Jessie Diggins likes to say that happiness is fast. Tuesday, she proved it, winning the opening stage of the Tour de Ski in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
Jessie Diggins begins defense of Tour de Ski title by winning first stage
The Afton native took the early lead as the event unfolded in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
December 28, 2021 at 11:53PM
The defending Tour de Ski champion was cheered by her family — including parents Deb and Clay Diggins of Afton — as she topped the field in a freestyle sprint. Diggins clocked a time of three minutes, 0.12 seconds in the final, besting Norway's Mathilde Myhrvold by 0.13 of a second. Julia Kern of the U.S. was fourth.
The victory was Diggins' first of the World Cup season. She also has three second-place finishes, putting her third in the women's overall standings.
"It was so special for me to have my family here,'' said Diggins, whose parents, sister and fiance traveled to Switzerland to spend Christmas with her. "I came into [Tuesday's race] in a good place, rested and ready to go.''
The U.S. will not name its Olympic cross-country team until mid-January, but Diggins already has met the criteria to make the roster for the Beijing Games. She won both the semifinal and final Tuesday on her way to her 12th career World Cup victory. Last year, she became the first American to win the overall title in the Tour de Ski, an annual multi-stage event.
Tuesday, Diggins cruised to the lead on the second lap of the final and held off Myhrvold and Anamarija Lampic of Slovenia. Kern's fourth-place finish also met the criteria for Olympic selection.
Alayna Sonnesyn, a Plymouth native and Wayzata High School graduate, also competed for the U.S. and finished 58th.
The Tour de Ski continues Wednesday in Lenzerheide with a 10-kilometer classic race for women and a 15k classic for men. The event includes six races in eight days, spread over three cities in Switzerland, Germany and Italy.
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