This month’s coverage of [global sporting event in Italy] is supported by Runners’ Edge Alaska. We sincerely appreciate their belief in what we are doing here.
By Gavin Kentch
LAGO DI TESERO — The women’s 20km skiathlon was held here earlier today. Frida Karlsson won, going away, dropping the hammer midway through the skate leg to power away from Ebba Andersson. Late-career Heidi Weng was third, back on a podium again after some struggles and up-and-down results over the past few years.
Jessie Diggins was eighth, the victim of an early crash but also of subpar classic skis.
“I’m in the best shape of my life,” Diggins said after the race, “and my body felt really, really good. There’s a lot of things that need to come together for a good ski race to happen. There’s a lot of puzzle pieces that need to lock into place. And I was really, really encouraged by the skate half, but in the classic half, the things out of my control did not go very well.”
Diggins was specifically mentioning the crash here, and alluding to issues with her classic skis. Chris Grover was more direct on the tech side, saying, “Unfortunately, we just did not get her the classic skis that she needed.”
Diggins proceeded to have the day’s third-fastest skate leg, moving up from 15th at the exchange to 8th at the finish.
Behind her for the U.S., Julia Kern was 24th, Novie McCabe 26th, and Rosie Brennan 37th.
Full race writeup will be up on site later today; Devin is working hard on that as we speak. For the time being, here are Anna Engel’s fine photos from the day. Yes we have a real photographer here, and it shows.
Photos are in reverse chronological order, because I don’t know how WordPress works. Sorry. Click on any image to enlarge.
Again, come back later today for the race report. Thanks for joining us during the Olympics.
You’re reading this on Nordic Insights, one man’s labor of love dedicated to publicizing American skiing. We started with nothing and now we’re at the Olympics. You can read more about our first three years here, and donate to the Olympics fund here. Thank you for consideration, and, especially, for reading.
