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By Gavin Kentch
LAGO DI TESERO — There is an interesting, if awkward, dynamic to the post-race traffic flow at this venue. Jessie Diggins crossed the finish line at approximately 1:45 p.m. in yesterday’s 10km skate, securing a gutsy bronze medal, even if she did not realize as much until roughly 15 minutes later.
She writhed on the ground in agony. She eventually arose. She hugged her teammates. She donned warm clothes. She started refueling. She talked with a huge number of broadcast media people in the mixed zone. She took a break for the podium ceremony. She came back to talk with more broadcast media. She eventually worked her way to the lowest of the low, print media. (That’s not a Jessie dig, at all, that’s just a comment on the hierarchy in an Olympics media zone. We are definitely last on the list here.)
She had time for two questions from print media. I grabbed the first question from amidst the assembled scrum, for the third race in a row, because it turns out that if you treat an athlete decently year round they will want to talk with you on an Olympic stage (also, I boxed out really hard). She took one more question. She was whisked away for antidoping.
(Taking only two questions is also not a Jessie dig. She had been on her feet for a long time already, and had to go produce a urine sample for doping control before moving on with the afternoon.)
All this time, her family and friends were waiting for her, outside the secured area, as close to Diggins as they could get.
Time passed. Diggins still had yet to emerge. “The Swedes are waiting” for the press conference to start, someone said. “The Swedes can wait,” came the reply.
Finally, Diggins emerged. The uproar was joyous. I immediately backed away from my spot by the security barrier and scurried out of the way; Diggins’s family was about to have far more important people to talk to than this reporter.
Moments later, at 3:55 p.m., I took this photo. (This photo is zoomed and cropped, and I took it by holding up my phone over the head of the person in front of me and shooting blindly. I wasn’t this close to them for their moment, is what I’m trying to say.)
So there was a long wait, is what I’m trying to say. During that time, I had the chance to talk with some of Diggins’s closest supporters. In ascending order of how long they have known her:
Wade Poplawski, an accomplished athlete in his own right (he played college hockey at Colgate), became Mr. Jessie Diggins in May 2022. Time did not permit me to ask him his take on my form chart for their wedding. I did ask him whether his coworkers — he works in finance in Boston — really have a sense for how good at skiing his wife is.
“They’re figuring it out,” Poplawski said.
“I think that she got a lot of new fans because I switched jobs between the last Olympics and these ones. So she got a lot of new fans leading up to these Games and they’re all following her. And I got a ton of messages from a lot of them today after the results saying that they were really pumped for her and wanted to pass along congratulations.”
And what will it be like to actually reside in the same place as his spouse for once, with no need to share her with the four-month World Cup schedule, let alone Bend Camp and Park City Camp and New Zealand trip and so on.
“I’m really looking forward to that,” Poplawski said. “I think that the most we’ve lived together was during Covid, when I was able to work from home. And so we were in Stratton, Vermont, together. And it’s the thing that we’re most looking forward to.”
Next up is Kris Hansen, Diggins’s coach at Stillwater (go Ponies!) starting just over twenty years ago.
“I was there at her first championship event, which was a state meet in Minnesota in 2005,” Hansen said. “And so I’m so glad I can be here for her last championship event.”
I asked Hansen if this result surprised her. “No, not at all. Not at all.”
Hansen continued, “She really is satisfied with her career, and kind of came into this thinking anything that happens here is just icing on the already well-iced cake. But I think that gives her a freedom and so no, I’m not surprised at all.”
Finally, I could not help but note that Hansen was waving a Minnesota state flag, not an American flag. I asked her about that, and what it was like to be from the U.S., and visibly supporting a U.S. athlete, at this particular moment in American history.
“We brought the Minnesota flag,” Hansen explained, “because as a lot of the athletes have been saying, I’m proud of our country and I’m proud of Jessie, but I’m not proud of our country and what we’re doing right now, especially coming from Minnesota. But I’m super proud to wave the Minnesota flag and remind everybody that Jessie is a Minnesota skier. So that’s what I’ve been telling people.”
Final word here goes to the only person possible, mom. I assumed from context that the woman I had been talking with was Deb Diggins (Midwestern nice, Team Jessie hat), but I was still a little uncertain. Then she removed her sunglasses and all doubt was banished: the resemblance was strong.
Are you any prouder of Jessie today than you were yesterday, I inquired; this is a softball for any parent, but I asked this question because I truly believe that it is important to listen to and think about the answer.
“Not at all. No. Our pride for Jessie is for the person she is and the way that she lives and the way that she races. And that doesn’t change. We’re thrilled because we feel she’s earned this medal and we wanted to see her have the opportunity to earn it, and so it was great to see that happen.”
I also had to ask, parent to parent, is it hard for her, as mom, to see your kid push herself that hard out there? Like, the finish line scenes were truly difficult to watch.
“Sometimes,” was the honest answer. “Sometimes it’s hard. The hardest was that 30km race in Beijing because we knew she was sick. Most people didn’t, so that was for sure the hardest one for me to see because we knew how much she was suffering in that. It’s hard.”
“We also know she’s in pain today with the rib injury,” Diggins mère continued, “and it’s hard to see her have to fight through that. You know, you always wish it would be sunshine and roses and everything’s perfect and you just are on a completely level field and all going your hardest. Things typically don’t work that way. And Jess has a lot of courage, and she’s ready to stand up and do her best no matter what.”
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.
