Drought over: US women win 1st Olympic cross-country gold
Last edited Wed Feb 21, 2018, 03:00 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: Associated Press
Drought over: US women win 1st Olympic cross-country gold
By STEVE REED - 60 minutes ago
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) The long Olympic drought is over for the United States in cross-country skiing. ... Jessica Diggins and Kikkan Randall became the first Americans to win an Olympic gold medal in the sport on Wednesday by shocking powerhouses Norway and the Sweden in the women's team sprint at the Pyeongchang Games.
Diggins passed Norway's Marit Bjoergen, the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time, on the final lap and out-sprinted Sweden's Stina Nilsson to the finish. Diggins screamed as she crossed the finish line, setting off a huge celebration for the red, white and blue. ... As Diggins collapsed to the ground, Randall jumped on her and American teammates cheered from behind the wall guarding the entrance to the course. Soon they all joined together in one huge celebration.
To put the victory in perspective, the United States had never won a medal of any kind in women's cross-country skiing prior to the race. ... The only American to previously win an Olympic medal in the sport was Bill Koch, who took silver in the 30-kilometer race in the 1976 Winter Games in Innsbruck.
The Americans posted the fastest time in the semifinals to start on the front row in the final. Diggins passed the Swedes and the Norwegians on the final lap to secure the elusive win. Sweden took silver and Norway finished with a bronze, which allowed Bjoergen to secure her record 14th medal in the Winter Games. That broke her tie with Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjourndalen for most medals in the Winter Olympics.
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More AP Olympics: https://wintergames.ap.org
Read more: https://wintergames.ap.org/article/drought-over-us-women-win-1st-olympic-cross-country-gold
To hell with NBC.
Cross-country skiing is an ordeal. Usually, immediately after crossing the finish line, the athletes collapse drooling and have to be helped off the course by two or three other people. It's an old school Olympic event, as opposed to the recently added made-for-TV events. One Winter Olympics after another, the cross-skiing events are won by the same old usual suspects.
Full disclosure: I own a few pairs of cross-country skis. If the mice hadn't made a nest in my cross-country ski boots, maybe I could get out on them, if we had enough snow. That doesn't happen more often than about once every five years.
I'd be lucky to cross-country ski at about one or two percent of an Olympic athlete's performance level.
Spoiler alert: AP Sports is reporting things as they happen.
https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Drought over! @kikkanimal and @jessdiggs win the 1st Olympic cross-country gold in @usskiteam history ❄ @stevereedAP #Pyeongchang2018
Link to tweet
= new reply since forum marked as read
. . .for Kikkan Randall, a 5-time Olympian and the only mom on Team USA.
The grande-dame of US X-country skiing has symbolically passed the torch to her teammate Jessie Diggins as the face and image of the sport here in the US.
Way to go, ladies!!!
That have been dormant for over a decade!
Love love love these women 
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