Cross Country Gold Medalist Jessie Diggins Will Carry U.S. Flag at Olympic Closing Ceremony

The United States Olympic athletes have elected Jessie Diggins to be the flag bearer at the 2018 Winter Olympics closing ceremony. Diggins and teammate Kikkan Randall did something no one else has done in Olympic history, winning the United States first ever Gold Medal in a cross country ski event. They won the freestyle team sprint, beating Sweden and Norway.

Competitive cross country skiing is a much bigger deal in Europe– particularly in Scandinavia– than it is in the U.S. so this is quite an accomplishment. Not only is this the first Gold Medal in cross country for the U.S., it’s also only the second medal ever in the sport. Bill Koch won the silver in the men’s 30 kilometer race at the 1976 Innsbruck Games in Austria. Perhaps this will inspire more athletes to take up the sport competitively.

Here’s a link to the video highlights of this historic Gold Medal race