Jessie Diggins Sets U.S. XC Ski Record With 14th World Cup Victory

Jessie Diggins competes in the women's cross country mass start during the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on Feb. 20, 2022 in Zhangjiakou, China.

Jessie Diggins is running out of American records to break.

Diggins, who is the most decorated Olympian in U.S. cross-country skiing history and the first American woman to win an overall world cup title, reached another superlative Sunday in Davos, Switzerland. She broke fellow Olympic gold medalist Kikkan Randall’s U.S. record for career individual world cup wins, winning the women’s 20-kilometer freestyle for her 14th career victory.

“Wow! What a day!” Diggins said. “This win means a lot as it breaks an American record for the number of world cup wins, which is super exciting and fun.”

Diggins won with a time of 48 minutes, 43.2 seconds, beating Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg of Norway by 5.5 seconds.

Diggins’ U.S. teammate, two-time Olympian Rosie Brennan, came in third for her first individual podium finish since last December.

Sunday’s win was the second podium of the weekend for Diggins, who also finished second Saturday in the freestyle sprint. The 31-year-old from Afton, Minnesota, earned her second victory of the season following a 10-kilometer freestyle win in Lillehammer, Norway, on Dec. 2. After 10 races, Diggins ranks second in the overall world cup standings as she looks to add to her historic title from 2020-21.

“I felt really good today,” Diggins said following Sunday’s race. “I was able to bounce back really well from the sprint day the day before and I felt like I could push really hard. I just raced as hard as I could until I got to the finish line, which was really cool. I was just trying to ski my own race and ski as smart and as powerful as I could.”

Both Diggins and Randall have had a monumental impact on American cross-country skiing. Prior to a victory by Randall in 2007, no U.S. woman had won a world cup race. In 2018, Diggins and Randall broke through to win Team USA’s first Olympic cross-country skiing gold medal in the team sprint. At the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, Diggins added silver and bronze medals to secure her place as the most decorated American cross-country skier.

World cup skiers will get a holiday break before the start of Tour de Ski on Dec. 31 in Val Müstair, Switzerland.