Jessie Diggins' Last Olympics Have Started Slow, but Medals Are Still Within Reach

Preview

America’s most decorated cross-country skier Jessie Diggins is poised to earn her fourth or more Olympic medals at the familiar Milan-Cortina 2026 venue in Val Fiemme, a place that conjures warm memories and at which she had a defining career breakthrough 13 years ago. 

Aged just 21 and teamed with Kikkan Randall, the duo blazed to a historic 2013 world championship gold medal in the team sprint in Val di Fiemme, Italy. It marked a first-ever triumph for USA cross-country skiing at the marquee event.

Diggins, now 34, has shown top form this season in the lead-up to her fourth Olympic Games, fittingly, in the familiar Fiemme Valley, nestled in the Trentino-Alto Adige Südtirol region of the Italian Dolomites. It will be an emotional Olympic farewell.

“It was super exciting, that world championship gold with Kikkan was very special for me and the whole 2013 team,” Diggins told POWDER Magazine after a stage victory at the Tour de Ski in Dobbiaco/Toblach, Italy. “That was a team with so many people that I love and care deeply about, so I feel so lucky to have had a career that has spanned some amazing generations of skiers. 

“To get to finish it (her Olympic career) in Val di Fiemme at that venue with all of these people that I love so much, it’s special, and I’m very excited.”

Not only did the accomplished Nordic skier from Afton, Minnesota, storm to gold at the prominent Italian cross-country venue 13 years ago, but she also recently captured her third Tour de Ski title at the Milan-Cortina Olympic venue on January 4.

Diggins hammered home on the brutal final climb of Alpe Cermis, winning the six-stage race in style by a large margin of two minutes and 12 seconds.

As might be imagined, the statement performance against her competitors was a timely confidence booster for her preparation for the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

Diggins kicked off her fourth Olympic Games on Saturday with the women’s skiathlon, finishing in a somewhat disappointing eighth place. She entered the race among the medal contenders but crashed early in the 20-kilometer race and quickly dropped to 21st. The distance lost between her and the top girls was ultimately too much to overcome.

"I’m in the best shape of my life and my body felt really good, but there’s a lot of things that need to come together for a good ski race to happen,” Diggins said, after her opening race of the Milan-Cortina Games.

"There’s a lot of puzzle pieces that need to lock into place and I was really encouraged by the skate (freestyle) half, but the classic half, the things out of my control did not go very well.

"I had that 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.”

In Diggins’ second race, the individual sprint classic on Tuesday, Feb. 10, she felt the effects of competing with bruised ribs and was unable to move past the quarterfinals. Linn Svahn led a powerhouse Swedish squad to a medal sweep. Diggins' U.S. teammate, Julia Kern, qualified for the final, finishing sixth.

Going for Broke

The three-time overall World Cup champion still seems on track to race all six events on the Milan-Cortina Olympic program, but nothing is guaranteed, especially considering her injury from the opening skiathlon.

Diggins could further cement her legacy as the greatest U.S. cross-country skier ever, on the trails of Val di Fiemme, as she has been prioritizing the 10km freestyle on Thursday, the third event on the women’s competition program. Her consistency should serve her well in the event in which athletes start in 30-second intervals. 

At the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Diggins took on a jam-packed program, competing in all six events, while racing to a silver medal in the grueling 30km and nabbing bronze in the opening sprint event.

Four years prior, in PyeongChang, Jessie and Kikkan rekindled their magic of 2013, with Diggins impressively charging down the homestretch for Olympic gold.

Diggins Will Be Missed

Diggins has declared that Milan-Cortina will be her fourth and final Olympics, as retirement from the sport awaits following the season, all concluding on the Adirondack Trails of Lake Placid, New York, March 20-22.

Heading into the Italian Olympic Winter Games, Diggins has amassed 33 World Cup wins and 87 podiums. Off the snowy trails, her vast contributions to Protect Our Winters (POW) and Share Winter are highly commendable.

Her Stifel U.S. Ski Team teammates will surely miss her presence around the race tracks and beyond, her retirement leaving a void in the team, even if she humbly denies it.

Fellow U.S. Olympian Kevin Bolger addressed Diggins saying goodbye to the team, her tremendous influence, and everything that she has represented.

“What Jessie has brought to the team and done for for the program is just incredible and it's cool to see that she is now going to go on to bigger and better things, I hope,” Bolger said. “She's going to leave behind a really cool legacy that I hope that the rest of this team can kind of take it and run with it.”

Her Final Olympics

Diggins shared her priorities for life after Olympic and World Cup races, in which she logged 15 memorable, record-breaking seasons on tour, forever redefining the sport and leaving a new path for U.S. athletes. 

“I just want to enjoy it, honestly, everything since the Minneapolis World Cup has felt like a victory lap, and it's just been super cool,” Diggins says. “I don't want to sound like I'm just happy to be here, but I really am. So, I want to soak it all in, have fun, and just be happy and healthy; that is the biggest goal. 

“Secondly, of course, I want to go after the Olympics with everything that I have. Honestly, my body still seems to enjoy racing a lot, so basically I want to do as many events as I can because it’s my last time, and why not?”