this preview.

Click here for full results from the Women's Interval Start 7.5km Classic Qualification Race, here for full results from the Men's race, here for schedule and results for Trondheim 2025 and here to follow FIS Cross-Country on Youtube.