The Norwegian venue, host of the 1994 Winter Olympics, was unable to host competition last season due to uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite ongoing worries over the pandemic, skiers and ski jumpers have arrived in Lillehammer for this weekend’s event.

Competition will begin tomorrow with a sprint event, held with free technique.

Sweden’s Maja Dahlqvist will seek victory in the women’s event, after winning the classic sprint in Ruka in the season opener last week.

Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, Italy’s Federico Pellegrino and Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov are expected to compete for victory in the men’s event.

The women’s 10 kilometres and 15km freestyle events will be held on Saturday (December 4).

Sweden’s Frida Karlsson and Norway’s reigning World Cup champion Therese Johaug will be among the contenders in the women’s race.

The pair secured one win and a second-place finish apiece in Ruka.

Karlsson leads the early World Cup standings after three of the season’s 21 races.

Reigning men’s World Cup champion Alexander Bolshunov assumed the leader’s bib after winning the 15km pursuit in Ruka.

The Russian skier will be among the favourites over the same distance in Lillehammer.

The Cross-Country World Cup event in Lillehammer will conclude with two relay events.

Men’s teams will complete a 4x7.5km event, while women’s squads will contest a 4x5km race.

The Lysgårdsbakkene Ski Jumping Arena is also poised to host competition over the weekend, with back-to-back women’s Ski Jumping World Cup events.

A normal hill event will take place on Saturday (December 4), with the large hill held on Sunday (December 5).

 Slovenia’s Ema Klinec leads the early World Cup standings after recording first and second-place finishes at the season-opening event in Nizhny Tagil.