Olympic Selection Ranking

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2025/2026 National Ranking System

The National Ranking System (NRS) is used to rank eligible athletes based on performance at USA Skimo National Cup, USA Skimo National Championship, ISMF World Cup, ISMF Youth World Cup, ISMF World Championship, and ISMF Continental Championship events.

Competitors must have a valid USA Skimo license for the current season. The license holder does not have to be a citizen of the United States of America.

Event Requirements

Scored events must be on the ISMF or USA Skimo calendar at least 1 month prior to the event date. USA Skimo Point system will compute athlete ranking after each event on the following calendars:

  • USA Skimo National Cup
  • USA Skimo National Championships
  • ISMF World Cup
  • ISMF Youth World Cup
  • 2026 ISMF Youth World Championships

Calculation

  • The calculation for each race consists of two components: Race Points and Penalty Points
  • P = 100 * (Tr / T0 ) - 1 + Pn
  • Tr is the racer’s time
  • T0 is the winner’s time
  • Pn is the Race Penalty
  • Race Penalty is calculated as the current discipline NRS points (Start Points) for the competitors who finish in places 1st through 10th. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th lowest points are summed and divided by 3.5.
  • Race Points are calculated on the qualification round for Sprint and Mixed Relay *exception, see Olympic Selection Ranking section
  • Minimum Ranking value of 99 for any competitor without a ranking in the NRS or to fill the Race Penalty calculation for events with fewer than 5 competitors.
  • The Ranking System is calculated independently for Senior (U20+) and Youth (U16-U18) and skimo race discipline:
  • Individual
  • Vertical
  • Sprint
  • Mixed Relay
  • The average of the top 2 scores over the previous 365 days will count towards the discipline ranking
  • Olympic Selection Ranking
  • Determined by the average of the top 2 scores from the following Mixed Relay events. The cumulative time of qualification plus final lap times (2) will be used
  • November 2025 National Team Selection Event Mixed Relay
  • December 2026 Solitude World Cup Mixed Relay
  • Tie Breaker - average of the two scores from Sprint events
  • November 2025 National Team Selection Event Sprint (Qualification plus Final)
  • December 2026 Solitude World Cup Sprint (Qualification)
  • If for the purpose of athlete replacement, or any other reason, additional rankings are needed beyond the rankings produced by the above procedure, additional ranking order will proceed
  • Next, according to athlete scores from the November 2025 National Team Selection Event Mixed Relay
  • Finally, according to the USA Skimo National Team Rankings as of December 8th, 2025.
  • A fixed Penalty of 0 will be applied for the following events:
  • World Cup
  • World Championship (Senior)
  • Olympic Games
  • National Team Selection Events
  • Minimum Penalty will be applied for the following events:
  • Youth World Cup 15
  • World Championships (Other than Senior): 15
  • In the event that U16 & U18, or U20 and Senior do not compete on the same race track, an adjustment will be made to normalize the U16 and U20 Race Points.

*The fundamentals of this ranking system are based on the FIS Point List for Cross Country skiing. Modifications were made, where necessary, to tailor the system to skimo.

Example 1: WC result, Race Penalty of 0 applied

Example 2: Race Penalty of 22.74 applied (21.13+24.23+34.23)/3.5 = 22.74