Diggins Powers to Third in Trondheim 10k Skate; Schumacher Leads U.S. Men in 11th
The World Cup weekend in Trondheim, Norway, wrapped up with a 10k skate interval start — one of Jessie Diggins’ premiere race formats — and once again, she delivered. Coming off her first-ever skiathlon win yesterday, Diggins entered the day with all eyes on her. Crossing the line in third, Diggins took home her third World Cup podium of the season, in only six races. Gus Schumacher led the American men, just outside the top-10 by .3 seconds, landing 11th.
With athletes racing the clock in an interval start, the times remained tight from the opening kilometers. Sweden’s Ebba Andersson, third in Saturday’s skiathlon, set an early blistering pace that was only matched by a few. Through the time checks, Diggins was always in contention. The Trondheim course favored those with fast tempo, quick turnovers and the ability to adjust from going up and down. For Diggins, it was all about digging deep from start to finish. At the 4.2k check point, she broke into the top three, sitting just .04 seconds back from Sweden's Jonna Sundling and Ebba Andersson. From there, she never fell out of podium contention.
Sweden’s Moa Illar also had a standout day, surpassing teammate Jonna Sundling’s time and inserting herself into podium contention. By the 9.2k mark — the final time check before the finish — Diggins was 13.3 seconds back in third, narrowly holding off Sundling with the podium.
Andersson ultimately crossed the line as the day’s winner, finishing two seconds ahead of Illar. Diggins attacked the final kilometers with strong closing speed, collapsing at the finish after an all-out effort to secure third place, 16.5 seconds behind Andersson.
The result caps a strong weekend for Diggins: two podiums in two days, and now three podiums in her last six starts. She has been on the podium in 50% of her races so far this 2025–26 season and will continue to wear the yellow World Cup leader bib as the tour heads next to Davos, Switzerland.
"I was super grateful and excited for how the season has started, and it's one of those things where you work so hard in the off-season, but you don't know how it's really going to go until you actually start racing," said Diggins, post-race. "And even then, the season is long. Right now, I'm really grateful that it's been going so well. It's been fun to share it with the team. In terms of today's race, I was fighting for every single second out there. Because you just never know. I mean, you are getting splits, but you never know how anyone else will close. You're just fighting as hard as you can to just cross that finish line with nothing left. And I did that today, and I am proud of that."
The women's race was won by Andersson, Ilar in second and Diggins third. Julia Kern was the next American in 40th, Kendall Kramer 46th, Rosie Brennan 51st, Alayna Sonnesyn 55th and Kate Oldham 63rd.
On the men’s side, Gus Schumacher delivered the top American performance of the day, finishing 11th - 0.3 seconds outside the top 10. He crossed the line 35.4 seconds behind Norway’s Einar Hedegart, who took home his first World Cup win. It was a strong showing for Schumacher, who was eager to rebound after Saturday’s skiathlon. The 10k skate has been a special event for him; it’s the format in which he earned his first career World Cup victory at the Stifel Loppet Cup in Minneapolis. Andreas Fjorden Ree was second and Martin Loewstroem Nyenget third. Zak Ketterson was 23rd, another strong top 30, Kevin Bolger 33rd, Zanden McMullen 43rd, John Steel Hagenbuch 44th, Ben Ogden 49th and Luke Jager 61st.
Now, the team heads to Davos, Switzerland, for a three-race series next weekend before all athletes break for the holidays.
