Jessie Diggins


Jessica "Jessie" Diggins is an American cross-country skier. She and teammate Kikkan Randall won the United States' first ever cross-country skiing gold medal at the Winter Olympics in women's team sprint at Pyeongchang in 2018. Diggins was named to the United States Ski Team in 2012.

Early life and education

Jessie Diggins was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and grew up in Afton, Minnesota. She has one sister, Mackenzie. Diggins began skiing at age 4. She showed prowess for skiing at age 11 when she started competing against older children. Diggins graduated from Stillwater Area High School.

Career

Diggins won a gold medal with Kikkan Randall in the team sprint in the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2013 in Val di Fiemme. Two years later she won the silver medal in the 10 kilometer free style race in the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2015 in Falun.
Diggins was named to the U.S. team for the 2014 Winter Olympics. In her first event, the 15 kilometer skiathlon, she placed 8th with a time of 40:05.5.
In the 2015/2016 World Cup, she placed 8th in the overall and sprint rankings and 9th in the distance ranking.
At the 2017 Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland, Diggins took two medals: in the freestyle sprint, she won her quarter-final and semi-final heats on her way to taking the silver, ahead of team-mate Randall in third. Subsequently, in the classic team sprint, Diggins and Sadie Bjornsen finished third, catching and passing the Swedish team in the closing stages of the race to take the bronze by 0.19 seconds. This made Diggins the first American to take four World Championship medals in cross-country skiing.
Diggins finished third overall in the 2017–18 Tour de Ski, becoming the first American to finish on the podium in the overall classification, and beating her previous best of fifth overall in the previous edition. Her teammate Sadie Bjornsen finished ninth overall, also making it the first time that two Americans finished in the overall top ten.
During the 2018 Winter Olympics she and Randall became the first American cross-country skiers to capture a gold medal by winning the women's team sprint at the Alpensia Cross-Country Centre in PyeongChang, South Korea.
At the end of the games she was chosen as the flag bearer for the United States at the closing ceremony.
Diggins is also an ambassador for the non-profit organization Fast and Female, which works to inspire girls from ages 8–18 to be active and empowered in sports.
In addition, Diggins is an ambassador for the 501 non-profit organization Protect Our Winters, or POW, whose aim is to affect systemic solutions to climate change through the outdoor sports community. Diggins travelled with POW to Capitol Hill in April 2018 to raise concerns over climate change.

Cross-country skiing results

Olympic Games

Year Age 10 km
individual		 15 km
skiathlon 		30 km
mass start		 Sprint 4 × 5 km
relay 		Team
sprint
201422—840129—
20182655765Gold

World Championships

Year Age 10 km
individual		 15 km
skiathlon 		30 km
mass start		 Sprint 4 × 5 km
relay 		Team
sprint
201119—28—299—
20132123—DNF—4Gold
201523Silver—DNF—48
201725—DNF5Silver4Bronze
20192725—4855

World Cup

Season standings

Individual podiums

No.SeasonDateLocationRaceLevelPlace
12015–168 January 2016 Toblach, Italy5 km Individual FStage World Cup1st
22015–1623 January 2016 Nové Město, Czech Republic10 km Individual FWorld Cup3rd
32015–1620 February 2016 Lahti, Finland1.6 km Sprint FWorld Cup2nd
42015–161 March 2016 Gatineau, Canada1.7 km Sprint FStage World Cup3rd
52015–1612 March 2016 Canmore, Canada10 km Pursuit CStage World Cup3rd
62016–173 December 2016 Lillehammer, Norway5 km Individual FStage World Cup1st
72016–173 January 2017 Oberstdorf, Germany5 km + 5 km Skiathlon C/FStage World Cup2nd
82016–176 January 2017 Toblach, Italy5 km Individual FStage World Cup1st
92017–181 January 2018 Lenzerheide, Switzerland10 km Pursuit FStage World Cup3rd
102017–187 January 2018 Val di Fiemme, Italy9 km Pursuit FStage World Cup3rd
112017–1830 December 2017
– 7 January 2018		 Tour de SkiOverall StandingsWorld Cup3rd
122017–1828 January 2018 Seefeld, Austria10 km Mass Start FWorld Cup1st
132017–187 March 2018 Drammen, Norway1.2 km Sprint CWorld Cup3rd
142017–1811 March 2018 Oslo, Norway30 km Mass Start FWorld Cup2nd
152017–1818 March 2018 Falun, Sweden10 km Pursuit FStage World Cup1st
162017–1816–18 March 2018 World Cup FinalOverall StandingsWorld Cup2nd
172018-1929 December 2018 Toblach, Italy1.3 km Sprint FStage World Cup3rd
182018-191 January 2019 Val Müstair, Switzerland1.4 km Sprint FStage World Cup3rd
192018-193 January 2019 Oberstdorf, Germany10 km Pursuit FStage World Cup3rd
202018-1916 February 2019 Cogne, Italy1.6 km Sprint FWorld Cup1st
212018-1917 March 2019 Falun, Sweden10 km Individual FWorld Cup3rd
222019-201 December 2019 Rukatunturi, Finland10 km Pursuit FStage World Cup3rd
232019-207 December 2019 Lillehammer, Norway7.5 km + 7.5 km Skiathlon C/FWorld Cup2nd
242019-2015 December 2019 Davos, Switzerland10 km Individual FWorld Cup3rd
252019-204 January 2020 Val di Fiemme, Italy1.3 km Sprint CStage World Cup3rd
262019-2026 January 2020 Oberstdorf, Germany1.5 km Sprint CWorld Cup3rd

Team podiums

No.SeasonDateLocationRaceLevelPlaceTeammate
12011–1215 January 2012 Milan, Italy6 × 1.4 km Team Sprint FWorld Cup2ndRandall
22012–1325 November 2012 Gällivare, Sweden4 × 5 km Relay C/FWorld Cup3rdBrooks / Randall / Stephen
32012–137 December 2012 Quebec City, Canada6 × 1.6 km Team Sprint FWorld Cup1stRandall
42013–148 December 2013 Lillehammer, Norway4 × 5 km Relay C/FWorld Cup3rdRandall / Bjornsen / Stephen
52015-166 December 2015 Lillehammer, Norway4 × 5 km Relay C/FWorld Cup3rd Brennan / Bjornsen / Stephen
62015-1624 January 2016 Nové Město, Czech Republic4 × 5 km Relay C/FWorld Cup2ndCaldwell / Bjornsen / Stephen
72019-208 December 2019 Lillehammer, Norway4 × 5 km Relay C/FWorld Cup2nd Caldwell / Bjornsen / Brennan

US National Championships medals