Parity is still gaining ground in the Olympic movement. The International Ski Federation (FIS) announced in a press release: men and women will compete the same distances on the stages of the cross-country skiing World Cup. The decision was approved by a majority (57%) in a vote by the FIS cross-country skiing committee. It will still have to be validated by the Council of the body at its next meeting, scheduled for May 26. The press release explains: “ The main argument for equality of distances was that there should be no question about women's ability to run the same distances as men, since they have proven that they are already physically capable. The main argument against was the time women need to cover the same distance as men, and the effective television time. » Currently, the Olympic cross-country skiing program has different distances for women (10 km, 15 km in skiathlon, 30 km in mass start) and men (15 km, 30 km and 50 km). The relays are also contested in different formats (4×5 km for women, 4×10 km for men). The new World Cup format will include 10 km, 20 km and 50 km races for both sexes, plus the 20 km skiathlon. The FIS did not specify how relay distances would change. Equality of distances in cross-country skiing was already applied at the Junior World Championships and the Youth Winter Olympics. The FIS will have to decide whether to implement this change also at the world championships, and not just at the World Cup.
