Winter Olympics 2018: U.S. women win first
Jessica Diggins
PYEONGCHANG  South Korea -- As she headed up the steepest  most grueling hill of her life in third place   Jessica Diggins  thought to  herself  just winning an Olympic medal was no longer good enough.  She  wanted more.  She  wanted gold.
 Diggins  dug deep  remembering all the years of training  she  had put in  and of all  her  teammates waiting for  her  at the finish line to bring home the United States' first medal ever in women's cross-country skiing - and then  she  let loose.
 Diggins  reached the peak of the hill in third place but sped past Norway's Maiken Caspersen Falla on the last big  winding downhill.  She  rounded the final corner and took dead aim at Sweden's Stina Nilsson on the final 100-meter homestretch.
The crowd in the grandstand was on its feet sensing history  and at that moment  Diggins  said  she  felt "unstoppable."
"Around that final corner I felt like I was uncoiling a spring and letting it go "  Diggins  said. "Giving it everything I had  digging as deep as I could and putting it all out there. When your team is counting on you  you don't give up ever."
 Diggins  certainly didn't give up.
 She  blew by Nilsson in a blur to capture gold in the team sprint  bringing the United States its first gold medal ever in cross-country skiing.
As she crossed the line she collapsed in exhaustion as teammate Kikkan Randall tackled her in the snow. Randall lay on top of a crying  Diggins  shaking her ski jacket in pure excitement and utter joy.
"That feeling of being able to cross the line and have Kikkan tackle me was the coolest thing ever "  Diggins  said.
 Diggins  and Randall ended that 42-year drought and surely gave a huge boost to all of the young cross-country skiers back home in the United States.
 Diggins'  father  Clay  said he had a feeling this was the day the drought would end.  Diggins  had three top-six finishes at the Olympics and Randall was skiing well  too. And  he  said the entire American women's cross-country team came out to practice on Tuesday morning with  Diggins  and Randall.
"There were only two of them skiing today  but the entire team came out to support them - practicing tags and everything  " Clay Diggins  said. "That to me is pretty cool. They wanted to be there for them  for the team. And I think Kikkan and Jess felt that (support) on the course."
 Diggins  screamed as  she  crossed the finish line  setting off a huge celebration for the red  white and blue.  Her  American teammates were jumping and hugging each other along the fence line that guarded the track.
"Our whole team had that belief we could win and everyone was there screaming  " Diggins  said of the final sprint. "I don't know if you have that many teams where everyone is out there on the fence yelling their faces off. I just think we had a lot of support behind of us."
PYEONGCHANG  South Korea -- As she headed up the steepest  most grueling hill of her life in third place    [TGT] thought to  herself  just winning an Olympic medal was no longer good enough.   [TGT]   wanted more.   [TGT]   wanted gold.
 Diggins  dug deep  remembering all the years of training   [TGT]   had put in  and of all   [TGT]   teammates waiting for   [TGT]   at the finish line to bring home the United States' first medal ever in women's cross-country skiing - and then  she  let loose.
 Diggins  reached the peak of the hill in third place but sped past Norway's Maiken Caspersen Falla on the last big  winding downhill.  She  rounded the final corner and took dead aim at Sweden's Stina Nilsson on the final 100-meter homestretch.
The crowd in the grandstand was on its feet sensing history  and at that moment  Diggins  said  she  felt "unstoppable."
"Around that final corner I felt like I was uncoiling a spring and letting it go "  Diggins  said. "Giving it everything I had  digging as deep as I could and putting it all out there. When your team is counting on you  you don't give up ever."
 Diggins  certainly didn't give up.
 She  blew by Nilsson in a blur to capture gold in the team sprint  bringing the United States its first gold medal ever in cross-country skiing.
As she crossed the line she collapsed in exhaustion as teammate Kikkan Randall tackled her in the snow. Randall lay on top of a crying  Diggins  shaking her ski jacket in pure excitement and utter joy.
"That feeling of being able to cross the line and have Kikkan tackle me was the coolest thing ever "  Diggins  said.
 Diggins  and Randall ended that 42-year drought and surely gave a huge boost to all of the young cross-country skiers back home in the United States.
 Diggins'  father  Clay  said he had a feeling this was the day the drought would end.  Diggins  had three top-six finishes at the Olympics and Randall was skiing well  too. And  he  said the entire American women's cross-country team came out to practice on Tuesday morning with  Diggins  and Randall.
"There were only two of them skiing today  but the entire team came out to support them - practicing tags and everything  " Clay Diggins  said. "That to me is pretty cool. They wanted to be there for them  for the team. And I think Kikkan and Jess felt that (support) on the course."
 Diggins  screamed as  she  crossed the finish line  setting off a huge celebration for the red  white and blue.  Her  American teammates were jumping and hugging each other along the fence line that guarded the track.
"Our whole team had that belief we could win and everyone was there screaming  " Diggins  said of the final sprint. "I don't know if you have that many teams where everyone is out there on the fence yelling their faces off. I just think we had a lot of support behind of us."