Jessie Diggins Wins Historic Gold Medal At Olympics: New Video

UPDATE, Feb. 21 — It finally happened. Afton native and Stillwater High School graduate (class of 2010) Jessie Diggins helped end the United States' 42-year Olympic cross-country medal drought by winning gold in the women's team sprint Wednesday in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Before Wednesday, no American woman had medaled in cross-country skiing at the Olympics, and Bill Koch was the only American to have ever medaled in the sport (back in 1976).

While most of the nation was asleep, Diggins, 26, and her American teammate Kikkan Randall 35, became:

• The nation's first cross-country skiers to win gold.
• The first U.S. women cross-country skiers to ever medal at the Olympics.

Sweden won silver and Norway captured bronze in the sprint event.

In the team sprint, two teammates "pass the relay" to each other three times over the course of 15 kilometers. In the final lap, Diggins skied by Norway's Marit Bjoergen (the winningest Winter Olympian of all time with 14 medals) and darted narrowly ahead of Sweden's Stina Nilsson just before crossing the finish line. Diggins fell to the ground and screamed with joy; Randall jumped on her and joined in on the cheering.

Watch the historic moment (with the sound up).

Randall, 35, is the only mother representing Team USA in the 2018 Winter Olympics.

“It was this race in particular that really motivated me to go for one more Olympics, and really pushed me through this comeback after having my son," she told NBC Today. "It’s been so fun. This family on this team has been helping me raise Breck. It’s just so cool. I hope it gives a lot of inspiration to all the moms out there that you can come back to being active and physical and stronger than you’ve ever been."

"It was so, so cool to do this as a team," Diggins told the network. "There are so many strong women on this team that could have also been skiing these legs and we were just honored to represent Team USA out there."

Diggins' final race at the 2018 Winter Olympics is the 30-kilometer mass start classic taking place Sunday at 12:15 a.m. central.

Global Warming Is Hurting My Sport: Olympic Skier Jessie Diggins

UPDATE, Feb. 15 — For the third time in the 2018 Winter Olympics, Afton's Jessie Diggins fell just short of a medal in cross-country skiing. Diggins placed fifth in the 10-kilometer freestyle Thursday. She finished just 3.3 seconds behind two skiers who tied for the bronze medal.

Despite coming up just short of a medal once again, Diggins stuck with her positive, cheerful attitude:

"Don’t be sorry for me because I just missed a medal...be happy WITH me, because I fought like a hell today!" Diggins wrote on social medial. "I pushed my body so far past it’s limits I’m actually kind of amazed I didn’t pass out on that final climb. Looking back and knowing you gave it absolutely everything you had without holding back is a great feeling. 30km of racing down...3 race days to go!"

Check out the rest of Jessie Diggins' Olympic event schedule:

• Saturday, Feb. 17: 4 x 5-kilometer classic relay, 3:30 a.m. CT
• Wednesday, Feb. 21: Team sprint freestyle, 2 a.m. CT
• Sunday, Feb. 25: 30-kilometer mass start classic, 12:15 a.m CT

Patch will post results after the events are complete.

Classic Sprint Results

UPDATE, Feb. 13: Jessie Diggins came up just shy of becoming the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing. Diggins made the final of the women's classic sprint Tuesday, but finished sixth.

7.5-Kilometer Skiathlon Results

UPDATE, Feb. 10 — Stillwater High School graduate and Afton, Minnesota native Jessie Diggins placed fifth in the women’s 7.5-kilometer skiathlon Saturday, the highest finish ever in the history of U.S. women's Olympic cross-country skiing. Diggins was just 4.6 seconds away from winning an Olympic medal.

At 26-years-old, Diggins is no stranger to the Olympic stage. In 2014, Diggins competed in the Sochi Winter Olympics as a member of the U.S. Women's Nordic Ski Team, where she placed 8th in the skiathlon and 13th in the sprint freestyle. As part of the first-ever U.S. team to win a world cup team sprint event, she also is the first cross-country skier to win a medal in the Tour de Ski world championship event.

Diggins — who says she began taking racing more seriously when she joined Stillwater's ski team in high school — currently holds the U.S. record for most world championship medals.

She's now set her eyes on a bigger challenge. No American woman has medaled in cross-country skiing at the Olympics, and Bill Koch is the only American to have ever done so (back in 1976).

Here’s where to find the daily Olympics schedule of when other athletes from Minnesota compete, and here’s where to find results.

Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images