MILAN — The great thing about sports and in particular the Winter Olympics is that predictions mean, literally, nothing.

In a medal almost no one saw coming, Ben Ogden took silver Tuesday in what in cross-country skiing is called the sprint — the first American medal in men’s xc ski since Bill Koch in 1976.

Fifty years of nothing and, in just over three minutes, bang. 

“It’s a dream, you know?” Ogden, 25, who grew up in Landgrove, Vermont (2020 U.S. Census: population 177), said afterward.