Digg It
As long-time readers of these pages know, I love cross-country skier Jessie Diggins. By way of reminder, among other things, she first came to my attention when watching the 2018 Winter Olympics, here’s video of her not only getting the first medal for an American in cross-country skiing, but actually won the Gold Medal in the last leg of the team print final. Then, in 2022, she won two more Olympic medals – a silver and bronze for the 30k mass start and sprint.
Bear with me, there’s a point to this all.
So, three Olympic medals (including one gold) in a sport where no American -- man or woman -- had ever even won one is no shabby achievement. That said, it was her first, come-from-behind gold medal that brought her the most attention, in part made all the more joyous by the now-famous call “Here comes Diggins!!!! Here comes Diggins!!!!” by announcer analyst Chad Salmela (who'd known her since she was a kid starting out). Here's the last minute of that race.
I've watched that many dozens of times, and even knowing the result, it remains almost as joyful as the first time. And from things I've seen on TV and read online, I know I'm not alone.
And the point to this all is that she did it again.
A few days ago, Jessie Diggins became the first American ever to win a gold medal in and individual cross-country race at the Nordic world ski championships. She took first place in the 10k race. And not only first place, but by a whopping 14 seconds over the second place finisher. And I think by around 50 seconds ahead of third place.
I wish I could find the video I saw of her getting to the podium to receive her gold medal, but I haven’t been able to track it down – but the exuberant Diggins (who always wears glitter on her cheeks before she races, and was the official “makeup artist” for her Olympic teammates, putting glitter on them, as well…) got up on the podium…and then began jumping up-and-down, and up-and-down, and up-and-down. The best I can offer is this photo to prove I’m not lying. Her jubilant smile is what catches one’s attention – but if you then look down, you’ll see that her feet are not touching the ground.
There isn't a great video of the race, but this is the best I've found. It's two-minutes of highlights, with no announcer, but a music track.
And we'll end it all by giving Jessie Diggins the final word, with her enthusiastic comments about winning the first-ever individual gold medal in the Nordic world championships.
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