(Jesse Diggins stock photo)

America’s cross-country skiing legend Jesse Diggins skied away with gold today in the women’s 10km freestyle, and in doing so became the first U.S. woman to earn an individual gold medal at a World Championship event.

Diggin’s new mark comes on the sixth day of competition at the 2023 Nordic World Ski Championships in Planica, Slovenia.

Diggins edged out Sweden’s powerhouse Frida Karlsson by 14 seconds and finished with a time of 23:40.8.  Swedish teammate Ebba Andersson rounded out the podium in third place, 19.5 seconds back from Diggins. 

“This was one of the best races of my life,” Diggins told reporters in a post-race interview. The 31-year-old Minnesota native controlled her race from start to finish, extending her lead at each interval in the second half of the race. “I was just trying to really push as hard as I could, I was really happy about the snow because I could really work the corners, and this was the perfect course for me. A lot of fun downhills and I tried to just ski with a lot of joy and really attack the downhills, and go as hard as I could.”

The win comes on the heels of the Championship’s freestyle team sprint on Sunday when Diggins paired up with teammate Julia Kern earning a bronze medal in the event and Kern’s first trip to the podium in a World Championship event.

Up next for the Women is the 4x5km relay on Thursday, and the final 30km Mass Start on Saturday.