A “big crash” Saturday morning dashed Team USA’s hopes of capturing its first medal of the Winter Olympics.
Star cross-country skier and three-time Olympic medalist Jessie Diggins was a favorite to be the first American to reach the podium as she competed in the women’s skiathlon on the first day of competition.
But Diggins slipped up toward the beginning of the six-lap race and ultimately finished eighth in the Olympic cross-country skiing program.
Instead, Sweden’s Frida Karlsson and Ebba Andersson won Olympic gold and silver in the event, respectively.
Norway’s Heidi Weng finished in third, and the Americans will have to wait a little longer for their first medal.
After the event, Diggins told reporters she was “really proud” of her skating portion of the run, but “things didn’t come together.”
“I had a really big crash on the first lap, that didn’t help,” she said.
Diggins, 34, opened the race in the first position, but got stuck in some downhill traffic on the first lap that created a cascade of racers.
Diggins was one of several races who stumbled because of the traffic jam.
While she got back up and started as quickly as possible, she couldn’t make up for the lost time caused by the crash.
Diggins will have another shot at medaling Tuesday in the women’s cross-country skiing sprint classic event.
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During the 2022 Beijing Games, Diggins earned the bronze medal in the event, making her the first member of Team USA to win an individual sprint medal.
She won two other Olympic medals over the past two Games.
She and Kikkan Randall teamed up at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games to win Team USA’s first Olympic gold in team sprint. Diggins also won a silver in the 30k freestyle in the last Winter Games.
The next chances for the U.S. to medal Saturday are in the women’s ski jumping normal hill (11:45 a.m.) and men’s snowboard big air (1:30 p.m.)
