Jessie Diggins, one half of the U.S. sprint team to win the first Olympic gold medal for the U.S. in cross-country skiing in 2018, won her first World Cup race of the season in Italy.
With the start of the 2019 Nordic World Ski Championship just days away, Diggins clawed her way to the front of the pack in the women’s sprint, stretching at the line to overtake Germany’s Sandara Ringwald for the win.
“There’s been lots of ups-and-downs this year,” Diggins said after the race. “I’ve been sick a lot, there’s been a lot of doubt, and sometimes losing my self-confidence, so i think it’s good to remember that you don’t know what’s going to happen until the last 100m of any race and you have to keep believing in yourself and keep pushing the whole way.