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Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Hardy Diggins leads next generation into cross-country's ‘wall of sound'
Competing in a Nordic world ski championships is always special, but doing so in the heartland of cross-country skiing elevates the experience to a whole different level. This year's edition kicks off in earnest on Thursday with the first medal events in Trondheim, the picturesque university town seated on the lip of a fjord in central Norway. More than 190,000 tickets have already been sold and the sport's most passionate fans will spend the next week and a half packed into vertigo-triggering grandstands around the finishing area. The intensity and tradition of ski racing in Norway create an intoxicating backdrop for any athlete, a challenge an upstart American contingent is keen to embrace. Cross-country skiing schedule All times EST. All events live and on-demand on Thu 27 Feb • Men's Skate Sprint, 6.30am • Women's Skate Sprint, 6.30am Sun 1 Mar • Men's 20k Skiathlon, 8am Mon 2 Mar • Women's 20k Skiathlon, 8am Wed 4 Mar • Men's 10k Classic, 7am • Women's 10k Classic, 9.30am Thu 5 Mar • Men's Classic Team Sprint, 8.30am • Women's Classic Team Sprint, 8.30am Fri 6 Mar • Women's 4x7.5k Relay, 6.30am Sat 7 Mar • Men's 4x7.5k Relay, 8am Sun 8 Mar • Men's 50k Skate, 5.30am Mon 9 Mar • Women's 50k Skate, 6.30am Jessie Diggins knows what's coming and what's required to meet the moment better than anyone. Reflecting on her first world championships at Oslo's storied Holmenkollen when Norway last hosted, she recalled Tuesday in a conference call with reporters, 'It's quite painful for me to watch my technique [in 2011], but I skied with a lot of guts and that has not changed.' She was just 19 then, still seven years away from her historic Olympic gold at Pyeongchang. Now 33, Diggins has built a legacy unlike any other American in the sport's history, but as she heads into this year's worlds, her famous tolerance for discomfort will be put to the test like rarely before. Related: 'I've seen winters change': Olympic champion Jessie Diggins refuses to shut up and ski Six weeks ago, an ache in her foot turned into searing pain. The diagnosis was plantar fasciitis, an inflammation of the tissue at the bottom of the foot. 'It was hard for me to walk,' she admitted. 'I felt like I was tearing my foot in half. … [But] I'm really lucky that my healing process has been freakishly fast.' With that injury in mind, she is taking a measured approach to the 10-day event, saying her race schedule will 'evolve' as things unfold. 'We'll check in after the skiathlon,' she said, adding that she will not race every event, a necessary precaution as she manages her recovery. Despite the injury, Diggins has been in stellar form. This season, the Minnesota native has already won six World Cup races, half of them since the onset of her foot pain, along with a bronze medal and a third-place finish in the marquee Tour de Ski. That's put her on course for a third overall crystal globe, cross-country skiing's biggest prize, something no woman from outside Europe had won even once until Diggins four years ago. But results, she insists, aren't everything. 'My big goal is to realize that I'm not my results and to separate my self-worth from the number next to my name on a piece of paper,' she said. 'I'm not really thinking about the outcome; it's more about who I want to be within the team. … And just crossing the finish line satisfied with what I've put out there.' While Diggins remains the centerpiece of Team USA, the emergence of Gus Schumacher and Ben Ogden is shaping the future of the American cross-country program. The 24-year-olds have taken enormous strides forward over the past two seasons and are looking to make their mark in Trondheim. Schumacher, a former junior world champion from Alaska who last year became the first American male to win a distance event since 1983, sees this event as an opportunity to showcase his team's potential. 'We're capable of winning,' he said. 'We may not be the favorites, but that doesn't mean we should count ourselves out.' His mindset, he says, has shifted from simply being in the pack to actively racing for the podium. Related: One year to the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics: Twenty athletes from Team USA to watch Ogden, a three-time NCAA champion at the University of Vermont known for his explosive racing style and easygoing nature, also enters worlds with mounting confidence after scoring his first career World Cup distance podium last month. Though he's battled illness in the weeks leading up to the event, he is focused on making an impact in select races. 'I had the flu recently, which wasn't ideal, but it beats getting sick now,' he said with a laugh. 'This season, my focus has been on targeting one or two races where I can really make an impact rather than spreading myself too thin.' For both Schumacher and Ogden, the camaraderie of the US men's team has been instrumental in their development. 