The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is a biennial Nordic skiing event organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The World Championships was started in 1924 for men and opened for women's participation in 1954. World Championship events include Nordic skiing's three disciplines: cross-country skiing, ski jumping, and Nordic combined (the latter being a combination sport consisting of both cross-country and ski jumping). The Winter Olympics from 1924 to 1980 were also the Nordic World Ski Championships. This meant that the Olympic champions were also World champions and received an additional medal from the International Ski Federation (FIS). Since 1985, the World Championships have been held in odd-numbered years.
History The first Nordic Skiing World Championships were held in Chamonix in 1924, as part of the first Winter Olympics, which were only later recognized as such. The competitions took place annually until 1939. From 1925 to 1927, the FIS referred to the events as Rendezvous races, while in the years after that until 1935 they were held as FIS races. Since 1937, the competitions have had the official title of FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. Until the 1980 Winter Olympics, the Olympic champions were also World champions.
The 1940 Nordic World Ski Championships were canceled due to the war, but this was also criticized at the time. The Italian winter sports resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo organized the 1941 Nordic World Ski Championships. However, the FIS subsequently declared these invalid at a congress in Pau in 1946, so that the medals awarded lost their official status and were no longer counted.
With the 1984 Winter Olympics, the rule that the Olympic winners were also World champions was finally abandoned. Since 1985, the Nordic World Ski Championships have taken place in odd-numbered years, independently of the Winter Olympics, in order to avoid an overlap with the Olympics.
The 1980 and 1984 World Championships consisted of a total of only three events; women's 20 km cross-country (1980), ski-jumping team event and Nordic combined team event (both 1984). These events were not held in the 1980 Winter Olympics and 1984 Winter Olympics and therefore got their own World Championships.
Historical notes
The following list shows when new events were added for the first time: 1933, men's relay (cross-country) was added. 1954, women's 10 km and 3 × 5 km relay was added, men's 15 km (cross-country) replaced the 18 km. 1962, men's normal hill (ski jumping) and women's 5 km (cross-country) were added. 1978, women's 20 km (cross-country) was added. 1982, men's ski jumping team large hill and Nordic combined team large hill were added. 1989, women's 15 km was added (cross-country) and women's 30 km replaced the 20 km. 1991, men's 10 km (cross-country) was added. 1993, cross-country pursuit (both genders) were added. 2001, men's ski jumping team normal hill was added and cross-country sprint (both genders) replaced the 10 km (men) and the 5 km (women). 2003, the Skiathlon format was introduced for pursuit races (previously separate races on the same day). 2005, women's 30 km and men's 50 km (cross-country) changed from interval start to mass start. Additionally, cross-country team sprint (both genders) were added. 2009, women's normal hill (ski jumping) was added. 2011, Nordic combined team normal hill was added. 2013, mixed team (ski jumping) was added and team sprint large hill (Nordic combined) replaced the team large hill. 2019, women's team normal hill (ski jumping) was added. 2021, women's Nordic combined with women's large hill (ski jumping) were added. 2023, Nordic combined mixed team event replaced men's team sprint large hill. 2025, men's 10 km replaced the 15 km (interval start, cross-country), women's 50 km replaced the 30 km (mass-start, cross-country), men's and women's 4x7,5 km replaced the men's 4x10 km and the women's 4x5 km (relay, cross-country), men's and women's 20 km replaced the men's 30 km and the women's 15 km (skiathlon, cross-country), men's compact 7,5 km replaced the Gundersen 10 km (normal hill, Nordic combined), women's mass-start 5 km + normal hill (Nordic combined) and men's and women's Para Sprint (separated from Para Cross-Country World Championships) were added.
