Another winter sports icon is hanging up her skis, as Team USA cross-country star Jessie Diggins competed in her final Olympic race on Sunday, finishing fifth in the inaugural women's 50km mass start classic to round out her decorated career.
"If you had told me even a year ago, I'd be in the fight for a bronze medal in a 50K classic, I would not have believed you," said the four-time Olympic medalist. "I can confidently say I could not possibly have tried harder or gotten more out of my body."
"I got to end [my Olympic career] on a beautiful day and at a venue that I love so much," Diggins added. "I'm just really proud of this last Olympics, really grateful, and really happy. I'm leaving here full of joy."
The 34-year-old revolutionized the sport in the US, joining teammate Kikkan Randall in leading the nation to its first-ever cross-country gold medal when the pair won the team sprint at the 2018 PyeongChang Games.
Diggins then picked up three more medals, earning silver in the 30km freestyle and bronze in the individual sprint at the 2022 Beijing Olympics before taking bronze in last week's 10km interval start freestyle.
Saying that this season would be her last as a professional, Diggins also announced plans to close out her career at the World Cup finals in March.
"I'm just so proud of being gritty and being able to give my best and not just in a bib, off the snow as well, doing what I need to do to be a good human and try to make the world a little bit better," she said.
As soon as Team USA cross-country skier Jessie Diggins crossed the finish line on Thursday, she collapsed onto the snow and screamed — then climbed the podium with her bronze medal.
The 34-year-old earned her fourth career Olympic medal in the women's 10km interval start freestyle at the Milan Cortina Games, finishing in 22 minutes, 49.2 seconds behind Sweden's Frida Karlsson. Karlsson won her second gold of the Games, with teammate Ebba Andersson taking silver 46.6 seconds back. Diggins finished 49.7 seconds behind Karlsson.
Diggins raced the entire event with bruised ribs, an injury she sustained in a crash during the opening skiathlon. The injury knocked her out of contention in the individual sprint, where she fell in the heats.
"I need a new body," Diggins joked. "It's been one heck of a painful week. Two days ago, I was like, 'I don't know how I'm going to do this.'"
She wasn't even sure how she was stacking up during the race.
"I had no idea what place I was in," she said afterwards. "It's been disconcerting and really, really painful."
The bronze adds to a career haul that already included a 2018 Olympic team sprint gold, along with a silver and bronze at the 2022 Beijing Games. Diggins announced last November that 2026 will her final season competing.
"I just felt like I was skiing out of my body the whole time," Diggins said. "Just getting to the finish line felt like a gold medal."