The first medals of the 2018 Winter Olympics were awarded in women's cross country
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — For someone who hasn’t been able to eat as much as she wants, and who lost some of what she’s been eating right before a viciously grueling race, and who dealt with a triceps cramp somewhere in that 15 kilometers of skiing, then lost feeling in her legs at another point, Jessie Diggins had one heck of a Saturday.
It was not what she wanted. She wanted to become the first U.S. woman to earn a medal in an Olympic cross-country skiing event. She did earn the best finish ever for a U.S. woman in an Olympic cross-country skiing event, fifth in the unforgiving 15-kilometer skiathlon at Alpensia Cross-Country Skiing Centre. And if Diggins gets things together as hoped with her stronger events ahead, that drought is in jeopardy.
"I have a few things I’m going to dial in this week in terms of trying to figure out fueling and hydration for these late afternoon races,” said Diggins, the relentlessly exuberant 26-year-old from Afton, Minn., whose training home is Stratton Mountain in Vt. “And I think when I get that dialed in and make sure that my body’s ready to push when I demand it to be pushed, then I think I’m going to really start putting together the results I’m hoping for.”
Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla won gold with a time of 40:44.9, 7.8 seconds ahead of Norway’s Marit Bjoergen, who still became the most decorated female Winter Olympian ever. Finland’s Krista Parmakoski took bronze in the event, which involves classical skiing technique for the first 7.5 kilometers, then a switch into different skis and freestyle skiing for the second half.
Bjoergen won the 11th Olympic medal of her career — six gold, four silver and a bronze.
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Caitlin Patterson, one of five University of Vermont products on the U.S. cross-country team – including younger brother Scott – finished 34th in her Olympic debut. Teammates Kikkan Randall and Rosie Brennan finished 40th and 58th, respectively.
"It was really cool to be out here with these big crowds and to represent my country, it was great,” Patterson said. “I can’t say as far as a cross-country ski race goes, I can’t say it was quite what I was dreaming of. Just felt a little bit off, was struggling, especially with the classic. But it was still very fun to be out here, fighting with everything I have.”
Diggins (40:59.6) was just 2.1 seconds off the pace with three quarters of the race finished, but she couldn’t close the way she hoped and ended up 14.7 seconds behind Kalla.
“When I got my body to start pushing, it just was a little late,” said Diggins, who is third in the World Cup standings. “I was a little, like, I could not feel my legs. So I’m going to dial in a few more things and make sure that the next time, I’m ready to go. But I’m really proud of my race. I honestly can say that I could not have pushed harder. I got everything that my body would let me out of it today. … I’ve been struggling to eat enough these Games, and the stress level has been pretty high. Like, I threw up a little bit before the start, I was so nervous. So I’m going to work on a few things in terms of like managing stress.”
Diggins saw her family – including her parents and grandmother – waving a flag right before the race and drew inspiration from that. Despite all her struggles on the course, she edged Sophie Caldwell for best Olympic finish by a U.S. woman in the sport. Caldwell was sixth in the women’s sprint final in 2014 in Sochi after getting tangled with another skier and suffering a fall.
It’s getting closer. The first U.S. woman to medal in the sport. The second American to medal in the sport — Bill Koch is the only one, in 1976 at the Innsbruck Games. Diggins is closing in on it.
“Being seconds away from a medal and seeing it right there, I know it’s possible,” she said. “I know I have what it takes.”