2026 World Masters Wrap-Up
Published Wed 04 Mar 2026
This year Australia’s Masters XC ski team was the biggest and most successful ever. The team featured 30 competitors and support team members from across Australia heading to the unique and beautiful ski resort of Sappada, in the Eastern Dolomites of Sud-Tirol, Italy.
Alina McMaster won Gold for Australia in an amazing 10km Freestyle (Skate) race. Alina won the race in a time of 27 minutes and 20 seconds, beating German Irene Schroll by just over three seconds, with Italian Lucia Bianchetti Calandry coming in third. She followed up on her Gold in the 10km Freestyle (Skating) technique with a Silver Medal in the 30km long distance Freestyle race. Alina came second to Lucia Bianchettie Calandry, from Italy, in a time of 1 hour and 35 minutes. Other Australians in her age group race were Jane Scheer in 5th place and Kinga Price in 12th.
The Australian team had some other impressive results over the week of competition. In the middle distance races the team had top ten results in the 15km classic race, with Emma Francis coming in 10th, Alina McMaster 7th, and Kinga Price coming in 8th in the 15km freestyle race. In the larger men’s field, we had some excellent results with Tom Landon-Smith coming in 14th in the 20km classic race, Neil Wylie coming 6th in the 30km classic, and Wayne Pethybridge and Allan Hope coming in 31st in their 15km classic races. Over all distances Kevin Tory was highly competitive, coming in 12th in the 20km classic, 15th in the 10km freestyle race and 16th in the 30km freestyle race. Tom Landon-Smith followed up his initial outstanding result with 12th in the 10km classic race and 23rd in the 30km freestyle race.
But the most amazing thing about the Masters event this year was the awesome participation and improvements made by first and second time, and regular competitors. Some of their best results were Louise Rose placing 17th in two of her classic races; Nicole Clark placing 11th in the 20km classic; Cath Lambert 14th in her 20km classic; Garry Fry 17th in the 10km classic; Carl Johnson and Jim Rutups 41st and 42nd in the 10km classic; David Price 42nd in the 20km classic; Adrian Blake 24th in the 10km classic; Peter Nagel 49th in the 30km freestyle; Robin Collins 20th in the 30km classic; Deb Wohlfahrt 12th in the 15km freestyle; Shayne Hanks 23rd in the 20km freestyle; and David Simpson, Zac Zaharias and Peter Lambert finishing 29th, 30th and 32nd in the 15km freestyle race.
As a result of the team producing some terrific results, Australia blitzed the UK in the XC ski "Ashes" competition. As Alina McMaster said, “This event is so much fun. I’m hooked and will be coming back for more. It really is a great event for all levels of skiers”. So the Australian Masters team is now looking forward to the next Masters World Cup in Tromso, Norway, 25 Feb - 5 Mar 2027.
