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American cross-country skier Jessie Diggins raced to her first win of the 2024-25 World Cup season Sunday, topping the field in the 20K skate in Ruka, Finland.
Diggins, who was the overall champion last season, earned her 24th World Cup title and her 22nd as an individual. She finished in a time of 51 minutes, 19.3 seconds, a split second ahead of Sweden’s Jonna Sundling, who came in at 51:19.6.
Ruka was the location of the first World Cup stop of the season, with a 10K interval start classic race kicking off the season Friday. Diggins (seventh) and APU’s Rosie Brennan (ninth) notched top 10 finishes in the women’s race.
On Sunday in the mass start 20K skate, Diggins pushed out fast and was in the lead group for the entire race, battling with Sundling and two others on the final lap.
“Actually, with about 7K to go, I said ‘Oh no, I’ve played it too risky with the slingshotting in the draft and trying to do exactly as much that’s needed in the moment … so then, I started pulling back up to the main pack and working with them,” Diggins said in a U.S. Ski & Snowboard release. “When I finally made contact, I sat in the back and found myself smiling, because I was thinking, ‘This is so cool — I’m probably going to get my butt kicked by Sundling, but I am just proud to be here and having fun’ — I truly mean that. I had so much fun out there, in so many ways.”
Brennan finished 20th in the 20K skate. A day earlier, on Saturday, she placed 16th in the classic sprint final.
A pair of APU skiers — Zanden McMullen and Gus Schumacher — finished in the top 10 of the men’s 20K skate Sunday.
McMullen’s seventh-place finish was the best of his career. His time of 46:14.1 was just 10 seconds off the winning mark posted by Sweden’s Harald Oestberg Amundsen (46:04.0).
“Career best result? Music to my ears,” McMullen said in a release. “I feel it gives me so much confidence that I’m making progress and learning how to ski at the highest level. There is so much value to knowing how to race challenging courses with the fastest in the world, that you can only learn by trial and error.”
Schumacher was just over a second behind his teammate at 46:15.3 in Sunday’s 20K race, finishing eighth.
The venue shifts to Lillehammer, Norway, for next weekend’s World Cup action.
[After a historic season, APU skiers start World Cup slate with fresh goals]