No one in American competitive skiing planned it this way.
No one at the headquarters of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association in Park City, Utah, a dozen years ago scratched out a plan to have the two greatest Americans ever to click into Alpine and cross-country skis peak simultaneously.
It only seems like it, with Mikaela Shiffrin and Jessie Diggins showing off their once-in-a-generation talents and thrusting what are largely considered niche sports in the U.S. into the mainstream.
Shiffrin, 28, won an absurd 14 World Cup races this season, putting her at a record 88 wins overall, two better than the Swedish star Ingemar Stenmark’s 86.