US women’s next CC medal chance comes in 10km

The U.S. women’s cross-country ski team’s next chance for their first Olympic medal comes Thursday morning with the 10km freestyle.

The event is scheduled to begin at 1:30 a.m. ET at the Alpensia Cross-Country Centre.

Jessie Diggins, a 26-year-old Afton, Minnesota, native is back for her second Olympics, and has had the best Games so far in PyeongChang.

She finished fifth the 15-kilometer skiathlon over the weekend, the best Olympic finish ever for a U.S. women’s cross-country skier, and then was sixth in Tuesday’s sprint classic.

Diggins has a world championship silver medal in the 10K freestyle race, and five-time Olympian Kikkan Randall, 35, of Anchorage, Alaska, has a World Cup 10K podium finish on her resume.

Diggins came to PyeongChang peaking at the right time. She won her final World Cup race before the Olympics, a 10km freestyle mass start on Jan. 28, and is currently third in the overall World Cup standings.

Liz Stephen, a 31-year-old East Montpelier, Vermont, native, is taking part in her third Olympics after also competing in Vancouver in 2010. The 10km will be her first event in PyeongChang.

Sadie Bjornsen, a 28-year-old Washington state native taking part in her second Olympics, placed 14th in the sprint event on Tuesday.

No American woman has ever won an Olympic cross-country skiing medal and the U.S. overall hasn’t won an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing since Bill Koch won 30km silver in 1976.