Trondheim 2025 puts Para skiers at the heart of the action

The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships Trondheim 2025 (WSC) are the first to feature Para Cross-Country skiers. On 5 March, the Sitting, Standing and Vision Impaired (VI) Sprint Finals will be held in the middle of the day between the Team Sprint Qualifying and Finals in the same stadium. 

Far from being hidden in the program, the Para Sprint Finals will take place before the Team Sprint Finals which, at WSC Planica 2023, yielded the highest television viewing figures for any sports event in Norway that year. Medal ceremonies will also be staged together in the city’s Torvet market square. 

Trondheim 2025 and FIS are awarding record prize money to Para skiers at a WSC with the 24 medalists sharing a pot of NOK 1m ($90,000). Gold medalists will receive NOK 60,000 ($5,400), over seven times more than they did at the Lillehammer 2021 Para Snow Sports World Championships. 

This ground-breaking initiative for inclusion requires a great deal of planning and preparation, especially in terms of access to the course at the Granåsen Arena. Trondheim 2025 and the FIS Para Cross-Country and FIS Cross-Country teams are leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to provide the best possible conditions for all the athletes. 

How Trondheim 2025 will cater to Para skiers 

Trondheim was awarded the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2025 in October 2020, but it was not until some 18 months later that the idea of including Para skiers came about. 

Trondheim 2025 Sports and Operational Director Kristin Mürer Stemland said, “The Paraidrettssentteret i Trøndelag (Trøndelag Para Sports Center) is a state-of-the-art organization located in Trondheim and the first of its kind in Norway. Their dream was to include Para sports competitions for the first time at a Nordic World Ski Championships. 

“They reached out to us in spring 2022 and we loved the idea so we got in touch with relevant stakeholders to see how this could be achieved. Our first point of contact was the Norwegian Ski Federation (NSF) which was already engaged in a commercial initiative with its Para Cross-Country sponsoring partners and hosted the Para Snow Sports World Championships in Lillehammer in January 2022.” 

FIS Sport and Event Director Sandra Spitz reflects, “It was very much a collective decision to include Para at Trondheim 2025. FIS and rights-holder Infront were keen to listen to their requests and we all backed the initiative strongly.” 

With the dates already set and using the rest day “never an option”, the Para Sprint was the most feasible event for inclusion. “Para sports contain many different classes, and we already had a very tight program for the WSC,” explains Mürer Stemland. “We had to choose the discipline with the shortest completion time and lowest complexity as a whole.” 

Accessibility to the course and the infrastructure surrounding it was one of the practical hurdles to negotiate to make the idea a reality. Again, Mürer Stemland was able to find support from a local source. 

“The NSF, and Norway as a whole, has worked hard to include Para athletes in sport over the years and we have used their expertise to find the best solutions,” she explains. “At the same time, it has been important for us as the local organizing committee to build our own competence and understanding of Para sports."

What the athletes think 

Canada’s triple Paralympic gold medalist Natalie Wilkie is “so excited” to be defending her Standing Sprint world title in Trondheim. “It means a lot to me to be recognized on the same level as an able-bodied athlete. FIS has taken meaningful action to create equal opportunities for all athletes, and this is a huge step forward in creating inclusivity in Cross-Country Skiing,” she adds. 

FIS overall Cross-Country World Cup holder Jessie Diggins shares Wilkie’s enthusiasm. “I’m really excited to watch and be inspired by the Para skiers in Trondheim!” says the American. “They work incredibly hard, and I think it’s important for all sports to have inclusion at every level, which also means the World Championships.” 

Ukrainian Sitting Cross-Country skier Pavlo Bal competed alongside able-bodied athletes at September’s Road and Para-Cycling Road World Championships in Zurich. 

“Having this experience in Zurich, I can say that it is very cool to compete with top athletes on the same track and at the same time,” recalled the 38-year-old. “It’s additional advertising and popularization of Para sport.” 

Japan’s reigning Paralympic Standing Cross-Country 20km champion Taiki Kawayoke says he is “proud” to be competing with able-bodied athletes. “There will be high-quality Para skiing and this will increase its reach. I think it’s important because it shows how much Para skiing has progressed.” 

His compatriot Mika Iwamoto adds, “I want people to get to know the sport and see that there’s no need to differentiate between able-bodied and Para skiers. In terms of diversity, having both sets of athletes competing together will help break down barriers.” 

Kawayoke will once again do battle with Mark Arendz in Trondheim. Canada’s three-time world champion hails the move as “a fantastic opportunity to show the Cross-Country world what Para athletes are capable of” and “another important step to growing Para Cross-Country”. 

Arendz believes there is plenty for spectators new to Para Cross-Country Skiing to enjoy. “Look out for the synchronicity of the Visually Impaired athletes and their guides and how they move together,” he advises. “In the Standing category, athletes with various impairments compete against each other and each impairment has its strengths or weaknesses. And watch how the Sitting classes balance raw power and technical finesse while navigating the course.” 

Anja Wicker won four medals at the Östersund 2023 Para Nordic Skiing World Championships, including Sitting Sprint silver. The German says, “It’s really exciting to be a part of the Championships. To have the opportunity on such a big stage to show what we are capable of, and how fun and attractive our Sprint races are is great and a career highlight, for sure. 

Just the beginning 

The initiative has been warmly received throughout Cross-Country Skiing. “The attention has been really great from the sports side, the commercial side, and also in the media,” reveals Mürer Stemland. “Our goal is to give the skiers - both Para and able-bodied - a memory for life and a terrific experience competing at the same venue. 

“Our aim is to provide equal opportunities for the athletes that put the same effort into training, endurance, and focus. They all deserve the same attention, and we are determined to show that the inclusion of Para is possible in a WSC. We strongly hope that WSC Falun in 2027 and WSC Lahti in 2029 will follow our example, and the future should contain a common World Championship.” 

A tight 10-day Cross-Country program at Falun 2027 means no prospect of full Para integration at the next WSC, but Spitz insists, “There could be different scenarios of inclusion. We as FIS should take the time after Trondheim 2025 to evaluate the situation to generate the best outcome for Para and able-bodied skiers, and hold a dialogue with future hosts.” 

FIS Para Cross-Country Race Director Georg Zipfel is delighted by the move and the direction of travel. “This is how I imagine inclusion in practical terms,” he states. “It’s a highlight for the Para athletes to compete side-by-side with able-bodied Cross-Country skiers in Trondheim."

Before the Cross-Country and Ski Jumping World Cup seasons had even started, more than half of all tickets had been sold for the Trondheim showpiece. Sales have been strong for 5 March when the Para Sprint shares top billing with the Team Sprint with Mürer Stemland expecting the Granåsen Arena to be “packed”. 

WSC Trondheim 2025 runs from 26 February to 9 March with tickets available here.