If you have been watching the Beijing Winter Olympics so many athletes have fallen become injured or even simple mistakes that caused them to be disqualified from their race or event, it has been a wild ride. Per usual as in any Olympics Team USA has had to work so hard to garner a medal in any of the events and one woman from Minnesota helped put Team USA on that podium.

Jessie Diggins who is 30 years old and grew up in the Twin Cites suburb of Afton Minnesota " became the first American to win an Olympic medal in a women's individual cross-country skiing event. She finished the grueling 1.5-kilometer sprint in 3 minutes and 12.84 seconds. "

It was a close finish for second-place finisher Sweden's Maja Dahlqvist beating Diggins by 0.28 seconds while Swedens Jonna Sundling took first place 3.16 seconds ahead of Diggins.

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Back in  2018 at the  Pyeongchang Olympics Diggins won gold in the team sprint, which was the first medal for American men or women in Olympic cross-country skiing since 1976. Next week, Diggins and Rosie Brennan will compete in the team sprint with hopes of earning another medal. For more on this story go to Bring Me The News.

The New York Times describes this race as follows:

The freestyle sprint is a furious, three-minute tear around a 1.5-kilometer loop on a course built into the side of a hill that includes a lung-busting climb, a dicey descent and a final burst down the flat straightaway to the finish, with skis and poles flying from start to finish.

For every kid like myself who competed in sports, the Olympics was always a very powerful thing to watch. To see these elite athletes who have trained their whole lives for this moment is so surreal especially because unlike professional athletes most of these athletes have to figure out a way to pay for their own training, travel, and more. Yes, many athletes have endorsements but very few are making a ton of money. This to me shows the true love of the sport and competition.

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