Ben Ogden represents the future of American cross-country skiing. At 25 years old, he has already achieved what few U.S. men have accomplished in this traditionally European-dominated sport—World Cup podiums, an Olympic silver medal, and recognition as the fastest under-23 male skier on the World Cup circuit in 2023.
His aggressive racing style and “full-gas-from-the-start” approach have drawn comparisons to the sport’s boldest competitors. But beyond the race results, Ogden’s story is about a Vermont family, a close-knit community, and the patience required to build a career in one of winter sports’ most demanding disciplines.
Growing Up in Landgrove, Vermont
Benjamin Ogden was born on February 13, 2000, in Vermont. He grew up in Landgrove, a tiny community of fewer than 200 residents nestled in the Green Mountains of southern Vermont. The Ogden family has lived there for three generations, with roots that run deep into the town’s history and character.
His great-grandfather, Samuel Robinson Ogden, discovered Landgrove in the late 1920s as a young visitor from New Jersey. Drawn to its simplicity and natural beauty, Samuel purchased land and helped shape the community’s development over subsequent decades, even authoring Vermont planning reports in the 1960s about preserving the state’s character while adapting to modern life.
Ben’s father, John Ogden, was a cross-country skier at Middlebury College who returned to Landgrove to raise his family. John coached the local youth ski league, which he named after fellow Vermonter Bill Koch—the first American man to win an Olympic Nordic medal.
Growing up in this environment, skiing wasn’t just a sport for Ben—it was woven into daily life, family gatherings, and community identity. The Ogden family barn became a central meeting place where Ben and his friends would gather, work on projects, and develop their love for skiing and mechanical tinkering.
Early Introduction to Skiing
Ben started skiing at age five through the West River Nordic Club, where his father coached. Practice wasn’t about rigid training or racing pressure—it was about playing games, skiing through the woods with friends, and building jumps together.
Before he became serious about cross-country racing, Ben was obsessed with freestyle skiing—doing tricks, flips, and rail slides. He idolized Andy Newell, a U.S. World Cup cross-country skier known for incorporating jumps and tricks into his skiing style.
“I remember I just developed a love for being on skis in the backyard with my friends, building jumps and rails,” Ogden recalled in interviews. “We were setting up lights and just playing around all night long, doing 360s, flips and stuff. It was the best.”
This playful foundation built skills and passion that would serve him throughout his competitive career. The joy of simply being on skis—not the pressure to win—became the bedrock of his relationship with the sport.
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A Skiing Family
Ben wasn’t the only talented skier in his family. His older sister Katharine competed for Dartmouth College’s ski team, while his younger sister Charlotte skied for Middlebury College. The Ogden siblings made the family well-represented across New England collegiate skiing programs.
Their father John served as coach, mentor, and supporter through all their competitive years. He watched Ben win the first-ever U.S. men’s medal at the 2018 World Junior Ski Championships, helped him navigate the transition to professional racing, and celebrated his Olympic selection in 2022.
Tragically, John Ogden battled cancer for a decade before passing away in 2023 at age 56—just as Ben’s career was reaching new heights. In his obituary, the family requested that “everyone spend a little extra time outside, be it on foot, on a bike, or on skis, in his honor”—a fitting tribute to a man who lived for outdoor pursuits and raising skiers.
Ben has spoken about how his father’s support during difficult moments, including injuries and setbacks, taught him resilience. John’s emphasis on enjoying the process rather than fixating only on results shaped Ben’s approach to both training and racing.
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Education at Stratton Mountain School and UVM
Ogden attended Stratton Mountain School in Vermont, an institution known for combining rigorous academics with elite-level ski training. The school has produced numerous Olympic and World Cup skiers, providing the structure Ben needed to develop both athletically and academically.
After graduating from Stratton in 2018, he enrolled at the University of Vermont, where he studied mechanical engineering while competing for the UVM ski team. Balancing a demanding engineering curriculum with training and competition required exceptional time management and discipline.
