Before the World Cup season began, Jessie Diggins mapped out a training and competition schedule designed to put her in peak form for the Olympics. She got a good sign Sunday that she is on track, earning her first victory of the season in Seefeld, Austria.
The cross-country skier from Afton defeated Norway's Heidi Weng, the overall leader in the World Cup season standings, in a 10-kilometer freestyle mass start race. Skiing in the fast-paced lead pack throughout the race, Diggins charged to the front on the final lap. She pulled away from Weng and third-place Ragnhild Haga of Norway on an uphill portion of the course, giving her enough cushion to hold on for the win in her final race before the Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Diggins enters the Winter Games in third place in the World Cup overall standings. She heads a strong U.S. women's cross-country team into the Olympics, where it will be chasing history. No American woman has won an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing, and the U.S. has only one medal in the sport, Bill Koch's silver in 1976.
"I watched the men's race and saw how Dario won,'' Diggins said, referring to the aggressive hill climb used by Switzerland's Dario Cologna to top the men's field Sunday. "I thought, 'I can do that.'
"I knew that final climb would be important. I tested it early in the race, because I knew I had good skis and wanted to see how the draft effect was working. In the end, it all worked. I'm so happy to get this win.'' □
RACHEL BLOUNT
