Cross-country skiing: Jessie Diggins announces the end of her career
Jessie Diggins, the most decorated athlete in the history of cross-country skiing in the United States, officially announced on Wednesday that she will be retiring from the sport at the end of the 2025/2026 season. This will be the last winter for the skier from Afton (USA), in Minnesota.
At the age of 34, Jessie Diggins has won almost every title possible in cross-country skiing: three Olympic medals, including the first American gold medal in cross-country skiing in 2018 with team-mate Kikkan Randall, seven World Championship medals, 29 World Cup victories, 79 podium finishes, two final Tour de Ski victories, three distance crystal globes, as well as three prestigious big globes.
“I hope I will be remembered not only for my ability to endure pain for a team I love and a sport that means so much to me, but also for the joy, the sense of fun on the snow, my racing with my heart in my hand, my vulnerability and openness in everything I do,” explains the champion in a press release.
End of course at home
Jessie Diggins’ influence extends far beyond the snow. While her performances made the headlines, she had been working discreetly at the same time to make an impact off the slopes since she entered the professional circuit at the age of 19.
I’m proud of the work I’ve done to lead a team, but also to help change the whole culture of sport around mental health – the way we talk about it, the way we can ask for help, and the way we support athletes in need,” she continues. I tried to become the advocate and role model that 18-year-old Jessie needed. Whether I succeeded or not, I’m deeply proud that I had the courage to share my story to bring about the changes I wanted to see.”
It will be on home soil, at the World Cup finals scheduled for 19-22 March 2026 in Lake Placid (USA), that Jessie Diggins will put a definitive end to her career. With a smile.
Jessie Diggins’ historic career in figures
World Cup
- Departures: 358
- Podium places: 79
- Victories: 29
Olympic Games
- Participations: 3 (Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018, Beijing 2022)
- Departures: 16
- Medals: 3 (gold in team sprint, 2018; silver in 30km freestyle and bronze in sprint, 2022)
World Championships
- Shareholdings: 8
- Departures: 34
- Medals: 7
Records
- The most decorated American skier in history
- First American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in cross-country skiing (2018)
- First American woman to win an individual Olympic sprint medal (2022)
- First American woman individual world champion (10km skate, Planica 2023)
- Record number of major crystal globes won (three: 2021, 2023, 2025)
- First American woman to win the general ranking since 1982
- The only non-European woman to have won the Crystal Globe
- American record for World Cup wins (29)
- First American woman to win the Tour de Ski (2021, 2024)
- Winner of the Holmenkollen medal, Norway’s highest distinction in skiing, and the first American to receive it (2024)
