Afton's Jessie Diggins fails to advance in cross-country sprint

February 11, 2014 at 9:45PM
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(Shari L. Gross/Shari L. Gross)

RASNAYA POLYANA, RUSSIA -- Afton native Jessie Diggins failed to make it out of the quarterfinals in the women's sprint free race Tuesday at Laura Cross Stadium.

Diggins finished third in her quarterfinal heat. The top two racers in each quarterfinal advanced along with the two fastest runners-up, or "Lucky Losers."

The biggest shock of the day came when American Kikkan Randall also failed to make it past the quarterfinals. Randall was considered one of the favorites to medal and possibly win in the competition.

Randall led throughout her quarterfinal heat, but she ran out of steam on the final stretch and was passed by three competitors.

American Sophie Caldwell advanced to the finals but she finished a distant sixth.

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about the writer

Chip Scoggins

Columnist

Chip Scoggins is a sports columnist and enterprise writer for the Minnesota Star Tribune. He has worked at the Minnesota Star Tribune since 2000 and previously covered the Vikings, Gophers football, Wild, Wolves and high school sports.

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Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune

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