U.S. Skiers Set For Third World Championships of 2025 in Historic Combined FIS Event in Trondheim

Kendall Gretsch and Dani Aravich should know the routine very well by now.

The two U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing teammates have traveled together around Europe this winter. They’ve stopped in Italy, Slovenia and Norway to race, and they’ve spent time training and enjoying some much-needed rest in Austria.

They’re not done yet, though.

After competing in back-to-back world championships in February, Gretsch and Aravich are preparing to race at their third (and final) world championships this season — this time at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Trondheim, Norway. The Para sprint classic competitions will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of the larger Nordic world championships.

Despite the whirlwind schedule, Aravich, a two-time Paralympian, said she’s feeling rejuvenated heading into Trondheim. After struggling earlier this season while recovering from the effects of mono, she just missed out on medaling in her two standing events last week at a world cup event in Steinkjer, Norway.

Afterward, Aravich wrote on Instagram that she doesn’t know what she’s doing differently that has led to her posting faster times lately, but she hopes it continues.

“The efforts this week, while they didn’t result in podiums, are proof to myself that despite the fatigue and uncertainty this season I am on the right track as we look towards (the Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026),” Aravich wrote.

Aravich and Gretsch, a sit skier, are among five of the top American Para Nordic skiers who’ll compete in Trondheim. They’ll be joined by standing skier Sydney Peterson, sit skier Dan Cnossen and visually impaired skier Jake Adicoff, along with his guide Peter Wolter.

Gretsch, Peterson, Cnossen and Adicoff are Paralympic gold medalists. On Feb. 12, the four skiers teamed up to earn a silver medal in the mixed open relay race at the FIS Para Cross-Country World Championships in Toblach, Italy.

All five U.S. skiers competed in Steinkjer, with Gretsch leading the way with a gold and bronze medal. Adicoff, Cnossen and Peterson also medaled in Steinkjer.

Gretsch and Aravich, meanwhile, are the only Americans who’ll race at all three world championships this winter, giving them several opportunities to face top international competition during a non-Paralympic year.

Para Nordic skiers usually don’t compete in three world championships in a season, let alone three in a month. However, the FIS decided to split the cross-country skiing world championships between Toblach and Trondheim, following the IBU Para Biathlon World Championships in Pokljuka, Slovenia, in early February.

“Typically, we would have a biathlon world championships and a cross-country world championships,” said Eileen Carey, director of U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing. “Having the sprint in Trondheim was a great opportunity for the sport, so FIS decided to split the cross-country world championships into two locations so we could take advantage of that to promote the sport.”

The world championships in Trondheim are part of a much larger event that began Feb. 26 and runs through March 9, with competition in cross-country skiing, ski jumping and Nordic combined. This is the first time Para events will be included in the larger Nordic world championships.

Carey said a world cup event was held a few years ago with both able-bodied athletes and Para athletes. She believes bringing both groups together this week for a world championships will help introduce Para Nordic skiing to more winter sports fans.

“We hear they have sold 200,000 tickets, so it should be a fun atmosphere,” she said.

Gretsch will look to continue the dominance that she has shown so far this season. She won three gold medals at the biathlon world championships. She then followed it up the next week by earning a pair of silvers and a bronze at the first Para cross-country worlds.

Adicoff, competing with guides Reid Goble and Wolter, led Team USA with two gold medals in Toblach, in addition to the mixed relay silver.

Oksana Masters, the most decorated U.S. Winter Paralympian of all time, has been working her way back into shape following a medical scare in November. She had been hoping to race this winter alongside Gretsch, her sit skiing teammate.

However, Masters’ chances of getting back on snow this season took an unexpected turn when another skier accidentally ran into her as she was about to line up for her first race of the season at the world cup in Steinkjer. The 19-time Paralympic medalist ended up going to a hospital to be treated for a rib injury following the collision.

“It was fun to put on a bib again,” Masters wrote on Instagram. “Next time I’ll try to actually race in it. But I will be back, and I’ll be hungrier.”

After the world championships in Trondheim, the Americans will compete in one more European event — a world cup in Torsby, Sweden, from March 8-11 — before returning home to wrap up the season.

Alex Abrams has written about Olympic and Paralympic sports for more than 15 years, including as a reporter for major newspapers in Florida, Arkansas and Oklahoma. He is a freelance contributor to USParaNordic.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc