A day after earning her second victory in three stages of the Tour de Ski, Jessie Diggins' title defense hit a major speed bump in Saturday's Stage 4 classic sprint in Oberstdorf, Germany.
The Olympic gold medalist from Afton was taken down in a collision with Sweden's Frida Karlsson during their quarterfinal, earning Karlsson a disqualification for obstruction and a three-minute penalty.
"Sometimes these things happen," said Diggins, who talked to Karlsson afterward, adding "... We're cool, there's no drama. But it is a bummer because that severely impacts my Tour, and mostly, I feel bad because we had amazing skis today."
Diggins got up after her fall and completed the race, crossing the line in sixth. Her quarterfinal time was unaltered despite Karlsson's penalty, and she did not advance to the semifinals.
She finished 21st and fell from first to third overall in the standings, 38 seconds behind Russian leader Natalia Nerpyaeva, who won Saturday's race. Finland's Kerttu Niskanen is second, 34 seconds behind.
The Tour finishes Monday and Tuesday in Val di Fiemme, Italy.
"I'm just going to focus on moving forward and doing the best I can in these last two stages," Diggins said. "I'm going to go as hard as I can as each day is a new day, so I just want to have the best day I can."
U at Southern Scuffle
Gophers wrestlers Patrick McKee (125 pounds), Aaron Nagao (133) and Isaiah Salazar (184) advanced to the semifinals at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn., with three more losing in the quarterfinals.
McKee, the No. 2 seed in his weight class, outscored three opponents 29-6, while Nagao beat third-seeded Kellyn March of North Dakota State in the morning before pinning Missouri's Trey Crawford in 56 seconds in the quarterfinals. Salazar beat Michigan State's Layne Malczewski 11-9 in the quarters.
The Gophers sat in eighth place in the team standings with 41 points.