'We all grew up racing each other,' Ogden said. 'There was nothing more motivating than beating Gus at junior nationals. Now it's about all of us pushing each other to get better. We want to take this team to the next level.' Strategic race selection will be key for all three American contenders, with multiple events spanning nearly two weeks. 'There's no bonus for doing medium-well in every race,' Ogden said. 'You have to pick your spots, recover well, and go all in when it matters.' Schumacher agreed, emphasizing the need to balance endurance and peak performance. 'There are three races in a row: the 10k, the team sprint, and the relay,' he said. 'We have to be smart about which ones we go all in for.' For Diggins, the US team's chief vibes officer whose trademark glitter-flecked cheeks and almost nuclear positivity have become her signatures, it's a lesson she has learned firsthand. Looking back on her 2023 world championships in Slovenia, where she captured a history-making 10km freestyle gold, she admitted she had blown past her limits. 'I was flying close to the sun – I was either going to win or burn out,' she said. 'This time, I'm trying to stay on the safer side of that line while still giving it everything I've got.' The excitement around the American camp has been palpable in the final run-up. The success of Diggins, Schumacher and Ogden has helped elevate US cross-country skiing to new heights, proving that Americans can compete with the traditionally dominant European countries. It's a movement Diggins, the author of so many US firsts, is especially proud to bear witness to. 'My job is to make sure these guys can take it further than I ever have,' she said. 'I want them to eclipse anything I've done.' The added significance of bringing their fight to cross-country's spiritual home is not lost on the US athletes, who know they are racing before some of the most knowledgeable and fervent spectators in the world. The party is right around the corner and the veteran Diggins is certain they will be ready for the cauldron. 'When you drop into the stadium, you'll be greeted by a wall of sound from 20,000 fans,' Diggins said. 'That's something you don't forget, and I'm going to soak it all in.'
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jessie Diggins and a rising U.S. cross-country skiing team take on World Championships
The U.S. cross-country skiing team's recent World Cup success — for women and men — could translate to a historic World Championships with medal events starting Thursday in Trondheim, Norway. The U.S. has never won medals in women's and men's events at the same worlds (and no men's medals at worlds since 1982). Yet Americans have been stepping onto podiums in women's and men's events on the World Cup with more regularity since the last worlds in 2023. Sometimes both on the same day. Jessie Diggins, the most decorated U.S. cross-country skier in history, has also been the world's best the last two seasons. U.S. men recorded 15 individual top-10 finishes last season and 14 more so far this season, its highest totals since the World Cup began in 1982. Diggins has won five of her last 16 World Cup races since sustaining an injury that made it difficult to walk around New Year's. "It felt like I was tearing my foot in half," she said. She first started feeling pain near her heel after running on really soft, new snow during a Christmas training camp. She underwent an MRI after the Tour de Ski ended Jan. 5. It showed a partially torn plantar fascia. "The timeline I was given was, roughly, it takes six to eight weeks to build up a bridge of scar tissue to make it the initial healing stages," she said. "So this weekend is six weeks. So we're getting there. It's closer to three to six months to fully heal it. So I'm really lucky in that my healing progression has been freakishly fast." At the last worlds in 2023, Diggins won the 10km freestyle to become the first American cross-country skier to claim a world title in any individual event. The 10km event at worlds next Tuesday will be in Diggins' less favored classic technique. Events alternate between freestyle and classic at every worlds and Olympics. "I actually just was writing my goals for World Championships, and one of the big ones is actually to realize that I am not my results and separate my self-worth from the number next to my name on a piece of paper," Diggins said. "So I actually am not really thinking about the outcome. It's more of who I want to be and how I want to act within the team and how I want to basically try to be someone who steadies the boat, not rocks it during world champs. So be kind, be courteous, look out for my team and just cross the finish line satisfied with what I've put out there because after that it's out of my control. So we're just going to go out there and