(NEXSTAR) - Vermont skier Ben Ogden won the silver medal in the men's cross-country skiing sprint classic on Tuesday at the 2026 Winter Games in Italy. Ogden finished the race less than one second behind the gold medalist from Norway. He reached the final round after advancing through the semifinals as one of the "lucky losers." The silver medal represents the first podium finish for Team USA in the sprint classic event. It is also the second Olympic medal ever earned by an American man in any cross-country skiing competition. “Unbelievable, unbelievable. I just can’t, I can’t put into words. I’m just so thrilled,” the 25-year-old Ogden said. “I’m proud to be the first in the sprint, but there will be more, don’t you worry.” Prior to Ogden's performance in Milan, the previous Olympic best for the United States in the men's classical sprint was 19th place. That finish was recorded during the 2018 Winter Games. The Associated Press contributed to this story. All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by Nexstar. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by Nexstar staff before being published.