Jessie Diggins, America's most decorated cross-country skier, is set for her fourth and final Olympic appearance at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games before retiring. The 34-year-old, currently the world's top-ranked skier, has already secured gold, silver, and bronze medals across previous Olympics. She plans to transition to public speaking and advocacy after the event.
Jessie Diggins, a 34-year-old native of Afton, Minnesota, now residing in Wakefield, Massachusetts, enters the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics as the leading contender in cross-country skiing. This marks her fourth Olympic Games, following debuts in Sochi 2014 where she finished in the top 10, a historic gold in the team sprint at PyeongChang 2018—the first for the U.S. in the sport—and a bronze in the sprint plus silver in the 30-kilometer race at Beijing 2022, despite battling food poisoning. Diggins announced her retirement in November, planning to step away after nearly 16 seasons to pursue normalcy, including family time and potential motherhood, while shifting focus to public speaking on mental health and her recovery from an eating disorder, as detailed in her book Brave Enough (2018). She serves as an ambassador for the Emily Program, an eating disorder recovery center, emphasizing that asking for help is crucial. On the World Cup circuit this season, Diggins has dominated, claiming her third overall Tour de Ski title in January at Val di Fiemme—her favorite venue—and retaining the lead in the women's overall standings. She secured second place in the final pre-Olympics race, a 20-kilometer classic in Goms, Switzerland, finishing just 0.9 seconds behind Finland's Johanna Matintalo, a discipline she once struggled with but improved through dedicated technique work under coach Jason Cork. Diggins credits her success to relentless training, including added slow conditioning and heat acclimation for the potentially milder February weather in Val di Fiemme. Her approach blends physical prowess with mental resilience: “I don’t always have all the confidence in the world in my daily life, but when I get to the ski arena, I know what I’m doing,” she said. A dual U.S.-Canadian citizen, Diggins will be supported by over 40 family and friends in Italy, viewing the Games as a celebration. “It’s the Olympics, it should be hard,” she noted. “You should have to be the fittest and the fastest and the best to win.” Her playful style, including glitter face paint and podium dances, underscores a career built on gratitude toward her team and community.
