Photo via Linnea Osdigian

Speeding over the hill in small town Gjovik, Norway, sophomore Linnea Ousdigian raced for the first time on international snow. Escorted by the sounds of cowbells ringing and people cheering, Ousdigian crossed the finish line in under three minutes, finishing sixth overall as the youngest person on the under 18 six-woman squad. 

Before qualifying for this international meet, Ousdigian raced at the 2025 U18 Senior Nationals, a skiing competition for athletes age 18 and under in the United States on Jan 2-5. This year, the event was held in Anchorage, Alaska. At only 15 years old, Ousdigian was the youngest person on the U18 national team, meeting the age requirement cutoff exactly. She placed third in the 10k mass start classic race, seventh in the 10k individual start skate and 10th in the 1.4k sprint, scoring 92 points.

At the international meet one month later, Ousdigian skied against multiple Norwegian, Swedish and European junior skiers. The first five days in Norway were designated for athletes to adjust to a different time zone, while the last three were reserved for races. Although Ousdigian became sick shortly after arriving in Norway, she was still able to compete in the sprint event. “[Being sick] was definitely a huge bummer because I was so excited to race and had put so much work into skiing that it sucks anytime I can’t race,” said Ousdigian. Despite this, she ended up placing sixth in her single overall event.

 Two weeks prior, Ousdigian also defended her title as the MSHSL Nordic Ski State Champion. Mounds View Nordic skiing head coach Ian O’Neil emphasized not putting pressure or setting expectations for Ousdigian to win again. “We had a conversation at the beginning of the year that the team didn’t have any expectations for her to repeat as state champion. If she has that goal for herself because she knows she’s capable of it, that’s awesome, but she shouldn’t feel any pressure from us that [winning] is what we expect of [her],” said O’Neil. Even after this talk, Ousdigian herself still wanted to win. “I definitely felt pressured, not just because I won state last year, but also because of my performance in other races. [So] it was definitely a relief to win,” she said.

Even though she has already had a lot of success so far, Ousdigian is still eager to keep improving as an athlete by continuing to ski and train consistently. “[I want to] continue to train hard and especially work on improving the areas I’m not as good at. I think that being consistent is one of the most important parts of training and improving so I just try to be as consistent as I can,” she said. 

Some of Ousdigian’s success this season can also be attributed to being a dual athlete. In the fall, she runs cross country, and in the winter, she does nordic skiing. These two sports go hand-in-hand, as they both require good endurance. “My cross country helps my nordic, and my nordic helps my cross country… the more racing you do, the more experience you get from it and the more your system gets used to it,” she said. She trains yearly, often training every day except for Sundays, usually skiing, strength training, running or doing a combination of the three. 

After such a successful season, Ousdigian’s next one will mark a new beginning as a leader, as she was voted by her peers to become a captain for the Mounds View Nordic season. Her strong leadership roles and her willingness to help underclassmen allowed her to hold a reliable position on the team. “Usually we have all senior captains, so [Ousdigian] being a junior captain is impressive and shows that when she’s around the team she’s displaying leadership,” said O’Neil. “She’ll be alongside some middle schoolers, helping them learn how to ski.”