Jessie Diggins’ Strong Finish Paves Way for Cross-Country Silver Medal in 10-kilometer Race

Jessie Diggins in action during the FIS Cross Country World Cup Men's SP F Qualification on Dec. 3, 2021 in Lillehammer, Norway.

Olympic gold medalist Jessie Diggins skied to a silver medal Sunday in the women’s 10-kilometer cross-country freestyle world cup race in Davos, Switzerland.
The 30-year-old from Afton, Minnesota, crossed the line 14.5 seconds behind Therese Johaug of Norway, who took the gold in 23 minutes, 40.1 seconds. Sweden’s Frida Karlsson took the bronze medal, 17.1 seconds behind Johaug.

Diggins’ American teammate Rosie Brennan finished just off the podium in fourth place for the second straight day. Brennan was 24.3 seconds off the winning time.

Hailey Swirbul of Team USA also cracked the top 10, finishing in sixth place. Sophia Laukli posted her career-best world cup showing in 19th place. Novie McCabe earned her first career world cup points in 28th. Other American finishers included Katharine Ogden (43rd), Caitlin Patterson (46th) and Hannah Halvorsen (78th).

Brennan was just 1.1 seconds off Johaug’s pace at the 2-kilometer mark, with Diggins sitting fifth at 9.4 seconds back. At the 5-kilometer mark, Diggins moved into second at 9.0 seconds off Johaug’s pace, with Brennan in third at 10.4 seconds. With 2 kilometers remaining, Karlsson moved into second place at 16.2 seconds off Johaug’s pace, with Brennan at 17.8 and Diggins at 21.3 seconds back.

In the final 2 kilometers, though, Diggins increased her pace and tracked down and passed Karlsson to grab her second podium of the season and first this season in a world cup distance race.
Karlsson leads the overall world cup standings with 400 points, with Brennan in fourth at 328 points and Diggins in fifth at 267.  The season continues next weekend in Dresden, Germany, with a freestyle sprint Saturday and a team sprint Sunday.