Diggins makes history, wins bronze
ZHANGJIAKOU, China — Jessie Diggins said she won the first ever women’s individual medal in U.S. cross country skiing history with an army of support behind her and a strong team beside her.
“I’m just so grateful – that’s the overwhelming emotion because it takes so much from such a huge team to make this happen,” Diggins said late Tuesday night after crossing the finish line in 3 minutes, 12.84 seconds – the first American to do so and good for the bronze.
“We had obviously amazing skis, but also amazing teammates for years and years and years, helping me train, pushing me, supporting me; amazing coaches, amazing volunteer staff. You can’t even imagine how much it took from so many people. I’m just so thankful because I feel like this medal belongs to about 1,000 different people. And I hope they really feel that and know that.”
Four years ago during the Pyeongchang Olympics, Diggins claimed the first ever U.S. cross country team gold medal with Kikkan Randall in the women’s team sprint final.
Now she owns the historic bronze, won in the freestyle sprint – a good event for her and hardly a surprise among the 91 competitors who began the day in the qualifying rounds, where Diggins was seeded 18th.
Racing at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Ski Center was mercifully milder on this day, slightly warmer and considerably less windy than Diggins’ opening race Saturday.
Looking strong and composed in one qualifying round after another, Diggins remained steady in the middle of the six-woman final right out of the gate. Her push uphill for the 1.5-kilometer course was strong as well, but there was little likelihood of catching Sweden’s Jonna Sundling, who finished in 3:09.68 for gold.
So Diggins had to dig in for a medal of silver or bronze.
Leading up to the final, the weather cooled and the course felt different. It took grit, a retest of skis, and the ability to go through opening qualifying rounds, quarterfinals and semifinals, getting stronger and stronger with each one, to push so strongly in the final.
“I knew if I could make it to the semis and the finals, I would be doing better because I’m not a pure sprinter,” Diggins said. “Or at least I don’t think of myself as one. But then also we did retest the skis because the humidity was coming out of the snow.”
It was the final straightaway where Diggins made her biggest move, catching the heel of Sweden’s Maja Dahlqvist, who took silver in 3:12.56.
“I was just so focused on trying to push as hard as I could, and trying to ski as well as I could and stay balanced,” said Diggins. “The snow felt a little greasy, especially in the finishing lane, so just trying to put as much power as I could into every single push. And honestly, that’s all I can remember.”
After sledding through a tough 15K four days ago, in windy and snapping cold conditions, and collapsing from exhaustion with a sixth-place finish, Diggins was primed to medal in this race.
Teammate Rosie Brennan was fourth in 3:14.17, a heartbreaking close finish to the podium, yet a remarkable achievement for the American women.
“I’m so proud of Rosie. She’s skiing so well. And she’s doing everything right,” said Diggins. “And I’m just I’m so proud to be her teammate.”
This was the first Olympic medal for Sundling, the sprint and team sprint world champion a year ago.
Diggins is the most decorated American cross-country skier in world championship history and in 2021 she became the first U.S. skier to win the Tour de Ski.
“It’s been a hard year with a lot of sacrifice, and the number of weddings and friend things and everything that Wade and I haven’t gone to together in order to keep me safe and healthy,” said Diggins, referencing her fiancé. “And it was so special to be able to call him and thank him for all that support just unconditionally.”