Outstanding Diggins 'flies' to first victory of the season
Dec 02, 2023·Cross-Country
No-one could challenge Jessie Diggins in the women's 10km interval start free at the Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Gaellivare, Sweden, on Saturday.
The USA superstar won the race in an outstanding fashion, more than 23 seconds before runner-up Ebba Andersson from Sweden, getting to smile on top of the podium for the first time this season. Moa Ilar from Sweden finished third.
Diggins showed her skills in the technically difficult curves, managing to get a high speed in the downhill sections and conserving it into the other parts of the track.
"I was trying to go Formula 1 on the downhills and be smooth on the uphills," the 32-year-old said, sending a "huge thanks" to her team.
"We had amazing skis, I felt like I was flying out there. In one of the corners I almost flew out of the track, like 'OK, these are amazing skis'."
Diggins, who is No.1 in the overall World Cup rankings, said the season has started "unexpectedly good, but I'll take it."
In February, the World Cup will come to her home state of Minnesota, USA. But the competitions in Gaellivare also mean something special for Diggins, who has taken a trip down memory lane in social media this week.
It was in the northern Swedish town that she and her teammates bagged USA's first women's Cross-Country relay podium in November 2012, last time she competed there in a World Cup. By the looks of things, Diggins are happy to be back.
"I've been having a really great week, I have a lot of fun with my team and I'm feeling like I'm in a really good headspace. I just have a lot of fun out there," Diggins said.
Her teammate Rosie Brennan finished sixth and is No.2 in the overall World Cup standings, making USA look like strong contestants for the podium in Sunday's relay.
Despite Covid-19 sweeping through the Swedish team, forcing Frida Karlsson, Jonna Sundling and Linn Svahn out of action this weekend, the home team will also be up there fighting for the relay top spots if Saturday's result is anything to go by.
Moa Ilar, who claimed her maiden World Cup triumph in the 20km mass start free in Ruka, Finland, last Sunday, got the second individual top-three finish of her career less than a week later, finishing 2.5 seconds after Andersson.
Emma Ribom, who won the classic sprint in Ruka, showed she is more than just a sprinter as she finished fourth to make it three home skiers in the top-four. The 26-year-old had been hoping for a podium in Gaellivare, where she had lived for four years during studies at a skiing high school. The fourth-place, however, is the best distance result of her career. In 10km, Ribom had at best finished eighth before Saturday's race.
Delphine Claudel from France grabbed the fifth-place less than three seconds behind Ribom. Norway's Lotta Udnes Weng shared the sixth-place with Brennan, as teammates Anne Kjersti Kalvaa and Heidi Weng finished eighth and ninth respectively, Weng sharing the ninth-place with Germany's Victoria Carl.
Last year's distance crystal globe winner, Finland's Kerttu Niskanen, had to settle for a 22nd-place. The race might have been more special for her teammate, veteran Riitta-Liisa Roponen. The 45-year-old had not done a World Cup race since December 2021 when she finished 60th in the 10km classic. On Saturday the triple relay world champion and Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games bronze medallist proved she still belongs among the best in the world, finishing 35th of the 52 spots, with all competitors being one or two decades younger.
Click here for full results from the women's 10km individual free.
