The 20km mass start free event wrapped up the first weekend of the 2025-26 Cross-Country World Cup in Ruka, Finland.
On the women's side, Sweden's Jonna Sundling skied to her first career Ruka win in 50.24.9. The Olympian mounted a final push that none of the trailing skiers could match, allowing the 30-year-old to secure the victory.
Jessie Diggins, the 2024 Ruka mass start winner, secured second place, just 2.3 seconds behind Sundling. The three-time Olympian for Team USA collapsed at the finish line for the last time after racing the final event of her career in Ruka. The second-place finish was the 80th World Cup podium of the 34-year old's career.
Norway's Heidi Weng took third place and finished 2.8 seconds behind the top spot.
At the end of the first World Cup weekend, Diggins remained atop the leaderboard in points as the overall World Cup leader and was awarded the yellow bib.
On the men's side, Norway took home the top-two spots on the podium. Harald Oestberg Amundsen skied full throttle on the uphill climb to the finish line and won the 20km mass start free in 44:42.5. His teammate, Einar Hedegart, couldn't catch him and finished just 1.9 seconds behind to capture second place. Sweden secured the final spot on the podium after Edvin Anger finished 2.3 seconds behind the top Norwegian.
Team USA's Zak Ketterson finished in 9th place, 13 seconds behind the winner. It was his first individual World Cup top-10 finish. While top skier, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, finished 15th, 18.3 seconds behind his winning teammate.
The skiers head to Trondheim, Norway for the next stop on the World Cup circuit. Competition begins on Dec. 5 with the men's and women's sprint final classic events. All the events in Trondheim also will be Olympic events, so it'll be a great preview of what's to come at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.