Diggins Eighth in Olympic Skiathlon
In the first cross country event of the Olympic Winter Games in Milano Cortina, Jessie Diggins led the U.S. contingent in a hard-fought skiathlon to take eighth place.
It was warm and slushy at the Tesero Stadium in Val di Fiemme, Italy, creating tricky conditions for the pack. Despite early challenges, including a fall right at the beginning of the race, Diggins rallied in the skate portion of the event to ultimately cross the line in eighth.
“There’s a lot of pieces that need to come into place and I was really really encouraged by the skate half, but the classic half, the things out of my control did not go very well,” said Diggins. “I had a crash on the first lap where my tip just disappeared in the slush, and unfortunately, it was a tough spot where you lose all your momentum."
The skiathlon - an event combining 10k classic with 10k of skate - was won by Sweden’s Frida Karlsson, who powered away from the field to claim gold with a commanding performance. Her teammate Ebba Andersson took silver, while Norway’s Heidi Weng, who made up several places in the skate leg, rounded out the podium with bronze. Diggins' fall on the first 10k led her to fall back in the mass start pack, and as the classic skis turned to skate, Diggins turned on the jets, and skied the top three fastest skate legs of the field. Though it was not enough for the medal podium, Diggins gained significant ground and showed her shape and form for the days to come.
Julia Kern finished in the top 30, finishing in 24th, as well as Novie McCabe, who showed an impressive skate section to move up to 26th place. Rosie Brennan was 37th after one of the best classic events of her season, where she skied in the top 10 for most of the classic 10k.
Though the race did not produce a medal, it offered promising signs for the races remaining on the calendar. With additional distance and team competitions to come, American skiers will look to build on this foundation and aim for medals in the days ahead.
“It’s nice to know my body is in a good place,” said Diggins. “I’m really happy about that and it’s nice to get things rolling and get into the rhythm of things.”
RESULTS
Women’s Olympic skiathlon
