Jessie Diggins

Nordic skier Jessica "Jessie" Diggins was born on Aug. 26, 1991, in Afton, Minnesota, the daughter of Clay and Debra Diggins. Part of an active and outdoors-loving family, her skiing career began early - she joined the Minnesota Youth Ski League at the age of 3. She took to the sport and worked her way up from weekend skiing with friends to daily practices, as well as joining the high school ski team and the Central Cross Country Ski Team. By age 19 she launched an international career by winning a spot on the World Championship team in Oslo, Norway, and continued to advance in the rankings each year. In 2013 she paired with Kikkan Randall to win the team sprint at the World Championships. She competed in her first Olympics in Sochi, Russia, in 2014. She is known for her aggressive racing style, which experts say contributed to her first individual World Cup victory at the Tour de Ski in Toblach, Italy, where she won the 5k freestyle individual start, making her just the fourth U.S. woman to win an individual World Cup. In 2015 she won a silver medal in the 10k freestyle at the Falun World Championships. In January 2018 she qualifed for the U.S. Olympic team, representing the U.S. at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.