Jessie Diggins earns first cross-country skiing World Cup classic win in breakthrough

Before this season began, Jessie Diggins was asked what keeps her motivated after all of her cross-country skiing success.

“There are definitely things that I have not won,” she said on Nov. 25, “and most of them start with classic.”

Diggins, an Olympic medalist of every color and world champion, got her first classic victory on the World Cup on Sunday.

The breakthrough marked back-to-back wins for the American in the first two stages of the seven-stage Tour de Ski in Toblach, Italy.

Diggins, 33, outlasted some of the world’s best skiers in the classic technique, including the best classic skier of this generation, Norwegian Therese Johaug.

Diggins won the 15km mass start race with a charge in the last few hundred meters. She crossed the finish line five tenths of a second in front of Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen.

“This is why you never, ever give up,” Diggins said, noting it was her 340th start (counting both classic and freestyle techniques) in a World Cup career that dates to 2011. “I’ve been working so hard on classic skiing my whole life, and it’s really emotional to finally do it.”

All of Diggins’ previous 21 individual World Cup race victories came in the freestyle technique.

Only one other American has ever won a World Cup race in classic — Bill Koch, a star of the 1970s and ‘80s who was the only American to win a World Cup overall title until Diggins came along.

There are two styles of cross-country skiing: classic and freestyle. In classic, skiers use a traditional straight striding technique within parallel tracks carved prepared in the snow.

The freestyle technique, often called skating, has no restrictions and is generally faster than classic. Skiers do not stay within tracks and generate speed by pushing off with both legs in a motion that resembles skating.

From 1924 through 1984, every Olympic cross-country skiing race was held in the classic style. Starting with 1988, the Olympics have held both classic and freestyle races. A skiathlon combining both techniques was also added to the program.

The last two days could be significant for Diggins moving forward, upping her chances to be a podium contender in anything she races. She has won two World Cup overall titles with her best results coming in distance freestyle races.

On Saturday, she won a sprint for the first time in three years. On Sunday, she won a classic race for the first time.

The Tour de Ski continues Tuesday with an event in Diggins’ traditional wheelhouse — a 20km interval start freestyle.