| Host city | Lahti |
|---|---|
| Country |  Finland |
| Events | 11 |
| Opening | February 18, 1978 |
| Closing | February 26, 1978 |
| Main venue | Selpausselkä |
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1978 took place February 18–26, 1978 in Lahti, Finland. This was Lahti's record fourth time hosting the event after previously doing so in 1926, 1938, and 1958. The women's 20 km event was added.
February 21, 1978
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold |  Józef Łuszczek (POL)
|
49:09.37 |
| Silver |  Yevgeny Belyayev (URS)
|
49:11.62 |
| Bronze | Juha Mieto (FIN)
|
49:14.37 |
February 19, 1978
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Sergey Savelyev (URS)
|
1:32:56.00 |
| Silver | Nikolay Zimyatov (URS)
|
1:33:48.23 |
| Bronze | Józef Łuszczek (POL)
|
1:33:52.21 |
February 26, 1978
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold |  Sven-Åke Lundbäck (SWE)
|
2:46:43.06 |
| Silver | Yevgeny Belyayev (URS)
|
2:47:34.48 |
| Bronze |  Jean-Paul Pierrat (FRA)
|
2:47:52.27 |
February 23, 1978
| Medal | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Sweden (Sven-Åke Lundbäck, Christer Johansson, Tommy Limby, Thomas Magnuson)
|
2:05:17.63 |
| Silver | Finland (Esko Lähtevänoja, Juha Mieto, Pertti Teurajärvi, Matti Pitkänen)
|
2:05:28.95 |
| Bronze |  Norway (Lars-Erik Eriksen, Ove Aunli, Ivar Formo, Oddvar Brå)
|
2:06:48.37 |
February 20, 1978
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Helena Takalo (FIN)
|
18:53.50 |
| Silver | Hilkka Riihivuori (FIN)
|
18:58.49 |
| Bronze | Raisa Smetanina (URS)
|
19:01.30 |
February 18, 1978
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Zinaida Amosova (URS)
|
37:01.72 |
| Silver | Raisa Smetanina (URS)
|
37:13.37 |
| Bronze | Hilkka Riihivuori (FIN)
|
37:23.43 |
February 25, 1978
| Medal | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Zinaida Amosova (URS)
|
1:13:00.85 |
| Silver | Galina Kulakova (URS)
|
1:13:08.11 |
| Bronze | Helena Takalo (FIN)
|
1:13:57.95 |
February 22, 1978
| Medal | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Finland (Taina Impiö, Marja-Liisa Hämäläinen, Hilkka Riihivuori, Helena Takalo)
|
1:13:25.08 |
| Silver |  East Germany (Marlies Rostock, Birgit Schreiber, Barbara Petzold, Christel Meinel)
|
1:13:29.74 |
| Bronze | Soviet Union (Nina Rocheva, Zinaida Amosova, Raisa Smetanina, Galina Kulakova)
|
1:13:39.88 |
February 19–20, 1978
| Medal | Athlete | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Konrad Winkler (GDR)
|
435.24 |
| Silver | Rauno Miettinen (FIN)
|
431.66 |
| Bronze | Ulrich Wehling (GDR)
|
430.83 |
February 18, 1978
| Medal | Athlete | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Matthias Buse (GDR)
|
253.2 |
| Silver | Henry Glaß (GDR)
|
251.7 |
| Bronze | Aleksey Borovitin (URS)
|
250.0 |
February 25, 1978
| Medal | Athlete | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Tapio Räisänen (FIN)
|
256.6 |
| Silver |  Alois Lipburger (AUT)
|
256.3 |
| Bronze | Falko Weißpflog (GDR)
|
255.8 |
February 22, 1978. No medals awarded.
| Rank | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Germany (Harald Duschek, Jochen Danneberg, Henry Glaß, Matthias Buse)
|
443.8 |
| 2 | Finland (Jari Puikkonen, Jouko Törmänen, Pentti Kokkonen, Tapio Räisänen)
|
401.0 |
| 3 | Norway (Rune Hauge, Roger Ruud, Tom Levorstad, Per Bergerud)
|
396.6 |
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soviet Union (URS) | 3 | 5 | 3 | 11 |
| 2 | Finland (FIN) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| 3 | East Germany (GDR) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | Sweden (SWE) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Poland (POL) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | Austria (AUT) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | France (FRA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Norway (NOR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (8 entries) | 11 | 11 | 11 | 33 | |
