February 28, 2017 (Lahti, Finland) – We caught up with the USA’s Sadie Bjornsen who took home a bronze medal at her debut World Championship in the women’s Team Sprint competition with Jessie Diggins who put in a stellar anchor leg besting Sweden’s Stina Nilsson at the line. At the post-race press conference Diggins credited Bjornsen for giving her the extra push to dig deeper adding that the team events mean more to her. It was a historic day marking the USA’s first classic technique FIS Nordic Worlds medal since the two disciplines were established. The bronze was also the third Worlds medal for the USA – a new high. Bjornsen recently earned her first individual World Cup podium in the 5km F Individual start at the Tour de Ski in Toblach, ITA, sharing it with Diggins as well. The talented skier who hails from Winthrop, WA shared her thoughts on this special day in her stellar career.

“Gosh, what a magical and incredible day. I didn’t sleep a wink last night, still in disbelief and with so much excitement! I have believed this was possible since this summer when I started setting my heart on it.

Jessie has made some incredible improvements to her classic skiing, and is now a threat in every race she steps foot in, so I knew we were prepared and ready to fight! The team sprint course here is one of the most challenging I have seen. Simply because of the amount of climbing and herring bone that is required, which has never been much of a strength for either Jessie or I.

We tried to focus on the parts that we were good at, and run with those. The key for us today was to never give up hope. We kept fighting in the moments that others maybe would have counted us out. In both the semi’s and finals, we just tried to stay in contact with the front of the group, and be ready to respond to any sort of surges that were going to come our way.

The finals were very challenging from the start. The pace was fast, and skiers were out for blood! We managed to avoid any sort of trouble (minus an exchange zone tumble with me), and I think that was really crucial for us.

We also had just incredible skis out there today, so the stars truly aligned! Jessie was absolutely amazing on that final leg giving just every last bit of her energy and then out sprinting Stina at the line. I think we both knew this could be possible, but to actually ski that perfect day is the tough part!

I am just so excited that we achieved this in classic skiing, because we haven’t had the success in classic yet that I think we are capable of! Not only that, on a very tough course with challenging conditions. I just have to give so much credit and thanks to the amazing techs that gave us fantastic skis, the incredible coaches that have helped us reach this level, and all the other supporters and teammates!

It is a feeling I just want to share with everyone! Standing on the awards podium last night in the center of Lahti brought tears to my eyes. Winning a word championship medal is a dream come true. I am now just looking forward to bringing this momentum an excitement into the second half of this championships!”