ski my heart out and definitely leave it all out there. So you're going to see a really tired Jessie at the finish lines, that I can promise." Twice already this season, a U.S. man made a World Cup podium on the same day that Diggins won a race. Only twice before in World Cup history had a U.S. man and woman made a podium on the same day. Gus Schumacher, Ben Ogden and J.C. Schoonmaker — all born in 2000 — have each posted multiple top-five World Cup finishes over the last two seasons. Last February, Schumacher became the first American man to win a World Cup race in a decade (video below).While Diggins has earned an Olympic medal of every color and two world championships medals of every color, a U.S. man hasn't finished better than eighth individually at the Olympics or worlds since 2009. The freestyle sprint is the first medal event of worlds on Thursday. Ogden, a Vermont native with his own face stickers, has a pair of sixth-place finishes over four World Cup freestyle sprints this season. The 20km skiathlon (10km in classic and 10km in freestyle) is the second medal event of worlds on Saturday. Schumacher, who first skied in his Alaska backyard upon learning how to walk, placed fifth in a World Cup skiathlon on Dec. 8. "We're capable of winning," Schumacher said while sitting with Ogden and Diggins for a pre-worlds media Zoom call. "While we may not be the favorites, and that may not be what's on the forefront of our mind, I think that's a big change for both of us (Ogden and I) from any other championship is that's a possibility now, and it's important to not count that out, especially in the middle of a race. I noticed more and more while I'm in the middle of the race, I'm not just looking around at the front pack of 10 or 15, if I'm in it, having a good day, and saying, 'Sweet, top 15 locked in if I just hang with them.' I'm thinking more about what I can do in the end to get a podium or win. That's a fundamental shift for me, and it's one I'm excited to bring to World Championships." The U.S. women's team made a similar shift more than a decade ago as Kikkan Randall began and then Diggins extended a new, medal-winning era. "I'm trying to share everything I know and make sure that these guys can take it further than I have," Diggins said, talking about the entire team, with Schumacher next to her. "That's my job is to make sure that you can eclipse anything I've ever done." Schumacher interjected. "We've got a long way to go," he said with a chuckle in reverence to Diggins' accomplishments. "Well I'm trying to make it hard, for sure," Diggins said. "I share everything I know, but trying to set a high bar." Goals? Jessie Diggins has 4 pages of them for 2024-25 cross-country skiing season Jessie Diggins begins another cross-country skiing season with a 'holy grail' race among her focuses. Nick Zaccardi, Nick Zaccardi,
The Guardian
27-02-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Hardy Diggins leads next generation into cross-country's ‘wall of sound'
Competing in a Nordic world ski championships is always special, but doing so in the heartland of cross-country skiing elevates the experience to a whole different level. This year's edition kicks off in earnest on Thursday with the first medal events in Trondheim, the picturesque university town seated on the lip of a fjord in central Norway. More than 190,000 tickets have already been sold and the sport's most passionate fans will spend the next week and a half packed into vertigo-triggering grandstands around the finishing area. The intensity and tradition of ski racing in Norway create an intoxicating backdrop for any athlete, a challenge an upstart American contingent is keen to embrace. Cross-country skiing schedule All times EST. All events live and on-demand on Thu 27 Feb • Men's Skate Sprint, 6.30am • Women's Skate Sprint, 6.30am Sun 1 Mar • Men's 20k Skiathlon, 8am Mon 2 Mar • Women's 20k Skiathlon, 8am Wed 4 Mar • Men's 10k Classic, 7am • Women's 10k Classic, 9.30am Thu 5 Mar • Men's Classic Team Sprint, 8.30am • Women's Classic Team Sprint, 8.30am Fri 6 Mar • Women's 4x7.5k Relay, 6.30am Sat 7 Mar • Men's 4x7.5k Relay, 8am Sun 8 Mar • Men's 50k Skate, 5.30am Mon 9 Mar • Women's 50k Skate, 6.30am Jessie Diggins knows what's coming and what's required to meet the moment better than anyone. Reflecting on her first world championships at Oslo's storied Holmenkollen when Norway last hosted, she recalled Tuesday in a conference call with reporters, 'It's quite painful for me to watch my technique [in 2011], but I skied with a lot of guts and that has not changed.' She was just 19 then, still seven years away from her historic Olympic gold at Pyeongchang. Now 33, Diggins has built a legacy unlike any other American in the sport's history, but as she heads into this year's worlds, her famous tolerance for discomfort will be put to the test like rarely before. Six weeks ago, an ache in her foot turned into searing pain. The diagnosis was plantar fasciitis, an inflammation of the tissue at the bottom of the foot. 