Jessie Diggins record-breaking Olympics continued in the women's 30km mass start race on Saturday night where she captured silver, second to only Therese Johaug of Norway.
The drama ensued after Diggins crossed the finish line when the chase pack caught Sweden's Ebba Andersson. Kerttu Niskanen of Finland ultimately pulled ahead to claim the third and final place on the podium.
Diggins now has three Olympic medals to her name, each one historic in its own right.
In 2018, Diggins and teammate Kikkan Randall won the first-ever cross-country skiing gold medal for the U.S. in team sprint. Diggins famously dove across the finish line, earning her an Olympic gold and legendary status along the way.
She returned to Beijing with high expectations and proved she's made for the big stage, winning bronze in the women's sprint. This was the first individual medal in cross country skiing by an American woman.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
Just when it seemed like Diggins was running out of records to break, she surprised the field with an impressive silver medal finish, becoming the first non-European woman to win a medal in this event.
Local
Diggins crossed the line in one hour, 26 minutes and 37.3 seconds -- a minute, 43.3 seconds behind Johaug.
This is Johaug's third medal of the Beijing Olympics, bringing her total career medal count to six. She previously won gold in 2010 before returning to Sochi to earn bronze and silver, the latter of which came in the 30km mass start.
Johaug's career came to a halt in 2016 when she tested positive for an anabolic steroid. After an investigation by Anti-Doping Norway, she seemed set to compete in PyeongChang by the Norwegian Olympic Committee. However, six months before the Opening Ceremony was set to begin, the International Ski Federation and Court of Arbitration on Sport weighed in ultimately handed her a longer suspension that kept her out of the 2018 Olympics.
