Jessie Diggins' day didn't start out well. In warmups before Monday's third stage of the Tour de Ski, she took a tumble, sliding 100 meters down a hill and flipping over twice.
Jessie Diggins wins 20k freestyle, holds overall lead in Tour de Ski
The Afton skier overcame a tumble in warmups to win by 46.5 seconds in Italy and extend her overall lead in the seven-stage Tour de Ski
January 2, 2024 at 12:05AM
But as Diggins' fans know, adversity just seems to fuel the Afton native. She dusted herself off, then won a 20-kilometer freestyle pursuit in Toblach, Italy, to extend her overall lead in the seven-stage Tour de Ski. In one of her most dominating performances of the season, she finished in 58 minutes, 18.7 seconds, crossing the line 46.5 seconds ahead of runner-up Victoria Carl of Germany.
Diggins has finished ninth, third and first in the three opening stages of the Tour de Ski. She leads the overall women's standings by 47 seconds over Carl.
After her fall in warmups, Diggins had to change out her ski poles. She said the mishap spurred her to start fast, and she never let up.
"I wanted to ski a brave race and see what I could hold," Diggins told fis-ski.com. "I was blowing up the last two laps. I couldn't really feel my legs, but I did hear my family out there cheering, and that kept me going.
"I crossed the line with nothing left, and that was the goal."
In the pursuit format, Diggins started first as the overall leader. No one could catch her, and she raced by herself the entire way. Carl finished second, and Sweden's Linn Svahn was third.
The Tour de Ski resumes Wednesday in Davos, Switzerland, with a freestyle sprint.
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