After Jessie Diggins crossed the finish line of the Tour de Ski cross-country race in Val di Fiemme, Italy, she collapsed onto her belly with arms and legs splayed on the snow, body heaving. A grueling eight-stage race held over 10 days, the Tour de Ski is the World Cup cross-country ski circuit’s marquee event and, by most accounts, its toughest.
No American had ever won the 15-year-old event until Diggins did so on Sunday.
And in Stage 3 of the tour last week, she and her teammate Rosie Brennan finished first and second in a 10-kilometer freestyle pursuit, becoming the first Americans to take the top two spots on the podium in a World Cup cross-country race.