March 22, 2026 - (Lake Placid, NY) There was a moment of quiet at the beginning of the race. It was hard to tell if it was because the speaker cut out or if the crowd was holding its collective breath waiting for the start gun to go off, but suddenly a sound broke the silence. “Thank you!!!” a small, clear voice echoed throughout the stadium, coming from a sparkle-laden Jessie Diggins at the front of the pack of awaiting ski racers. She smiled through tears, waved and blew a kiss to the crowd of tens of thousands in Lake Placid. Moments later, she took off from the start line in the last ski race of her career.
She finished 12th. It wasn’t the result she wanted, hindered by a fall on the final descent in the last kilometer of the race, but it didn’t matter. She ended her career in style, greeted by her teammates, competitors, coaches, family and friends in the finish with spraying champagne and sobs.
“That was so incredibly special,” said Diggins through tears. “All the people out there chanting, my family out there, the team… I’m just gonna miss everyone so much. Sorry. I just have so many big feelings because this sport has been a huge part of my life. And they’ve all become my family.”
The 20k skate mass start wrapped the Stifel Lake Placid Finals and the 2025-26 season. While she may not have podiumed in the final race, Diggins did get a chance to stand in front of the roaring home crowd to collect the overall FIS Crystal Globe, the most coveted award in ski racing for being the top athlete throughout the entire season, from her longtime coach, Jason Cork. She also secured the distance Globe, which her parents awarded her.
As Diggins collected her myriad awards and took photos with her Stifel U.S. Ski Team family, a group quietly formed at the World Cup start. In two semi-straight lines were 600 kids, sporting flags, glitter, face paint, team gear and cross-country skis for a final lap with Jessie Diggins. Diggins pulled a bright pink bib over her team jacket that said “Thank you!” and pied piped the hundreds of children through the stadium, young kids who will hopefully toe the start line in future nationals, World Cup races or even the 2034 Olympics in Utah.
Behind Diggins, Kendall Kramer skied to 28th. Hailey Swirbul was 31st, Ava. Thurston 32nd, Katey Houser 34th, Novie McCabe 35th, Julia Kern 43rd, Lucinda Anderson 44th, Alayna Sonnesyn 46th, Sammy Smith 50th, Rosie Brennan 57th and Emma Albrecht 59th.
Jonna Sundling of Sweden won the race with teammate Linn Svahn second. Heidi Weng of Norway finished third.
On the men’s side, Gus Schumacher was the first American in 20th place. It was another Norwegian sweep with Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo winning his second race of the weekend; he won Friday’s 10k classic and skipped Saturday’s sprint. Harald Oestberg Amundsen was second and Einar Hedegart third.
Hunter Wonders was 35th, JC Schoonmaker 38th, Zanden McMullen 39th, Benjamin Dohlby 44th, Brian Bushey 47th, Ben Ogden 52nd, Zak Ketterson 55th, Luke Jager 58th, Michael Earnhart 62nd, John Steel Hagenbuch 69th, Zachary Jayne 70th
Even with wet snow, rain and East Coast chill, the hearty ski racing community showed up to watch the best ski racers in the world and send off a legend in their sport, with a crowd of more than 35,000 people showing up at Lake Placid over the three days. On nearly everybody’s cheeks lay sparkles, showing that while Diggins’ professional career may be done, her legacy will live on for generations to come.
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