December 03, 2016 (Lillehammer, NOR) – American Jessie Diggins claimed her second ever individual World Cup victory winning the 5km FR individual start on stage two of the Lillehammer mini tour, round two of the FIS Cross Country World Cup. Diggins put 4.8 seconds on second-place finisher and tour leader Heidi Weng of Norway while legendary Norwegian Marit Bjoergen finished third.

The win puts Diggins in third in the mini tour and into the top 10 of the overall World Cup rankings. This result matches her victory in Toblach, Italy at last season’s Tour de Ski, also in a 5k freestyle.

“I’m so happy with my day today,” said the stunned Afton, MN skier in the finish. “I’m so lucky to have the most amazing team. When you get to train with the coolest people, it opens up opportunities. My skis were great and I love this course.”

The Lillehammer course played to Diggins’ strengths and the win came on a venue in the heart of the sport’s homeland and site of the 1994 Olympics. “It was very special to win here in Norway against a strong field,” Diggins added. “I really look up to and respect my Norwegian friends and it was so cool to get hugs from them at the finish! I had a great time getting to know those girls better this summer and it’s fun to see your friends do well.”

Sadie Bjornsen (Anchorage, AK) continued her strong early season finishing 14th – her fourth straight top-20 finish. “Another exceptionally exciting day of racing here in Norway. It was amazing to see Jessie standing on the top of the podium in Norway. I am really inspired by her, and hope to try to keep up. She started 1 minute in front of me, so I was just thinking if I looked far enough in the distance, maybe I could have her in sight, but she was just way too fast today! Big congrats to Jessie – I am really inspired by her.

“I was really excited to have a strong race on a tough course here. I went out hard, and tried to carry that momentum to the finish. I bobbled a bit in the middle, but feel very encouraged by the result during this time of the season. I believe I can build on it from here, and look forward to trying to improve each race! Tomorrow should be really fun to finish the tour off, and do some classic skiing with others.”

The top Canadian finisher was Cendrine Browne who told Trax, “I’m really happy with today’s race! The skis were fast and I was feeling good. I tried to start fast to be in the game right from the start. And I was! I lost time on the “monster uphill” and then Sadie Bjornsen catched me (she was starting right behind me again) so I tried to stay with her on the last km of the course. Even if I placed 50th, I was happy ton only be at 24 seconds of the top 30! I’m looking forward for tomorrow’s race to ski with other great skiers.”

Her teammate Emily Nishikawa was also happy with her race saying, “I am happy with how the season is going so far.  I had a tough time this summer and fall with injuries, and wasn’t able to train at high intensity at all.  So with each race I do here, I’m feeling better and better, so I’m excited for good things to come!  Today’s race was another step in the right direction for me.  We had great skis, and it was a really fast course which was a lot of fun! I was happy with my effort and can’t wait for the classic pursuit tomorrow,” said Nishikawa.

The Lillehammer tour winds up Sunday with a 15k classic pursuit for men and 10k for women.

Results HERE
Mini Tour standings HERE.