The U.S. Led The Way In Equal Distance Cross-Country Ski Racing
The U.S women's cross country skiing team were one of the leading voices in race distance equality across the sport.
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Height
5'5"
Age
28
Hometown
Waltham, MA
Education
Dartmouth College
Quick Facts
- Daughter of German immigrants
- Started cross-country skiing when she was only 15 months old
- Enjoys anything outdoors, from climbing, hiking, surfing, mountain biking, swimming, beach volleyball or shooting hoops
- Involved with the Share Winter Foundation, Protect Our Winters, Little Bellas – mentoring young girls on mountain bikes
- Also involved with Youth Enrichment Services (YES) – leading workshops to teach kids how to ski
Biographical Information:
Julia Kern grew up just outside of Boston in Waltham, Massachusetts. She started cross-country skiing at just 15 months old, but continued to play multiple sports growing up, including soccer, basketball and swimming. Kern, the daughter of German immigrants, originally wanted to play college Basketball following her mom, Dorothee who had played Basketball for East German and German national teams before moving to America.
Kern made the U.S. ski team one month after graduating from high school. At age 19, she made her FIS World Cup debut and five years later made her Olympic debut for Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 where she advanced to the quarterfinals and finished 18th in the women’s individual sprint.
Kern is a two-time world medalist, winning back-to-back cross-country skiing medals in the team sprint with teammate Jessie Diggins at the 2023 and 2025 world championships.
Kern graduated from Dartmouth College in 2021 with a degree in economics. Off the snow, she enjoys numerous outdoor activities from climbing, hiking, surfing, mountain biking, swimming, beach volleyball or shooting hoops.
Olympic Experience
- 2-time Olympian
- Olympic Games Milan 2026, 6th (Sprint Classic Style - Women), 24th (2 x 10km Skiathlon - Women)
- Olympic Games Beijing 2022, 18th (Sprint Freestyle - Women), 53th (2 x 7.5km Skiathlon - Women)
World Championships Experience
- Most recent: 2025 – silver (Team Sprint Classic Style - Women), 5th (Sprint Freestyle - Women), 6th (4 x 7.5km Relay - Women), 19th (50km Freestyle - Women), 26th (2 x 10km Skiathlon - Women)
- Years of participation: 2 x 10km Skiathlon - Women 2025; 4 x 7.5km Relay - Women 2025; 50km Freestyle - Women 2025; Sprint Freestyle - Women 2019, 2025; Team Sprint Classic Style - Women 2025; 10km Freestyle - Women 2023; 30km Classic Style - Women 2023; 4 x 5km Relay - Women 2019, 2023; Sprint Classic Style - Women 2021, 2023; Team Sprint Freestyle - Women 2023; 2 x 7.5km Skiathlon - Women 2019
- Medals: 2 (1 silver, 1 bronze)
- Silver – 2025 (Team Sprint Classic Style - Women)
- Bronze – 2023 (Team Sprint Freestyle - Women)
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