American skiers make history in Sweden

After a slow start for the Swedish skiers at the World Ski Championships in Falun things took a turn for the better after Feb. 24. Here also a sunshine story for Minnesota and the U.S. 

• 

  Charlotte Kalla with Jessie Diggins, 23, of Afton, MN and Caitlin Gregg, 34, of Minneapolis. Bildbyrån photo.

• Sweden’s own Charlotte Kalla placed first in the individual ladies' 10k freestyle Nordic World Ski Championships on Tuesday, Feb. 24 in Falun, Sweden. But, two skiers from Minnesota raced an award-winning, best-ever finish by the U.S. team, creating an explosion of celebration for the historic results. Jessie Diggins, 23, of Afton, MN and Caitlin Gregg, 34, of Minneapolis finished second and third in the 10K individual freestyle cross-country ski race behind Kalla, who won the gold medal by an impressive 40 seconds.

• 

  Charlotte Kalla placed first in the individual ladies' 10k freestyle at the World Ski Championships in Falun. Bildbyrån photo.

• “We’ve never had U.S. girls on the podium at a distance event at the World Champs — and to have two? It’s incredible,” Diggins said. Snow was falling in Falun in central Sweden, making conditions more and more unpredictable. The favored Norwegians misjudged their wax, but he U.S. skiers took advantage of great work from their service team to capitalize on the conditions, making Diggins and Gregg the first American women to win medals in a distance event at the Nordic world championships. In fact, In the 90-year history of the Nordic world championships, Americans had won only three medals in cross-country events.

• (More from the World Ski Championships this weekend)