Chinese athletes take four 20km Interval Start Freestyle titles out of six in Toblach, as Nilsen and Adicoff add to their gold hauls

On the final day of competition in Toblach (ITA), Zhongwu Mao, Vilde Nilsen and Jake Adicoff completed individual doubles at the 2025 Para Cross-Country World Championships with China taking their tally to five golds.

The 20km Interval Start Freestyle races were held on Friday at the Toblach 2025 Para Cross-Country World Championships, but heavy snow forced organizers to delay the start by half an hour while the course to be groomed.

Shiyu Wang of People’s Republic of China fairly flew home to take her first world title in the Sitting category which was held over five 4km laps. Wang trailed Kendall Gretsch by over a minute with two circuits to go, but the 25-year-old closed that gap to just 10 seconds at the end of lap four before winning by 24 seconds.

Wednesday’s 10km Classic winner Anja Wicker was over three minutes further adrift in third place with Panpan Li fourth.

The hard luck story of the race belonged to Brazil’s Aline dos Santos Rocha. The 10km Classic silver medallist looked on course for victory after a fast start, but fell on a downhill section on lap three and broke a ski binding. She lost several minutes changing skis and dropped to the back of the field before eventually taking fifth place.

“It was really, really hard,” said Wicker. “I didn’t know where to set my poles because there were so many holes in the track. And I’m sorry about Aline and her broken ski. She did a really good race until this point so I’m sorry for her. It was really tough today.”

Zhongwu Mao completed an individual double in the men’s Sitting category after his 10km Classic success on Wednesday.

The 38-year-old led from the start with Cristian Westemaier Ribera heading the chasers. Pavlo Bal, part of Ukraine’s victorious Open Relay team, moved into second on lap two but was a minute off the pace with Peng Zheng passing the Brazilian for third.

Ribera soon retook Zheng to take bronze, but the front two were safe in their respective positions with Mao a clear victor by a minute and 15 seconds.

The Vision Impaired (VI) and Standing athletes raced on a longer 5km course taking in an ascent of a large bridge. And Yue Wang made it three golds out of three for China on the final day in Toblach in the women’s VI category.

Having finished fourth in the 10km Classic, Beijing 2022 Paralympic silver medallist Wang - with guide Hang Lui - established an early lead which she had extended to 33 seconds with one lap to go. Wednesday’s hero Simona Bubeníčková (guide David Srutek) closed on the final circuit, but could not catch the 25-year-old who clinched her first World Championship medal.

Czech teenager Bubeníčková was 12 seconds behind at the finish and “happy” with her silver medal in “hard conditions”. Carina Edlinger and guide Jakob Kainz took bronze for Austria after their 10km Classic silver.

Vilde Nilsen completed a hat-trick of golds in Toblach in the women’s Standing category. After her wins in the 10km Classic and Mixed Relay, she made a steady start with Natalie Wilkie and Zhiqing Zhao leading her on the first circuit.

But the 24-year-old Norwegian made her move on lap two, going into a lead which she built on in the second half of the race. Nilsen finished over a minute clear with Wilkie claiming her second silver in Toblach despite only deciding to race at the last moment due to an injury. Ukraine’s Open Relay gold medallist Oleksandra Kononova overhauled Zhao on the final lap to take bronze.

Nilsen now has 10 golds at World Championships, and can look forward to competing on home snow in March when the Sprint events are held at the Trondheim 2025 Nordic World Ski Championships (WSC).

When asked how she felt about winning three medals in as many days, she replied, “I feel actually very good. I was wondering if I should go another lap! But very happy with my race. I thought on the first lap, ‘Oh my God, the wind here is having a super day today.’ But then I started to trust more in myself and just go my own race.

Jake Adicoff was in a class of his own in the men’s VI, adding to his 10km Classic gold and Mixed Relay silver. After going into a lead of a minute on the opening lap, Adicoff continued to move further clear of the field.

With guide Peter Wolter, the 29-year-old California native secured his fourth world title by just over three minutes. France’s Anthony Chalencon (guide Florian Michelon) took silver as Sweden’s two-time gold medallist from Espot 2023, Zebastian Modin (with Emil Jönsson Haag), earned his first medal in Toblach in third.

“It felt good from the start,” reflected Adicoff.

The final gold in Toblach went to Chenyang Wang in the men’s Standing category with China sweeping the podium.

Wang was only ninth in Wednesday’s 10km Classic, but clearly brought his A game to the longer event. The Beijing 2022 Paralympic gold medallist led teammate Xiaobin Liu from the start with Mingyang Qiu in third place.

In the end, the 23-year-old won by a minute and a half from Liu with Qiu 14 seconds further back. Wednesday Taiki Kawayoke came closest to disrupting the Chinese procession, but was a minute back in fourth.

China’s four titles saw them top the medal table in Toblach with five gold, two silver and three bronze medals. Norway were next on three golds and a silver, with USA third on two golds, two silvers and a bronze.

Norway stages the remainder of the Para Cross-Country season with Steinkjer hosting the Para Cross-Country World Cup Final at the end of the month. This is swiftly followed by the World Championship Sprint events in Trondheim on 4-5 March where para skiers will compete alongside their able-bodied counterparts at a WSC for the first time.