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Not long ago, in early February to be exact, Jesse Diggins was leading the overall World Cup standings by over 300 points. The Afton native appeared to be on track for another historic feat in American cross-country skiing: a double overall title.
Diggins remains on top, but Lynn Svern’s late surge sets the stage for some big drama in this weekend’s World Cup final. The Swedish sprint specialist cut Diggins’ overall lead to 102 points. The battle for the Crystal Globe could come down to the final stretch, with the final three races of the season taking place on Svern’s home snow, including the Classic Sprint, which begins on Friday.
set up
Falun, Sweden will host the final race of the season. Friday’s classic sprint will be followed by a 10km individual start classic on Saturday and a 20km mass start freestyle on Sunday.
Diggins leads the overall standings with 2,490 points, the highest score of his career. Svern is second with 2,388. Diggins leads the distance standings with a 177-point lead over Sweden’s Eva Andersson, while Svern leads the sprint rankings with a 176-point lead over Norway’s Kristin Stavars-Skystad. ing.
what to look for
Svern is doing well. She has won five sprint finals since Dec. 30 and hasn’t finished inside the top 12 in any race since Jan. 7. Diggins’ best chance to catch her is Friday’s sprint, where she could earn 115 points if she wins both qualifying and the final. Last.
Diggins has a career-high five wins and 11 podiums this season, but has cooled off a bit. She has been on the podium once in her past nine races, and she placed third in the 10K run at Wirth Park on February 18th.
Diggins came into his own in the freestyle distance race and had Sunday’s finale firmly in his wheelhouse. She competed in the 20km freestyle twice this season, finishing first and second. She aims to score points in the classic sprint and 10km, holding off her Svarn as much as possible and relying on her stamina and guts to get home.
what jesse says
In an Instagram post on Thursday, Diggins acknowledged his excitement at winning his second overall title. She won her first victory in 2021, becoming the only American woman to win an overall World Cup title in cross country.
She also mentioned how difficult this season has been. Diggins revealed in September that she had suffered a relapse to her eating disorder. She was trying to recover and didn’t know how it would affect her race schedule. Thanks to the support of her family, friends and teammates, she had her best season to date.
Diggins said in her post that she has three goals for this weekend: to be grateful to be able to race, to show gratitude to her team, and to find joy in racing.
“Throughout the year, I have just focused on doing the best I can in the moment,” Diggins wrote. “The biggest victory for me this whole season was being able to get to the starting line.”
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