Jessie Diggins, Rosie Brennan Continue Olympic Push with Cross-Country Medals
by Alex Abrams
Jessie Diggins competes during the FIS Cross Country World Cup on Dec. 3, 2021 in Lillehammer, Norway.
Rosie Brennan admitted she was back in her element and again in her “happy place” as she raced on snow this weekend.
Brennan and Jessie Diggins continued their push toward the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 with a pair of medal finishes at the cross-country skiing world cup competition in Lillehammer, Norway, this weekend.
Diggins earned a silver medal in the women’s sprint free race on Friday with a time of 3 minutes, 14.42 seconds, just 0.35 of a second behind Sweden’s Maja Dahlqvist at 3:14.07.
Diggins, the defending overall world cup champion and the reigning team sprint Olympic gold medalist, finished first in her semifinal heat in Lillehammer at 3:15.64. Dahlqvist had the fastest time in her heat, and the two skiers pushed each other in the final race. Brennan, who turned 33 on Dec. 2, placed fifth at 3:16.52.
“Working hard and trusting the process…but WOW the process hurts when you’re skiing so hard your legs go numb!” Diggins wrote afterward on Instagram. “Proud to be giving all that my body has for this team, every time.”
Brennan returned Saturday and earned a bronze in the women’s 10,000-kilometer race, finishing with a time of 27:09.7. She was 11.3 seconds behind Sweden’s Frida Karlsson, who won the gold at 26:58.4. Norway’s Therese Johaug took silver at 26:58.7.
Brennan and Diggins capped the weekend by teaming with Hailey Swirbul and Julia Kern for the women’s 4x5K relay on Sunday. The Americans just narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth with a time of 55:03.1. Russia won the gold at 54:40.6, followed by Sweden at 54:41.7 and Norway in third at 54:41.8.
Alex Abrams #
Alex Abrams has written about Olympic and Paralympic sports for more than 15 years, including as a reporter for major newspapers in Florida, Arkansas and Oklahoma. He is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.