This might be the best moment in the Olympics. The US Women win their first ever Cross Country Medal (a Gold) in dramatic fashion pic.twitter.com/8um36KlYMz
— Hawkeye KSCS DJ (@HawkeyeOnAir) February 22, 2018
Cross-country skiing actually bears a lot of similarities to cross-country running of the high school world we all remember: it’s kind of geeky, everybody having success at it is lean and long, and in the world of sports, it just ain’t that cool. But if you’ve ever tried skate-skiing, a hybrid of classic cross-country skiing developed here in the U.S. where skiers skate like they would on ice, it can actually be really fun. Small, lightweight gear–painful, tear-inducing wipeouts. You can carry a lot of speed on those two little sticks. And control is sometimes tough to attain.
And as uncool as it might seem, it’s a freakin’ big deal in Europe. And the U.S. has kind of sucked at the sport for a long time. Hard to tell if that’s due to a lack of development programs, interest, or PED’s (or a little of everything), but we just haven’t been that good in the cross-country realm, especially on the Olympic stage.
Well that all changed last night when Jessica Diggins and Kikkan Randall captured America’s first Olympic gold medal in cross-country, winning the women’s team sprint in uber-dramatic fashion (they also won the 2013 world title together). It was the first U.S. medal in the sport since Bill Koch (the guy who developed skating on skinny skis) took home a silver in 1976.
Diggins, about to go into full-on celebration mode. Photo: NBC
During the final leg of the relay, Diggins was in third and staring up at the most pain-inducing hill on the course. But she found something deep-down there in the realm of human motivation that we all wish to summon on the daily, taking one of the widest turns at nearly 30 miles-per-hour (not a typo), gambling like she was in Vegas to catch Maiken Falla of Norway before scratching to chase down Stina Nilsson of Sweden–two skiers from two of the biggest powerhouses in the game.
Then the celebration was on. The announcer loses it (“Here comes Diggins! Yes! Yes! Yes!”). Diggins and Randall rightfully lose it in celebration. And America wins. Judging by the news lately at home, it was just what we needed.
For another view, click below:
Pure adrenaline for @jessdiggs & @kikkanimal after winning @TeamUSA‘s first cross-country skiing #gold medal! https://t.co/ijxwbhtcCo pic.twitter.com/alnMNQOOvI
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 21, 2018
