Jessie Diggins, Julia Kern take silver in cross-country skiing world championships team sprint
Diggins, now a seven-time world medalist, and Kern, now a two-time medalist, finished 2.9 seconds behind gold medalist Sweden in Trondheim, Norway. Switzerland earned bronze.
Diggins and Kern were third behind Sweden and Norway at the last worlds in 2023, when the team sprint was held in the freestyle skiing format.
In the team sprint, each nation's two skiers alternate covering one lap at a time for a total of six laps (three per skier).
Diggins went first for the Americans, so Kern anchored for the last lap. It was the same order as in 2023 for two athletes who have trained together for a decade and often been roommates traveling the World Cup circuit.
This year's team sprint was in the classic style, which is traditionally weaker for Americans.
Events alternate between freestyle and classic at every worlds and Olympics, so the team sprint will switch back to freestyle at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games.
The last time the team sprint was freestyle at an Olympics was in 2018, when Diggins and Kikkan Randall became the first Americans to win cross-country skiing gold.
On Wednesday, Diggins and Kern gave the U.S. its second-ever world podium in a classic event since the two separate classic and freestyle disciplines were established in the 1980s.
The first came in 2017 when Diggins and Sadie Bjornsen won classic team sprint bronze.
Earlier at these worlds, Diggins placed 23rd in the individual sprint (freestyle) and 13th in the skiathlon (10km each of classic and freestyle).
Diggins, the top skier on the World Cup the last two seasons, cited difficulties with her ski setup after those races. She then sat out Tuesday's 10km classic.
The final races of worlds are the men's and women's relays Thursday and Friday, then the 50km freestyle mass starts on Saturday (men) and Sunday (women).
Goals? Jessie Diggins has 4 pages of them for 2024-25 cross-country skiing season
Jessie Diggins begins another cross-country skiing season with a 'holy grail' race among her focuses.
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