Editions # Year Location Date Venue Host country Top nation Events Notes — 1924 Chamonix Stade Olympique de Chamonix / Tremplin Olympique du Mont 4 Declared the first Winter Olympic Games in 1926. Declared the first Nordic World Ski Championships in 1965. 1 1925 Janské Lázně — 4 Denoted Rendezvous races 2 1926 Lahti 4–6 Feb Salpausselkä 4 Denoted Rendezvous races 3 1927 Cortina d'Ampezzo 2–5 Feb Trampolino Olimpico 4 Denoted FIS races — 1928 St. Moritz Olympic Stadium / Olympiaschanze 4 Winter Olympic Games 4 1929 Zakopane 5–9 Feb — 4 Denoted FIS races 5 1930 Oslo Holmenkollen 4 6 1931 Oberhof 13–15 Feb — 4 — 1932 Lake Placid James B. Sheffield Olympic Skating Rink / Lake Placid Olympic Ski Jumping Complex 4 Winter Olympic Games 7 1933 Innsbruck 8–12 Feb 5 Denoted FIS races. First with cross-country relay 8 1934 Sollefteå Hallstaberget 5 Denoted FIS races 9 1935 Vysoké Tatry 13–18 Feb 5 Denoted FIS races — 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Olympic Stadium / Große Olympiaschanze 5 Winter Olympic Games 10 1937 Chamonix 12–28 Feb Tremplin Olympique / Stade Olympique 5 First official FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 11 1938 Lahti (2) 24–28 Feb Salpausselkä (2) 5 12 1939 Zakopane (2) 11–19 Feb — (2) 5 — 1941 Cortina d'Ampezzo 1–10 Feb Trampolino Olimpico 5 Declared unofficial in 1946 — 1948 St. Moritz Olympic Stadium / Olympiaschanze 5 Winter Olympic Games 13 1950 Lake Placid ()Rumford () 1–6 Feb Intervales — 5 First championship outside Europe — 1952 Oslo Holmenkollbakken 6 Winter Olympic Games 14 1954 Falun 13–21 Feb Lugnet (2) 8 First championship with women — 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo Stadio della neve / Trampolino Olimpico 8 Winter Olympic Games 15 1958 Lahti (3) 1–9 Mar Salpausselkä (3) 8 — 1960 Squaw Valley McKinney Creek Stadium / Papoose Peak Jumps 8 Winter Olympic Games 16 1962 Zakopane (3) 18–25 Feb — (3) 10 First with normal hill — 1964 Innsbruck Seefeld in Tirol Bergiselschanze / Toni-Seelos-Olympiaschanze / Olympiaregion Seefeld 10 Winter Olympic Games 17 1966 Oslo (2) 17–27 Feb Holmenkollen (2) 10 — 1968 Grenoble Dauphine / Le Claret / Austrans 10 Winter Olympic Games 18 1970 Vysoké Tatry (2) 14–22 Feb Štrbské pleso (3) 10 — 1972 Sapporo — 10 Winter Olympic Games 19 1974 Falun (2) 16–24 Feb Lugnet (3) 10 — 1976 Innsbruck Seefeld in Tirol Bergiselschanze / Toni-Seelos-Olympiaschanze / Olympiaregion Seefeld 10 Winter Olympic Games 20 1978 Lahti (4) 18–26 Feb Salpausselkä (4) 11 — 1980 Lake Placid Lake Placid Olympic Ski Jumping Complex / Olympic Sports Complex 10 Winter Olympic Games. Last Winter Olympics, which were also considered the Nordic World Ski Championships 21 1980 Falun (3) 8 Mar Lugnet (4) 1Non-Olympic event: women's 20 km cross-country skiing. Non-Olympic event 22 1982 Oslo (3) 19–28 Feb Holmenkollen (3) 13 First with team large hill/Nordic combined relay 23 1984 Engelberg ()Rovaniemi () 26 Feb17 Mar Gross-Titlis-Schanze– (5) 2Non-Olympic events: FIN: 3 x 10 km team Nordic combined; SUI: Non-Olympic event: team large hill ski jumping. Non-Olympic events 24 1985 Seefeld 16–27 Jan Seefeld Nordic Competence Centre /Bergiselschanze in Innsbruck (2) 13 25 1987 Oberstdorf 12–21 Feb Schattenberg Ski Jump / Birgsautal 13 26 1989 Lahti (5) 17–26 Feb Salpausselkä / Lahti Stadium (6) 15 27 1991 Val di Fiemme 7–17 Feb Lago di Tesero / Trampolino dal Ben (2) 15 First with 10 km cross-country (men) 28 1993 Falun (4) 19–28 Feb Lugnet (5) 15 First with pursuit 29 1995 Thunder Bay 9–19 Mar Big Thunder 15 30 1997 Trondheim 21 Feb – 2 Mar Granåsen Ski Centre (4) 15 31 1999 Ramsau 19–28 Feb Ramsau am Dachstein /Paul-Ausserleitner-Schanze in Bischofshofen (3) 16 First with 10 km/large hill 32 2001 Lahti (6) 15–25 