'It was hard for me to walk,' she admitted. 'I felt like I was tearing my foot in half. … [But] I'm really lucky that my healing process has been freakishly fast.' With that injury in mind, she is taking a measured approach to the 10-day event, saying her race schedule will 'evolve' as things unfold. 'We'll check in after the skiathlon,' she said, adding that she will not race every event, a necessary precaution as she manages her recovery. Despite the injury, Diggins has been in stellar form. This season, the Minnesota native has already won six World Cup races, half of them since the onset of her foot pain, along with a bronze medal and a third-place finish in the marquee Tour de Ski. That's put her on course for a third overall crystal globe, cross-country skiing's biggest prize, something no woman from outside Europe had won even once until Diggins four years ago. But results, she insists, aren't everything. 'My big goal is to realize that I'm not my results and to separate my self-worth from the number next to my name on a piece of paper,' she said. 'I'm not really thinking about the outcome; it's more about who I want to be within the team. … And just crossing the finish line satisfied with what I've put out there.' While Diggins remains the centerpiece of Team USA, the emergence of Gus Schumacher and Ben Ogden is shaping the future of the American cross-country program. The 24-year-olds have taken enormous strides forward over the past two seasons and are looking to make their mark in Trondheim. Schumacher, a former junior world champion from Alaska who last year became the first American male to win a distance event since 1983, sees this event as an opportunity to showcase his team's potential. 'We're capable of winning,' he said. 'We may not be the favorites, but that doesn't mean we should count ourselves out.' His mindset, he says, has shifted from simply being in the pack to actively racing for the podium. Ogden, a three-time NCAA champion at the University of Vermont known for his explosive racing style and easygoing nature, also enters worlds with mounting confidence after scoring his first career World Cup distance podium last month. Though he's battled illness in the weeks leading up to the event, he is focused on making an impact in select races. 'I had the flu recently, which wasn't ideal, but it beats getting sick now,' he said with a laugh. 'This season, my focus has been on targeting one or two races where I can really make an impact rather than spreading myself too thin.' For both Schumacher and Ogden, the camaraderie of the US men's team has been instrumental in their development. 'We all grew up racing each other,' Ogden said. 'There was nothing more motivating than beating Gus at junior nationals. Now it's about all of us pushing each other to get better. We want to take this team to the next level.' Strategic race selection will be key for all three American contenders, with multiple events spanning nearly two weeks. 'There's no bonus for doing medium-well in every race,' Ogden said. 'You have to pick your spots, recover well, and go all in when it matters.' Schumacher agreed, emphasizing the need to balance endurance and peak performance. 'There are three races in a row: the 10k, the team sprint, and the relay,' he said. 'We have to be smart about which ones we go all in for.' For Diggins, the US team's chief vibes officer whose trademark glitter-flecked cheeks and almost nuclear positivity have become her signatures, it's a lesson she has learned firsthand. Looking back on her 2023 world championships in Slovenia, where she captured a history-making 10km freestyle gold, she admitted she had blown past her limits. 'I was flying close to the sun – I was either going to win or burn out,' she said. 'This time, I'm trying to stay on the safer side of that line while still giving it everything I've got.' The excitement around the American camp has been palpable in the final run-up. The success of Diggins, Schumacher and Ogden has helped elevate US cross-country skiing to new heights, proving that Americans can compete with the traditionally dominant European countries. It's a movement Diggins, the author of so many US firsts, is especially proud to bear witness to. 'My job is to make sure these guys can take it further than I ever have,' she said. 'I want them to eclipse anything I've done.' The added significance of bringing their fight to cross-country's spiritual home is not lost on the US athletes, who know they are racing before some of the most knowledgeable and fervent spectators in the world. The party is right around the corner and the veteran Diggins is certain they will be ready for the cauldron. 'When you drop into the stadium, you'll be greeted by a wall of sound from 20,000 fans,' Diggins said. 'That's something you don't forget, and I'm going to soak it all in.'
