Olympics-Cross-country skiing-Diggins, Brennan keep U.S. ski success rolling

By Philip O’Connor

ZHANGJIAKOU, China (Reuters) – Bronze medallist Jessica Diggins obtained some assistance on her campaign to maintain American Olympic cross-country snowboarding related on Tuesday as teammate Rosie Brennan completed fourth in a vastly aggressive subject, simply exterior the rostrum.

Diggins, who along with Kikkan Randall ended a U.S. cross-country medal drought of over 4 a long time when she took group dash gold in 2018, was delighted to have one other American at her facet as they competed towards three Swedes and a Swiss racer within the six-woman last.

“She was superb, she’s snowboarding so nicely,” Diggins mentioned of Brennan, whose efficiency fell simply 1.36 seconds in need of a podium end.

“I imply, I do understand how that feels. I’m so happy with Rosie, she’s doing so nicely. And she or he’s doing all the things proper, I’m so proud to be her teammate, so I believe it bodes nicely.”

The shock Diggins-Randall gold in Pyeongnchang ushered in a brand new period for the game in America, and Diggins has since garnered huge respect for her performances on the circuit, significantly within the lung-bursting dash disciplines.

The reward has been a brand new Olympic medal, and the 30-year-old from Minnesota was fast to pay tribute to the individuals who put her in place to succeed.

“That is completely wild, and I’m simply so grateful. That’s the overwhelming emotion as a result of it’s taken a lot from so many individuals,” she mentioned.

“We had superb skiers, we’ve got superb teammates who’ve helped me and pushed me, and we’ve got an incredible assist workers, so many volunteers, superb coaches, so this actually belongs to everybody.”

The brand new-found success brings with it nice dilemma as america must decide from the likes of Diggins, Brennan and dash specialist Hannah Halvorsen for the group dash occasion on Feb. 16, however Diggins mentioned she can be prepared.

“(I’m) simply (going to) take as excellent care of myself as I can and get well, and prepare for all the remainder of the races.”

(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Modifying by Himani Sarkar)