The final day of the 2026 FIS Roller Ski World Championships in Madona, Latvia, brought a second individual world title for Ragnhild Aarekol. The Norwegian won the senior women's 20 km mass start freestyle, crossing the line in 50:23.8 to close a remarkable week.
A tight finish decided by 2.2 seconds
The mass start concluded the championships on Sunday. Aarekol held off Poland's Magdalena Kobielusz by a slender margin of 2.2 seconds. Italy's Maria Eugenia Boccardi followed, just 0.7 seconds further back in third place.
The race stayed compact over the Smeceres sils trails. No breakaway stuck, and the podium came down to a fast final sprint. Aarekol found the speed when it counted.
From sprint silver to a pair of golds
Three days earlier, Aarekol opened her gold account in the 10 km classic interval start. She stopped the clock at 27:27.9, finishing 3.0 seconds ahead of Aleksandra Kolodziej. Between those victories she also took silver in the sprint freestyle, behind home favourite Linda Kaparkaleja.
Her week included a team gold too. Together with Synnøve Kjosavik, Aarekol won the team sprint for Norway, beating Italy by 4.48 seconds. Few athletes left Madona with a deeper medal collection.
Four medals in four days
The championships, staged from 3 to 6 September, drew roughly 200 athletes from 25 nations. Aarekol's record across the programme stood out: one team gold, two individual world titles, and a sprint silver. The Norwegian federation has long treated roller ski racing as a summer proving ground, and her results confirmed the pipeline still delivers.
The mass start gold bookended a week in which she was never far from the front. It was a quiet, efficient sweep, built on positioning, late-race speed, and the composure to turn three near-misses into two world titles.
