Jessie Diggins earned a bronze medal Saturday in the final World Cup individual race of the season, taking third in a 10-kilometer freestyle in Falun, Sweden. The cross-country skier from Afton finished second in the women's overall standings, 180 points behind overall champion Natalia Nepryaeva of Russia.
Diggins concluded the individual racing schedule with six podium finishes, including two victories during January's Tour de Ski. The defending World Cup overall champion, she took the runnerup spot by 21 points over Ebba Andersson of Sweden. Diggins, who won silver and bronze medals at the Beijing Olympics last month, also finished fourth in the sprint standings and was ninth in the distance points race.
The World Cup cross-country season ends Sunday with a mixed team relay in Falun, with Diggins anchoring the four-person U.S. team. The World Cup finals, originally scheduled for next week in Russia, were canceled after Russia invaded Ukraine last month.
"It was really special to finish second in the overall World Cup,'' Diggins said. "Overall, I'm very happy and satisfied and proud of the season.
"I came in with very concrete goals about my preparation—both physically and mentally—for the Olympics, and that was the big target. But to be able to have some World Cup wins and some World Cup podiums was really just the icing on the cake.''
Norway's Therese Johaug won Saturday's 10k, the final race of her World Cup career, in 22 minutes, 34.4 seconds. Sweden's Jonna Sundling was 35.9 seconds back in second place, and Diggins was only 4/10ths of a second behind Sundling.
