Stillwater Graduate Wins Skiing World Cup Ahead Of Olympics

Stillwater High School graduate Jessie Diggins is skiing into the 2018 Olympics with tremendous momentum. The Afton native defeated Norway’s Heidi Weng and other top skiers in Austria's 10-kilometer freestyle race Sunday to clinch a World Cup win.

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).

Diggins is in good shape to change that this year in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

"As cross country skiers, this endurance sport, we don’t peak until our late 20s, early 30s," Diggins told USA Today. "I’m 26 now and a lot has changed since the last Games. It’s really fun to see my body’s maturing a bit and absorbing all these hundreds of hours of training. I can feel my fitness base growing and I’m getting stronger every year."

The 2018 Winter Olympics kick off in Pyeongchang Feb. 9. Diggins will be among the 2,800 athletes from more than 85 countries participating in 15 different sports during the games.

Also read: Winter Olympics 2018: 21 Minnesota Athletes To Watch

Top photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images