He graduated in 2022 with his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and pursued some graduate coursework while transitioning fully into professional ski racing. According to his Team USA profile, his mechanical interests extend beyond the classroom—he has completely disassembled and is restoring a 1973 Land Rover as a long-term project.
Junior Career Breakthroughs
Ogden’s competitive career gained momentum during his junior years when he was named to the U.S. squad for the 2018 FIS Junior World Ski Championships in Goms, Switzerland. There, he and teammates Luke Jager, Hunter Wonders, and Gus Schumacher won silver in the 4×5 km relay—the first-ever medal for U.S. men at a World Juniors Championship event.
The breakthrough continued at the 2019 Junior World Championships in Lahti, Finland, where the American team improved to gold in the same relay event. Ogden skied the second classic leg alongside Jager, Johnny Hagenbuch, and Schumacher—establishing a core group that would continue competing together at senior levels.
In 2020, the relay team repeated as champions at the Junior World Championships in Oberwiesenthal, Germany, cementing their status as the most successful U.S. junior men’s team in history.
These junior successes provided crucial confidence and international racing experience. They proved that American men could compete with traditionally dominant Scandinavian nations, even if only in glimpses.
NCAA Success at University of Vermont
While competing for UVM, Ogden became a two-time NCAA champion. In March 2020, he won the 10-kilometer freestyle race at the NCAA National Championships in Bozeman, Montana, finishing in 23:50.2 and earning First Team All-American honors.
In 2022, he claimed both the 10-kilometer classic and 20-kilometer freestyle titles at the NCAA Championships, becoming one of only four skiers to win an NCAA championship and compete at the Olympic Games in the same season—a remarkable feat given the scheduling and travel demands of both competitions.
These collegiate victories demonstrated his versatility across distances and techniques (classic vs. freestyle skiing), an increasingly valuable trait as World Cup racing emphasizes all-around ability.
Olympic Debut at Beijing 2022
Ogden made his Olympic debut at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, China, competing in multiple events. His best result came in the freestyle sprint, where he finished 12th—the best-ever individual sprint finish for a U.S. man at the Olympics.
He also competed in the 15-kilometer classic (finishing 42nd) and the team sprint classic style (finishing 9th with his partner). These results, while not medal-contending, represented significant progress for American men’s cross-country skiing.
The Olympic experience taught him valuable lessons about managing nerves and expectations. “My main takeaway from the experience is that even though it’s such a hyped up event, it’s also just another ski race with the same people I race against all year long,” he reflected afterward. “More than that, every other athlete was just as nervous as I was.”
Breakthrough 2022-23 Season
The 2022-23 World Cup season marked Ogden’s arrival as a legitimate international competitor. He won the U23 Green Bib, awarded to the top male skier under 23 years old across the entire World Cup circuit—a first for an American man.
He finished eighth overall in the World Cup standings with 1,118 points, the highest-ever finish by a U.S. man at that time. He also placed 13th in the Tour de Ski, one of the sport’s most prestigious multi-stage competitions.
His consistency across sprint and distance events demonstrated the all-around ability needed to compete at the highest levels. He wasn’t just a sprinter or distance specialist—he could score points in multiple race formats.
First World Cup Podium
At the first stage of the 2023-24 Tour de Ski in Toblach, Italy, Ogden secured his first career World Cup podium with a third-place finish in the skate sprint. His celebration became memorable for an unusual reason—he did a backflip on the podium.
“It was sort of a nod to my younger self. He would have been stoked to see that,” Ogden explained with a laugh in an interview with Olympics.com. “It’s probably been five years since I did a backflip, and I was standing up there thinking; ‘this is my chance to act on a lifelong dream.’ So, I just went for it and didn’t land on my head.”
The playful celebration reflected his personality and reminded everyone that beneath the serious training and competition, he still carried the joy of that kid building jumps in his backyard.
In January 2025, he earned his second career World Cup podium with a third-place finish in the 10-kilometer individual skate race in Les Rousses, France—his first distance podium, proving his range extended beyond sprints.
