Her Gold Was Four Years Ago, but She Never Stopped Leading

In 2018, Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall accomplished the seemingly impossible – the duo took gold in the women's team sprint. Together, they won the first American medal of any kind in cross country skiing since 1976. 

Never before had any women, or men, been close to competing with the Scandanavian teams that dominated the cross country track for four decades. Diggins and Randall proved that with a bit of support, the Americans could hang with "the big dogs." Not only was their victory a historic moment for the U.S. women's cross country team, but the entire American contingency of the sport.

Randall retired, and Diggins continued, this time, as a country-wide role model and a "de facto captain of a team made up of men and women." 

In "Her Gold Was Four Years Ago, but She Never Stopped Leading," New York Times reporter Matthew Futterman outlines Diggins's rise to the top and how her effervescent presence has had a lasting effect on her teammates, her sport, and her country. 

Read the full story at NYTimes.com >>