Olympics-Crosscountry-Diggins’ final Games off to rocky start after early skiathlon crash

By Tommy Lund and Liz Hampton

TESERO, Italy, Feb 7 (Reuters) – U.S. cross-country skier Jessie Diggins crashed early during the women’s skiathlon on Saturday, dashing hopes for a podium in the first race of her fourth and final Olympics.

The 34-year-old fell in the classic stage of the race after a few minutes while skiing down a steep hill that also claimed other victims later in the competition. 

The 20-km race is split between classic and freestyle skiing, also known as skate skiing.

“I had a crash on the first lap where my tip just disappeared in the slush, and unfortunately, it was a tough spot where you lose all your momentum,” Diggins told reporters.

“I was struggling with things that were out of my control on the classic half, but on the skate half I was really encouraged by that.” 

The crash also took out Norway’s Karoline Simpson-Larsen, who had been considered a medal contender. 

Diggins clawed back from 14th to finish eighth during the skate portion, while Simpson-Larsen ended up 13th.

“You just get furious that an Olympic debut is ruined after two kilometres. At the same time, you understand that she did not do it on purpose, and that her race was ruined as well,” she told Norwegian media afterwards.

The treacherous hills at Tesero Cross-Country Stadium in Val di Fiemme, Italy, had other racers on edge. 

“My thought of it was that I was going to be in front at the beginning because of that hill, to avoid crashes and everything like that,” Swedish skier Moa Ilar, who finished 14th, told Reuters. “The course has some difficult downhills.”

(Reporting by Tommy Lund and Liz Hampton; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)