USA’s Jessie Diggins collapses in pain after winning bronze at Winter Olympics

Jessie Diggins of the United States battled through a rib injury to claim bronze Thursday in the women’s 10‑kilometer interval start, a cross-country skiing race dominated by Sweden’s Frida Karlsson as she won her second gold medal at the Winter Olympics.

Diggins, racing in her final season, collapsed to the ground, shouting out in pain after finishing the freestyle race at the Milan Cortina Games and adding to her gold, silver and bronze career medal tally. 

NBC, which broadcasts the Olympics, shared a video clip on social media that showed Diggins completing the 10-kilometer race. Although visibly in pain, the footage captured her pushing forward until she reached the finish line. As soon as she crossed the threshold, Diggins fell to the ground.

The 34-year-old American finished 49.7 seconds behind a Swedish one-two, with Karlsson clocking 22 minutes, 49.2 seconds. Ebba Andersson was second, 46.6 seconds behind the leader.

Diggins fell in the opening race, the Skiathlon, and bruised her ribs. The injury hurt her following performance in the individual sprint where she was eliminated in the heats.

This is Diggins’ fourth time competing in the Olympics. In 2018, she made history alongside Team USA as the first U.S. team to win a gold medal in cross-country skiing and went on to win a bronze and silver medal at the 2022 games, CBS News Minnesota reported. Diggins is from Minnesota.

She announced her plans to retire after the 20216 Olympics in a social media post last November.

“I want to share with you that this will be my final year of ski racing,” Diggins said in the post. “It’s going to be hard to step away from this sport and team that I love so much, but it also feels right in my heart, and I’m so excited to open a new chapter in my life.”