Cross Country - 2024/25 Season Wrap
Published Sun 01 Jun 2025
The 2024/25 season for AUS XC will go down in the history books for the feats of a rising star who went where no other Australian athlete has gone before.
Rosie Fordham’s silver medal at the Under 23 World Championships marked a new high mark in the history of Australian cross country skiing. Her incredible performance in 10km Freestyle in Schilpario, Italy was the first time an Australian athlete had ever finished on a cross country podium at any World Championship event.
It was part of a breakthrough season for the now 23-year-old, who competed at just two World Cups last season before becoming an established member of the senior team this year. A month after her silver medal Fordham went on to record Australia’s best ever Open World Championship individual result when she fought hard to claim 20th place in the 50km Freestyle at Trondheim 2025.
Many other Australian athletes contributed to what is undoubtedly Australian cross country skiing’s best ever international season. Ten athletes raced on World Cup in 2024/2025, with Australians contesting events at every World Cup location in the season for the first time ever. Eleven athletes were selected for the World Championship, ten to the World Junior/U23s and seven to the World University Games
World Championship
It was the team events at the World Champs in Trondheim that showcased the current depth of the Australian Team. For the first time ever, Australia fielded full men’s and women’s teams in both the 4-person Relay and the 2-person Team Sprint events.
In the Team Sprint Fordham combined with Ellen Søhol Lie to reach the final of the Team Sprint for the first time, where they finished 15th. The pair then teamed up with Tuva Bygrave and Phoebe Cridland for 4x7.5km Relay, in which they achieved Australia’s all-time best result of 12th.
The men’s Team Sprint combination of Lars Young Vik and Seve de Campo narrowly missed the final in 20th place, up again a record field of 42 teams. Joined by Bentley Walker-Broose and Fedele de Campo, the Australian men were also 20th in the Relay. This was the first time the Australian men avoided being lapped in the World Championship Relay since 1993.
Individual highlights from Trondheim included Lars Young Vik’s 33rd place in the Freestyle Sprint, just 0.2 seconds outside of making the final. If that’s not cut-throat enough, Vik went on to finish 31st in the Lahti Sprint World Cup in Lahti three weeks later with a margin from 30th place of 0.02 seconds!
The World Championship was also notable for the number of solid mid-field results. The women’s 10km Classic was a great example, with Fordham, Lie, Cridland and Bygrave finishing in 37th, 41st, 42nd and 44th place respectively, from a field of 114 starters (including athletes who didn’t qualify through from the 7.5km qualification event).
The closing Mass Start Freestyle events were incredible spectacles, with over 100,000 fans lining the course for the men’s event (not as many for the women’s 50km as it was held in drizzling rain).
Seve de Campo saved his best performance of the championship until last, finishing 50th in the 50 (just up from his 52nd place finish in the 10km), with Bellingham leaving everything on the track to claim 60th place as the last of the 75 starters to avoid being lapped out.
Fordham’s gruelling 20th place finish in the soft and slow snow of the women’s 50km, ahead of many higher ranked athletes (including world #1 Jessie Diggins), was a testament to her resilience. The previous best individual Australian result was 22nd by Jessica Yeaton in the 15km Skiathlon in 2019.
World Cup
A record number of World Cup points were scored by Australians this season. Fordham made it into the top 50 seven times, with a personal best of 33rd in the 10km in Lillehammer. Cridland achieved her best two performances ever at World Cup level - 44th in Falun and 41st in Oslo - both coming in 20km races. Bygrave also scored World Cup points twice, 47th in the 20km in Falun and a personal best 39th in the 10km in Cogne.
On the men’s side Vik’s 31st in the Lahti Sprint was a big step up from his previous best this season, 48th in the Sprint in Cogne. Hugo Hinckfuss made the top 50 twice, both times 44th place in 10km Freestyle events, in Les Rousses and in Cogne.
Another World Cup milestone this season was multiple Australians completing the famous Tour de Ski over the New Year Period. Seve de Campo finished the gruelling enduro for the second straight year (52nd) while Phil Bellingham completed the Tour for the first time (57th)after missing the time cut-offs in previous editions.
Bentley Walker-Broose came agonisingly close to also finishing the Tour de Ski on his first attempt. Walker-Broose battled through to the 6th stage in Val di Fiemme after illness towards the end of the Toblach stages, only to be eliminated by the jury in the 20km Skiathlon in Val di Fiemme just seconds before his final lap as the leaders closed in for the finish sprint
World University Games
Another major event in 2025 was the World University Games in Pragelato in Italy. The Australian Team was comprised of Walker-Broose, Fedele de Campo, Hannah Price, Isabella Moon, Noah Bradford, Adam Barnett and Vincent de Souza.
The runner-up in the 2024 Australia New Zealand Cup, Price scored the highest individual results of the championship, 22nd in the 20km Classic. The best men’s individual result was de Campo’s 31st in the Sprint, closely followed by Walker Broose’s 36th place in both the 10km and 20km.
Again, a relay event produced a highlight of the games, with the men’s team of de Campo, Walker-Broose, Bradford and Barnett finishing 8th in the 4x7.5km relay ahead of top ranked nations such as Czech, Norway, the USA and host nation Italy.
World Junior / U23 Championship
Last and certainly not least, back to the World Junior / U23 Championship in Italy. Though Fordham’s silver medal set the cross country skiing world on fire, other Australian results were highly commendable.
For the second year in a row Jayden Spring made the finals in the World Junior Sprint, this time qualifying in 18th place. The 19-year old led his quarter final for much of the race, before fading to 6th and ending up in 27th place. This is now the 4th year in a row Australia has achieved top 30 World Junior results, previously only achieved back in 2003.
The youngest athlete on the team, 16-year-old Satara Moon from Jindabyne, impressed in her World Junior debut finishing 44th, 47th and 47th in the 20km, Sprint and 10km events. Unfortunately the other female junior athlete selected to the team, Heli Laajoki, was unable to compete after having a concussion in training days before the start of the championship.
The U23 Mixed Relay team of Hinckfuss, Fordham, Isabella Moon and Noah Bradford fought hard to take 16th place in the 4x5km event. Other athletes making debuts at this championship included Vincent de Souza in the U23 events, and Samuel Johnson and Clancy Harvey in the Junior events.
Nation Ranking
Wrapping up the 2024/2025 season, Australia ended up in 3th place for women and 15th for men on the Olympic Nation Ranking list, exceeding pre-season hopes and expectations. This brings with it quota places for four women and three men for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milano – Cortina, with also a prospect of additional places when reallocation takes place in January next year.
Many thanks to all the athletes, coaches, wax technicians and other support staff who enabled the achievements of this season!
2025 World Championship Team
Rosie Fordham, Tuva Bygrave, Phoebe Cridland, Ellen Soehol Lie, Lars Young Vik, Seve de Campo, Fedele de Campo, Bentley Walker-Broose, Liam Burton, Phillip Bellingham
2025 World Junior/U23 Championship Team
U23: Rosie Fordham, Isabella Moon, Hugo Hinckfuss, Vincent de Souza, Noah Bradford
Junior: Satara Moon, Heli Laajoki, Jayden Spring, Clancy Harvey, Samuel Johnson
2025 World University Games Team
Hannah Price, Isabella Moon, Bentley Walker-Broose, Noah Bradford, Fedele de Campo, Vincent de Souza, Adam Barnett