Racing Style and Approach
Ogden is known for his aggressive, attacking style. The New York Times described his “full-gas-from-the-start” approach and “caution-to-the-wind fearlessness.” He rarely sits in the pack waiting for the final sprint—he pushes the pace from the beginning, forcing others to respond.
“He’s never really seen a race where he doesn’t want to burn from the beginning,” observers have noted. This approach doesn’t always result in victories, but it makes races exciting and positions him to capitalize when competitors crack under the sustained pressure.
His teammate Jessie Diggins, the most decorated American cross-country skier in history, has praised his energy and commitment. She playfully gilds his signature mustache with red and blue glitter before major competitions—a ritual that reflects the supportive team culture among U.S. skiers.
Life Beyond Skiing
Outside of racing and training, Ogden pursues interests that keep him mentally fresh and prevent burnout. His main hobby is restoring a 1973 Land Rover that he completely disassembled years ago. “It started as a little project that has really spiraled out of control,” he admits.
The restoration project aligns with his mechanical engineering background and provides a creative outlet completely separate from skiing. When traveling in Europe for competitions, he watches YouTube videos about car repair and reads Land Rover manuals to keep his mind occupied without fixating on race results.
He’s also skilled at Kendama, a traditional Japanese skill toy. These diverse interests reflect his belief that being a well-rounded person makes him a better athlete. “I’ve learned over the years that I’m so much more effective of a person, and I have so much more desire to be better at what I do when I’m busy,” he explains.
When not traveling for competitions, he lives in Burlington, Vermont, sharing a house with friends including fellow skier and partner Phoebe Sweet. The arrangement provides community and normalcy amid the intense demands of professional skiing.
Physical Profile and Training
Ogden stands approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall with the lean, powerful build typical of elite cross-country skiers. His physique balances the endurance needed for distance races with the explosive power required for sprints.
His training philosophy emphasizes quality over volume during the competitive season, though summer and fall training includes high volumes of easy-intensity work to build aerobic base. He trains with the SMS T2 Team, an elite professional group based at Stratton Mountain, Vermont, when his World Cup schedule allows.
Cross-country skiing demands exceptional cardiovascular fitness, muscular endurance, and technical skill across both classic and skating techniques. Ogden’s engineering background influences his analytical approach to technique, constantly seeking small improvements in efficiency and power application.
Net Worth and Financial Reality
Like most cross-country skiers outside Scandinavia, Ogden’s income comes primarily from national team stipends, prize money, and sponsorships rather than massive contracts. Cross-country skiing is not a sport that generates significant athlete wealth, particularly for non-European competitors.
His sponsorships include partnerships with outdoor brands like Stio and hydration company Bivo, which provide equipment and modest financial support. World Cup prize money exists but is relatively small compared to other professional sports—podium finishes might earn a few thousand dollars.
Net worth estimates for athletes at his level are difficult to determine and rarely disclosed publicly. Most American cross-country skiers support themselves through a combination of national team support, sponsor partnerships, and personal savings, with the understanding that financial reward comes from love of the sport rather than monetary gain.
His engineering degree provides career security beyond skiing. He has mentioned that his “pipe dream” is to someday work for a company like Beta Technologies, a South Burlington aerospace company, after his competitive career ends.
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Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics
Ben Ogden delivered the defining performance of his career at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, winning a silver medal in cross-country skiing. The result marked one of the most significant achievements ever by an American male skier at the Olympic Games.
Ogden’s performance confirmed years of steady progression from junior championships to NCAA titles and World Cup podiums. Competing against athletes from traditional Nordic powerhouses, he executed a controlled yet aggressive race that placed him firmly on the Olympic podium.
The silver medal represented a breakthrough moment not only for Ogden but also for U.S. men’s cross-country skiing, a discipline where Olympic medals have historically been rare. His result validated the long-term development approach taken by American programs and demonstrated that U.S. athletes can contend at the highest international level.
For Ogden, the Olympic podium was not an endpoint but a milestone—evidence that patience, consistency, and belief can translate into results on the sport’s biggest stage.
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