Feb Salpausselkä / Lahti Stadium (7) 19 First with team normal hill; first with sprint 33 2003 Val di Fiemme (2) 18 Feb – 1 Mar Lago di Tesero / Trampolino dal Ben (3) 18 34 2005 Oberstdorf (2) 16–27 Feb Schattenberg Ski Jump / Ried (2) 19 First with team sprint 35 2007 Sapporo 22 Feb – 4 Mar Miyanomori / Okurayama /Shirahatayama / Sapporo Dome 18 36 2009 Liberec 18 Feb – 1 Mar Ještěd / Vesec 20 First with ski jumping for women; only with Nordic combined mass start 37 2011 Oslo (4) 23 Feb – 6 Mar Holmenkollen (5) 21 First with Nordic combined normal hill relay 38 2013 Val di Fiemme (3) 20 Feb – 3 Mar Lago di Tesero / Trampolino dal Ben (4) 21 First with mixed team ski jumping First with Nordic combined large hill team sprint 39 2015 Falun (5) 18 Feb – 1 Mar Lugnet (6) 21 40 2017 Lahti (7) 22 Feb – 5 Mar Salpausselkä / Lahti Stadium (8) 21 41 2019 Seefeld (2) 20 Feb – 3 Mar Seefeld Nordic Competence Centre /Bergiselschanze in Innsbruck (4) 22 First with women's team ski jumping 42 2021 Oberstdorf (3) 24 Feb – 7 Mar Schattenberg Ski Jump / Ried (3) 24 First with women's Nordic combined individual race First with women's ski jumping large hill 43 2023 Planica 22 Feb – 5 Mar Planica Nordic Centre 24 First with Nordic combined mixed team event 44 2025 Trondheim (2) 26 Feb – 9 Mar Granåsen Ski Centre (6) 25+6 First with women's mass-start 5 km + normal hill (Nordic combined), men's and women's para sprint events 45 2027 Falun (6) 24 Feb – 7 Mar Lugnet (7) 46 2029 Lahti (8) Salpausselkä / Lahti Stadium (9) 47 2031 Oberstdorf (4) Schattenberg Ski Jump / Ried (4)
Medalists by sport Cross-country skiing List of FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in men's cross-country skiing List of FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in women's cross-country skiing Nordic combined List of FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in Nordic combined Ski jumping List of FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in ski jumping
Medal table Table updated after the 2025 Championships. The medals won at the 13 Winter Olympics (from 1924 through 1980) are not included into this table. The medals won at the para cross-country events (in 2025) are also not included.
Multiple medalists Boldface denotes active athletes and highest medal count among all athletes (including these who not included in these tables) per type.
All events Rank Athlete Country Gender Discipline From To Gold Silver BronzeTotal 1 Marit Bjørgen F Cross-country skiing 2003 2017 18 5 3 26 2 Johannes Høsflot Klæbo M Cross-country skiing 2017 2025 15 2 1 18 3 Therese Johaug F Cross-country skiing 2007 2025 14 5 4 23 4 Yelena Välbe F Cross-country skiing 1989 1997 14 3 – 17 5 Petter Northug M Cross-country skiing 2007 2015 13 3 – 16 6 Larisa Lazutina (Ptitsyna) F Cross-country skiing 1987 2001 11 3 2 16 7 Jarl Magnus Riiber M Nordic combined 2019 2025 11 3 1 15 8 Bjørn Dæhlie M Cross-country skiing 1991 1999 9 5 3 17 9 Thomas Morgenstern M Ski jumping 2005 2013 8 2 1 11 10 Eric Frenzel M Nordic combined 2011 2023 7 8 3 18
Individual events Men Rank Athlete Country Discipline From To Gold Silver BronzeTotal 1 Johannes Høsflot Klæbo Cross-country skiing 2017 2025 7 2 1 10 2 Petter Northug Cross-country skiing 2009 2015 7 2 – 9 3 Jarl Magnus Riiber Nordic combined 2019 2025 6 1 – 7 4 Bjørn Dæhlie Cross-country skiing 1991 1999 5 4 3 12 5 Gunde Svan Cross-country skiing 1985 1991 5 2 – 7 6 Vladimir Smirnov Cross-country skiing 1989 1995 4 3 3 10 7 Mika Myllylä Cross-country skiing 1995 1999 4 2 2 8 8 Ronny Ackermann Nordic combined 2001 2007 4 1 1 6 Adam Małysz Ski jumping 2001 2011 4 1 1 6 10 Eric Frenzel Nordic combined 2011 2019 3 1 1 5 Johannes Rydzek Nordic combined 2011 2017 3 1 1 5
Women