2026 Olympics: fourth Olympic medal for Jessie Diggins on a third different edition
After a first appearance in 2014 in Sochi (Russia), gold in the team sprint in 2018 in Pyeongchang (South Korea), silver in the mass start and bronze in the sprint in 2022 in Beijing (China), Jessie Diggins won an Olympic medal in a fourth different event on Thursday in Milan/Cortina (Italy).
The American finished third in the individual skating event held in Tesero (Italy). Only the imperious Frida Karlsson (gold) and her Swedish compatriot Ebba Andersson (silver) were ahead of her.
“I thought I was going to die”.
Usually very expressive, the American cried out in pain as soon as she crossed the line, clutching her abdomen. “I’m not dead! I thought I was going to die”, she told her team-mate Hailey Swirbul, who had come to help her in the finish area, as she took off her skis.
She told Expressen: “She was in so much pain. I used to work as a nurse and I saw people come in with broken bones. Jessie’s pain is comparable. You can ignore the pain during the race, but once you cross the finish line, it overwhelms you,” she told NBC. I knew it was going to happen, but I wasn’t going to let it show until after I’d crossed the line.”
After falling in the skiathlon, the overall World Cup leader had already been dragging her feet in the classic sprint (eliminated in the quarters) on Tuesday. Winning another Olympic medal in these conditions has a special flavour for her.
As she told SVT, in comments relayed by Aftonbladet: “I think I’m the happiest bronze medallist in history. It’s been a very difficult week. An injury is a difficult thing to overcome. It’s painful physically and mentally, and you have to find the strength to get through it. I’m so grateful to my team. So many people have contributed to me getting here.
Dead ends in the rest of the programme?
She went on to tellEurosport : “I felt like I was skiing outside my body. Until two days ago, I didn’t know how I was going to cope with the ribs I’d damaged in the skiathlon. Before the start of this race, I went to see my family and friends and my husband. They gave me so much love. It pushed me to do my best performance. I feel lucky to have won this medal. At the start, I would have been happy with it. I wanted to finish the race, whatever the result.
Whileshe plans to retire at the end of the season, Jessie Diggins will now be asking herself what she can do to preserve her health. Three events are still scheduled: the relay on Saturday (12:00), the team sprint on Wednesday (9:45 then 11:45) and the 50km mass-start on the closing Sunday (10:00).
- Cross-country skiing: Frida Karlsson crushes the individual skate and wins a second gold medal, Léonie Perry in the top 10
- Cross-country skiing | “It worked incredibly well”: a new demonstration for the Swedes in the individual free event
- Cross-country skiing: Léonie Perry, the seventh French woman to score an individual top 10 at the Olympic Games
- Cross-country skiing: Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo’s advice to double Olympic champion Frida Karlsson
- Cross-country skiing: the medals table and the full list of winners at the Milan/Cortina 2026 Olympic Games
