GB to be represented by largest Nordic squad in recent years

Britain will be represented by 21 athletes in Cross-Country competitions in the coming year following confirmation of squad selections for the 2025/26 season. 

With the Milan-Cortina Olympic Winter Games on the horizon, James Clugnet, Joe Davies, Gabriel Gledhill, Andrew Musgrave, and Andrew Young will form a five-athlete World Cup squad and will be training and competing again this season alongside international athletes with the support of Team Aker Daehlie in a private team set up. Musgrave will be especially looking to build on his World Cup success of last season where he won bronze in Toblach at the Tour de Ski and achieved an additional four top 10 positions at the highest level, including a sixth and seventh place finishes at the World Ski Championships in Trondheim in March.  

Two returning members of the Continental Cup squad, Beinn Horsfall and Tabitha Williams, will be joined by Anna Pryce, with the 23-year-old transferring to the British line-up having previously trained and competed as part of the Canadian system. 

Seven skiers will form an expanded Performance squad, with long-standing British team members being joined by first-time selected William Hughes.  Ewan McAdam and Elke Hammerstein have been promoted from last season’s Junior squad, the latter also having stepped up to compete in the U23 relay race (alongside Williams and Gledhill) at the World Junior & U23 Ski Championships, despite being in the Junior age category, where the U23 mixed relay team achieved an impressive Top 10 result. 

Returning members of the Junior Squad include Elspeth Cruickshank, Sophie Forth and Rasmus Ipsen who competed at the European Youth Olympic Festival in February. They will be joined by newly selected Haakon Tveit and new recruits Rufus Hinks and Charlie Williams whose selection is pending a successful nation transfer from the USA and Canada respectively. 

Lewis Briscall and Jack Somerset, meanwhile, have been invited to train with the Performance and Junior squads respectively, as non-squad athletes. 

The 21 athletes selected mark the biggest squad selection for British Cross-Country athletes in recent years, and comes on the back of a series of highly encouraging performances across the World Cup, World Championships, and World Junior & U23 Championships last season, as the team gears up for the final season of racing in the Milan-Cortina Olympic cycle. 

Commenting on the team selection, GB Snowsport Performance Director Kearnan Myall said: 

 “This year’s Cross-Country squad is a really strong unit that we can rightly expect to see big things from coming into the new season. Last year saw some impressive results and performances across the board, and we know that this group of athletes and the team around them will be pushing themselves hard to go one better this year. 

“Congratulations to every athlete selected across the four squads announced today; their selection is testament to the hard work, dedication, and talent that has got them to this point.” 

World Cup squad member Joe Davies said:

“This is a huge season for me personally and for the whole squad, and we’re all ready to get started. Last year we saw some really good results and performances right across the British Cross-Country team, and we’re all looking to build on that as we head into this season.

“Obviously there’s a lot of excitement about Milan-Cortina in February, but everyone on the team knows that the hard work has already started. We’ve got a big pre-season to come this summer, and then it’s about being ready to hit the ground running once the racing gets underway.”

The squads will be spending the coming months in training camps across Europe and North America including the traditional European roller ski racing competitions, before the first Cross-Country races of the 2025/26 season get underway, including the World Cup opener in Ruka, Finland at the end of November.  

Full Squad selections:

World Cup Squad 

• James Clugnet 
• Joe Davies 
• Gabriel Gledhill 
• Andrew Musgrave 
• Andrew Young 

Continental Cup Squad 

• Beinn Horsfall  
• Anna Pryce (new selection following change of nation) 
• Tabitha Williams  

Performance Squad 

• Cameron Cruickshank  
• Thomas Duncan  
• Logan Duncan 
• Elke Hammerstein 
• William Hughes (new selection) 
• Ewan McAdam 
• Catherine Stow 

Junior Squad 

• Elspeth Cruickshank 
• Sophie Forth 
• Rufus Hinks (new selection following change of nation) 
• Rasmus Ipsen  
• Haakon Tveit (new selection) 
• Charlie Williams (new selection following change of nation) 

Non-Squad Training Invitations 

• Lewis Briscall (invited to train with Junior squad) 
• Jack Somerset (invited to train with Performance squad)