U.S. cross-country skier Jessie Diggins tries to build on recent success and earn an individual medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics, and NBC and Peacock will be there to capture it all.
The 30-year-old from Afton, Minnesota, took home gold from the 2018 PyeongChang Games in the team sprint with since-retired Kikkan Randall, executing a dramatic, come-from-behind finish immortalized by the "Here comes Diggins!" call — the first-ever U.S. cross-country skiing Olympic title and women's medal of any color. Additionally, she finished fifth in the three events of 10km freestyle, skiathlon and relay, sixth in the sprint classical and seventh in the 30km classical, collectively indicating an upward trend in her individual potential at the Games.
Diggins has only improved over the interim quadrennium, tallying a pair of unprecedented achievements. Last January, she claimed the first American-won Tour de Ski title, then wrapped up the season by becoming the first U.S. woman to attain the overall World Cup crystal globe, simultaneously winning another trophy in the distance discipline. She was on track to defend her Tour title this season but was knocked out of contention by both an obstruction-caused crash during the Stage 4 sprint quarterfinals and catching a cold.
While she's known for her team mentality, there's no doubt Diggins can maintain those efforts while also focusing on herself these Games with history to be made. With a victory in an individual event – i.e., individual sprint, 10km, skiathlon, 30km – she could become the first American to stand unaccompanied atop the podium, and any individual medal would be a first for a U.S. woman. Bill Koch's 30km silver at the 1976 Innsbruck Games, the lone American medal in cross-country skiing up until Diggins and Randall's gold in 2018, remains the only earned individually.
Diggins' best chances to capture individual hardware are in the sprint and 30km, both of which will be contested in her preferred technique of freestyle. She won her last sprint race, December's Tour de Ski opening-stage individual sprint freestyle in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, and took fourth in her most recent traditional 30km freestyle at the 2019 World Championships. Joining her in the team sprint – to be raced in classical – will be either Rosie Brennan or Julia Kern. Brennan, winner of back-to-back sprint and 10km Davos World Cup races in 2020, is expected to challenge Diggins for the aforementioned individual distinctions. Both will take on favorites Therese Johaug of Norway and Sweden's Frida Karlsson, Maja Dahlqvist and Ebba Andersson.
Sign up to stream every event at the 2022 Winter Olympics LIVE on Peacock. Users can also authenticate via TV Everywhere to stream events in the NBC Sports app or on NBCOlympics.com. See below for full broadcast and streaming details for every event in which Diggins is likely to compete. You can also see a full cross-country skiing streaming schedule on NBCOlympics.com.
Date/Time | Event | Network/Stream |
---|---|---|
Sat, 2/5 2:45a |
🏅 Women's Skiathlon | USA | Peacock, NBCOlympics.com |
Tue, 2/8 3:00a |
🏅 Women's Individual Sprint (Freestyle) | USA | Peacock, NBCOlympics.com |
Thu, 2/10 2:00a |
🏅 Women's 10km (Classical) | USA | Peacock, NBCOlympics.com |
Sat, 2/12 2:30a |
🏅 Women's 4x5km Relay | USA | Peacock, NBCOlympics.com |
Wed, 2/16 4:00a |
🏅 Women's Team Sprint (Classical) | *USA | Peacock, NBCOlympics.com |
Sun, 2/20 1:30a |
🏅 Women's 30km (Freestyle) | USA | Peacock, NBCOlympics.com |
*TV broadcast finals only, 6 a.m.