Jessie Diggins continues to make women’s cross country skiing history at the Beijing Olympics.
The 30-year-old Diggins won the bronze medal in the women’s freestyle sprint Tuesday in Zhangjiakou, China, becoming the first American woman to win an individual Olympic medal in cross country.
“This is absolutely wild,” Diggins said. “And I’m just so grateful. That’s the overwhelming emotion because it’s taken so much from so many people. We had amazing skis. We have amazing teammates who have helped me. We have an amazing support staff. This really belongs to everyone.”
Four years ago, at the Pyeongchang Games, Diggins teamed with Kikkan Randall to win gold in the team sprint, a first for the United States.
Tuesday, Jonna Sundling of Sweden won the freestyle sprint in 3:09.68, finishing 2.88 seconds ahead of teammate Maja Dahlqvist. Diggins was 3.16 seconds behind.
Diggins’ teammate, Rosie Brennan, was just behind in fourth. It’s the first time more than one American has been in a sprint final together.
“That was amazing,” Diggins said of racing with her teammate. “She’s skiing so well.”
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In the men’s cross country sprint, Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo defended his Olympic title, leading the final for the entire race and punching the air when he crossed the finish line with a time of 2 minutes, 58.06 seconds.