PYEONGCHANG, SOUTH KOREA—With their eyes locked on the video board, Kikkan Randall and Sadie Bjornsen stood in the finish area and felt the adrenaline rise. Their teammate, Jessie Diggins, was charging down the chute, racing the clock toward an Olympic medal in the 10-kilometer freestyle.
“They showed on the screen that she was the leader,’’ Randall said. “We thought we were going to be bringing her in to the gold medal. Sadie and I were ready to rush out and grab her at the finish. She was so close.’’
Their hearts sank when they saw the timer: 25 minutes, 35.7 seconds -- 3.3 seconds away from a bronze that would have been the first Olympic medal ever won by an American woman in cross-country skiing.
Diggins, of Afton, finished fifth in Thursday’s race, marking her third top-six finish in three races at the Pyeongchang Games. She was 35.2 seconds behind winner Ragnhild Haga of Norway, with Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla second and a tie for third between Norway’s Marit Bjoergen and Finland’s Krista Parmakoski.
Though Randall called the string of near-misses “heartbreaking,’’ Diggins did not want any sympathy. Wearing her golden glitter like eyeblack, she said she was proud of a race that wrung every muscle completely dry at Alpensia Cross-Country Skiing Centre.
The 10k freestyle was her best chance at an individual medal. But Diggins lives for the team events, and she has two more shots at the Winter Games podium: in the 4x5k relay Saturday, and the team freestyle sprint next Wednesday.
“I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me,’’ Diggins said. “I’ve had so many people go, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry.’ I’m like, ‘Don’t be sorry.’ I’m proud of what I did today. I pushed my body way past its limit. I killed myself out there. I thought I was going to pass out on that last climb; I was completely locked up. That’s a really good feeling, to know you gave it everything you had, and more than you thought you could give.’’
The fifth-place finish was Diggins’ second of the Olympics, tying her finish in the skiathlon on Saturday. She placed sixth in Tuesday's classic sprint. Her two fifth-place finishes are the highest ever recorded by an American woman in Olympic cross-country skiing.
With three races in the first five days of the Olympics, Diggins was trying to figure out how to prepare for peak performance every time. The cramps that bothered her earlier are gone, and she believes she has found the right routine of when and how much to eat, drink and sleep. Randall said Diggins also has maintained her usual pre-race tradition of dancing and putting glitter on everyone’s cheeks.
Thursday, she looked strong as she tackled the two hills on a course she called “a serious grinder.’’ Haga, who started six positions ahead of Diggins in the staggered-start race, put down an impressive time to pass Bjoergen, the early leader. As Diggins’ body flooded with lactic acid, she concentrated on just staying upright, leaving Randall awestruck by her stamina.
“She’s clearly skiing at that top level, and she’s been skiing her heart out every single race,’’ Randall said. “She can roll her eyes back like no one I’ve ever seen. It’s tough to see her be so close and not quite get there, but I know all of us seem to rise to the occasion when the relays come around.’’
Diggins insisted it was “a dream come true’’ to log three top-six finishes at the Olympics. Though she acknowledged she wants to medal as much as anyone, she is trying not to let others’ expectations dampen her happiness at what she has already achieved.
After the race, Randall repeated something she said after the skiathlon: Diggins’ day is coming. Diggins believes that, too.
“I am so excited,’’ she said. “I have a lot of confidence. I have a lot of belief in my team, and I know my fitness is right there. “I’m fired up for the relays. I’m stoked to give it my best.’’