Diggins will carry flag for US team

Jessie Diggins, who with teammate Kikkan Randall captured the first Olympic women’s cross-country medal in United States history by winning the team sprint gold, will be the U.S. flag bearer in Sunday’s closing ceremonies.

Participating in her second Olympics, Diggins, 26, won the gold with a powerful late finishing kick to edge Sweden’s Stina Nilsson by 0.19 seconds. She is the first cross-country skier to carry the flag for the U.S. in closing ceremonies. The United States’ only other Olympic cross-country medal was won by Bill Koch in the 30-kilometer event in 1976.

“This is such an incredible honor for me,” Diggins said in a statement issued by the U.S. Olympic Committee. “I’m really humbled and moved that the athletes voted for me. It’s so inspiring to feel the support and cheering from everyone. The coolest thing for me about the Games has been getting to meet other athletes on Team USA, and getting to cheer them on at their events and learn about what they do. I have so much respect and admiration for everybody here and am beyond honored to be able to lead us out of these Games.” The last day of competition is here. Soak up the final stabs at Olympic glory. Start with the new men’s and women’s mass-start speedskating events at 9:30 a.m. (NBCSN), when instead of two skaters racing in separate lanes, up to 28 skaters will race for 16 laps around the 400-meter oval. “I told her ... if I physically could continue for four years, then I probably would, as long as I considered myself still a competitor. But four years is a really long time. I told her that. She said she’s going to keep trying to convince me.”

— U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn, on downhill gold medalist Sofia Goggia’s effort to persuade her to return to the Olympics in 2022