Americans Jessie Diggins and Caitlin Gregg became the first American women to medal in a major distance Nordic skiing championship after taking silver and bronze in the 10K freestyle race at the world championships in Falun, Sweden, on Tuesday, . Charlotte Kalla of Sweden won gold.
The Americans were aided by an early start time and ideal skis for heavy snow that hampered later skiers.
鈥淚 was hoping for maybe top six if I had such an amazing day,” Diggins told the AP. 鈥淲hen it started snowing, it was an opportunity, and I was able to take it and push so hard. When I crossed the finish line, I thought, 鈥業鈥檓 going to die.鈥欌
The typically dominant Norwegian team used skis that were ill-suited to the heavy conditions and failed to place a single skier in the top 20.