U.S. continues to wait for 1st medal in women's cross-country skiing
American cross-country skiing hopeful Jessie Diggins wrapped up her third event at PyeongChang 2018 early Thursday morning, and once again, the Afton, Minnesota native fell just beyond the podium.
The 26-year-old is considered the strongest bet to become the United States' first woman to medal in cross-country skiing, a sport largely dominated by entrants from Scandinavia and Russia, but Diggins has been shutout thus far, often falling just seconds short of an Olympic medal.
After starting her run in South Korea with a fifth-place finish in skiathlon - just 4.6 seconds behind the bronze medalist - and a sixth-place finish in classical-style sprint, Diggins finished 3.3 seconds out of a bronze medal in the 10-kilometer freestyle race.
| Event | Time | Finish |
|---|---|---|
| Skiathlon | 40:49.6 | 5 |
| Sprint classical-style | 3:15.07 | 6 |
| 10K freestyle | 25:35.7 | 5 |
The women's cross-country slate still has the 4x5K relay, team sprint, and 30K mass start events left to go, so there's still an opportunity for Diggins to reach the podium, either as an individual or in one of the team events.
To date, only one American has medalled in cross-country skiing at the Olympics: Bill Koch, who won silver in the 30-kilometer event in Innsbruck, Austria in 1976.