Jessie Diggins wins silver medal in team sprint at cross-country world championships

Afton’s Jessie Diggins won a silver medal with Julia Kern in the team sprint race Wednesday at the cross-country skiing world championships in Trondheim, Norway.

Diggins and Kern finished in 20 minutes, 54.53 seconds — 2.9 seconds behind Sweden’s Maja Dahlqvist and Jonna Sundling, the silver medalists in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

This is the seventh world championship medal overall for Diggins, a three-time Olympic medalist and the most decorated American cross-country skier.

But it’s her first medal at these world championships, which got off to a disappointing start for the leader in the World Cup standings.

“I had to keep believing. I knew my fitness was there. I knew my body was there. You just need everything to come together at a championship, and I think it makes it even sweeter that it did come together on a team day,” Diggins told reporters in Norway. “It was a big test of faith and belief.”

Diggins, 33, didn’t advance past the quarterfinals of the individual freestyle sprint race last week and finished 13th in the 20-kilometer skiathlon Sunday.

Sweden was favored in Wednesday’s classic-style race on a 1.4km course. Each skier did the loop three times, switching off each lap.

Diggins sat out Tuesday’s 10km classic race. She had won the 10km freestyle race at the last world championships two years ago. But she was able to stick with Sundling on their laps Wednesday until Sweden pulled away on the fifth lap.

Kern held off Nadine Faehndrich of Switzerland and Jasmi Joensuu of Finland on the final lap to secure the silver for the U.S. Diggins and Kerns won a bronze medal in team sprint at the 2023 world championships.

Team sprint has been a memorable event for Diggins throughout her career, having been the source of her Olympic gold medal in 2018 and a world championship gold in 2013. She also won a bronze medal in team sprint at the 2017 world championships.

There are two more events in Trondheim: the men’s and women’s 4x7.5km relay and the men’s and women’s 50km freestyle. This is the first time women will compete in a 50km race at the world championships.

Diggins has won six World Cup races this season and leads the overall standings by 472 points with five races to go, closing in on a second World Cup title in a row. She also won the overall title in 2021.