2022 Olympic cross-country skiing in review: Diggins writes U.S. history

 Jessie Diggins of Team United States competes during the Women's Cross-Country Sprint Free Qualification on Day 4 of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games

Jessie Diggins of Team United States competes during the Women's Cross-Country Sprint Free Qualification on Day 4 of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games

cross-country skiing records shattered at 2022 Olympics

Jessie Diggins had nothing left after she crossed the finish line of the last cross-country skiing race at the 2022 Winter Olympics. The U.S. skiing star capped off her experience at the Games with a silver medal in the 30km mass start freestyle to become the first non-European woman to ever win a medal in the 30km mass start event.  

Diggins won bronze in the women’s sprint free on Feb. 8 to secure her first individual Olympic medal and the United States’ first-ever women’s individual cross-country medal. Diggins’ road to success was not easy. She went face to face with big names in cross-country like sprint unit Jonna Sundling of Sweden, the number one overall World Cup champion Natalya Nepryeyva of ROC and Norway’s Therese Johaug who won the first gold medal at the 2022 Games. This was Johaug’s final Olympic appearance. 

Johaug’s compatriot on the men’s team Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, proved her still had the sprint magic he came into the 2018 Games with. Klaebo earned two more gold medals at these Games and beat longtime rival Alexander Bolshunov of the ROC in two occasions — the team sprint and sprint free. Bolshunov won gold in the men’s skiathlon and ended his 2022 Olympic experience with gold in the men’s 50km mass start that was shortened to 30km to “reduce the time of exposure of athletes in extreme conditions.” Bolshunov is the only athlete to ever win five Olympic cross-country skiing medals at a single edition of the Winter Olympics. Finland’s Iivo Niskanen did not make an appearance in the men’s mass start where he won gold four years ago in PyeongChang. Instead, he found it in the 15km individual classic race.

For all the cross-country skiing action at the 2022 Winter Olympics, scroll down for event summaries, recaps and highlights.

Medal table (M+W)

Cross-country skiing medal table
Rank Country Medal Count
1 ROC 11
2 Norway 8
3 Finland 6
4 Sweden 4
5 Germany 2
6 United States 2
7 Italy 1
8 Austria 1
9 France 1

Women’s event summaries

Women’s 7.5km+7.5km skiathlon

The first gold medal of the 2022 Winter Olympics was awarded to Therese Johaug of Norway. The most decorated nation in the history of the Winter Games claimed another gold medal with Johaug’s final time of 44:13.7 in the women’s skiathlon. Jessie Diggins finished the women’s skiathlon in sixth. Teammate Rosie Brennan finished in 14th place.

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