Jessica Diggins

Theirs was not only the United States' first ever cross-country skiing gold medal but also the first American cross-country skiing medal since Bill Koch won silver in the men's 30 km in 1976.

Steve Schlanger and Chad Salmela called the end of the race for NBC:

"Salmela: As they come into the stadium, Diggins trying to get in on the outside! Schlanger: Jessie Diggins with two fifth-place finishes, one-sixth, so close for the U.S. on so many occasions, now moving up on the outside into second place! Salmela: They're all completely gassed! They've given it everything on the Klaebo-bakken! Stina Nilsson leading Jessie Diggins into the final turn – can Diggins answer?! Schlanger: As the roars rattle around the cross-country stadium in Pyeongchang, Sweden, the U.S. and Norway coming to the line! Salmela: Here comes Diggins! Here comes Diggins! Schlanger: On the outside! Diggins making the play around Sweden! Salmela: Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Gold!

Schlanger: Jessie Diggins to the line!

And it is Jessie Diggins delivering a landmark moment that will be etched in U.S. Olympic history!

The first-ever cross-country gold medal for the U.S.!

Salmela: It's a gold medal for the United States!

It's not just a medal; it's the gold!"

Jessica Diggins (born August 26, 1991) is an American cross-country skier.

In 2008, Diggins was the top-ranked girls' individual cross-country skier in the Minnesota high school rankings.

She won the Korteloppet races in 2008 and 2009 as part of the American Birkebeiner races while she was still in high school.

She fell out of the state high school rankings in 2009 when she competed and won the United States Junior National Sprint title on March 9 of that year.

Diggins graduated from Stillwater Area High School in 2010.

Diggins competed for the Stillwater Area High School, cross-country ski team.

She was added to the United States World Junior Cross-Country Ski Team in 2010.

Diggins earned an academic scholarship to Northern Michigan University but deferred enrollment to race with the Central Cross-Country Elite team for one year.

She decided to race professionally rather than attend college.

She was named to the United States Ski Team in 2011 and competed at her first World Championships that year.

She also won four medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships from 2013 to 2017 and would later become the first American to win a gold medal at the event for an individual contest in 2023.

In 2021, Diggins clinched the top spot in the women's overall standings for the 2020–21 FIS Cross-Country World Cup, becoming the first American to do so.

Diggins was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota and grew up in Afton, Minnesota.

She has one sister, Mackenzie.

Diggins began skiing at age 4.

She showed prowess for skiing at age 11 when she started competing against older children.

Diggins won a gold medal with Kikkan Randall in the team sprint in the 2013 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme.

At the 2014 U23 World Championships, Diggins won silver in the individual sprint.

Diggins was named to the U.S. team for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

In her first event, the 15 kilometer skiathlon, she placed 8th (out of 61 competitors) with a time of 40:05.5.

Diggins won the silver medal in the 10-kilometer freestyle race in the 2015 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun.

In the 2015–2016 World Cup, she placed 8th in the overall and sprint rankings and 9th in the distance ranking.

At the 2017 Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland, Diggins took two medals: in the freestyle sprint, she won her quarterfinal and semifinal heats on her way to taking the silver, ahead of teammate Randall in third.

Subsequently, in the classic team sprint, Diggins and Sadie Bjornsen finished third, catching and passing the Swedish team in the closing stages of the race to take the bronze by 0.19 seconds.

This made Diggins the first American to win four World Championship medals in cross-country skiing.

Diggins finished third overall in the 2017–18 Tour de Ski, becoming the first American to finish on the podium in the overall classification, and beating her previous best of fifth overall in the previous edition.

Her teammate Sadie Bjornsen finished ninth overall, also making it the first time that two Americans finished in the overall top ten.

Diggins finished second overall in the World Cup 2017–2018 season standings.

She and teammate Kikkan Randall won the United States' first-ever cross-country skiing gold medal at the Winter Olympics in the team sprint in 2018.

At the 2022 Winter Olympics, Diggins won the silver medal in the 30 kilometer freestyle and the bronze medal in the individual sprint, making her the most decorated American cross-country skier of all time.

At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Diggins and Randall became the first American cross-country skiers to capture a gold medal by winning the women's team sprint at the Alpensia Cross-Country Centre.

In the final sprint, Diggins passed the last two individual sprint classical gold medalists – Sochi gold medalist Maiken Caspersen Falla of Norway before the last turn and then Pyeongchang gold medalist Stina Nilsson of Sweden on the last straightaway.