At the first Olympic Winter Games (OWG) in Chamonix in 1924, only 4% of the competitors were women. Female participation has steadily increased over the decades, rising to 20% at Squaw Valley in 1960, 30% at Lillehammer in 1994, 40% at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and is expected to reach 47% at the Milano Cortina 2026 OWG.1 Nordic skiing, a core component of cross-country skiing (XCS), biathlon (BIA), and Nordic combined (NC), will feature in 22% of the 116 total events and 60% of the 43 endurance events. Male XC skiers have competed in the OWG since its inception in 1924, but it wasn't until the 1952 Oslo Games that Lydia Wideman became the first female Olympic gold medalist in XCS. Biathlon saw its Olympic debut for men at the 1960 Squaw Valley Games, while women were first allowed to compete in 1992, with Anfisa Reztsova earning the first female Olympic gold in the discipline. Despite NC being part of the OWG for men since 1924, female NC athletes remain excluded and will not compete at the 2026 OWG. A 2017 commentary2 examined the evolution of training among champion XC skiers, highlighting that, prior to 1970, most top athletes in the sport were male lumberjacks. These men developed exceptional endurance and strength by running or skiing long distances to and from logging sites while working physically demanding, long hours in the woods. At the time, few women participated in XCS, and prevailing attitudes among coaches suggested that women could not handle the same training loads as men. However, the 1970s marked a turning point as women began training with similar loads as men, disproving misconceptions and driving advancements in their physiology, training, and performance. Although data on female skiers' training and physiology lagged behind that of their male counterparts for many years, research in this area has expanded significantly in recent decades. This invited lecture will provide current insights into the long-term development of female skiers, focusing on: 1) key characteristics of the long-term development of successful athletes; 2) unique aspects of the female-specific development process, including training and performance during adolescence, the impact of the menstrual cycle, the use of hormonal contraceptives, and training during pregnancy and postpartum; and 3) sex differences in performance, physiology, and training. Finally, future directions to further support the development of female skiers will be discussed.
© Copyright 2025 10th International Congress on Science and Skiing, January 28 - February 1, 2025, Val di Fiemme, Italy. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.