Jessica Diggins, Kikkan Randall Win USA’s First Gold In Women’s Cross-Country Skiing [VIDEO]

by Pablo MenaFebruary 21, 2018, 6:11 pmDaily Digest, News, Z-Home Slider >

American cross-country skiers Jessica Diggins and Kikkan Randall have made Olympic history for Team USA after winning the women’s team event in Pyeongchang on Wednesday.

Team USA wins gold women’s cross-country skiing

The pair secured the U.S.’s first gold medal in the sport. Diggins, 26, passed Norway’s Marit Bjoergen — the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time — on the final lap and out-sprinted Sweden’s Stina Nilsson to cross the finish line.

As second-time Olympian Diggins fell to the ground, 35-year-old Randall jumped on her and their teammates loudly cheered from behind the wall guarding the entrance to the course.

Team USA had actually never won any type of medal in women’s cross-country skiing prior to Wednesday’s race.

The only American to previously win an Olympic medal in the sport was Bill Koch, who earned silver in the 30km race during the 1976 Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria.

Sweden won silver and Norway took bronze in the women’s competition Wednesday. Bjoergen’s record 14th Olympic medal broke her tie with Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjourndalen for the most all-time medals at the Winter Games.

“In that last corner, I don’t know what I was thinking, except, ‘Go! Go! Go!,’” said Diggins, a Minnesota native. “You’re going to have to dig really deep. I was in a lot of pain, for sure. But when your team is counting on you, you’ve got to give it everything you have.’’

With Diggins skiing the anchor leg, she and Utah native Randall completed the six-lap race in 15 minutes, 56.47 seconds, 0.19 of a second ahead of Nilsson.

“If there’s anybody I’d have 100 percent faith in coming down that finishing stretch as fast as possible, it’s Jessie,’’ Randall said. “It was just a wonderful feeling to take it all in and watch it happen.’’

Randall finished ninth in the Olympic Sprint at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, the best Olympic result ever in cross-country skiing by an American woman.