Olympic champion cross-country skier Jessie Diggins is taking this season “one day at a time and one race at a time” after recently revealing she was struggling with her eating disorder again.
A reigning world champion in the 10km freestyle, the 32-year-old American shared an emotional post with fans in September to say after 12 years of health she was facing challenges around her disordered eating.
On Monday (20 November), she told reporters on a conference call that she was on the road to recovery, but would prioritise “my mental and physical health” in the coming season: “When I do have a race bib on, it’s because me and my team have agreed [on it]… when I do race, it’s because I want to.”
Diggins famously paired up with Kikkan Randall at PyeongChang 2018 to win the heart-stopping team sprint, and she added two more Olympic medals at Beijing 2022 in the 30km freestyle (silver) and individual sprint (bronze).
Last season, she won her first individual world title in the 10km freestyle, helping her to finish in second place in the World Cup standings. (It was also the first individual title for any American cross-country skier.)
“Mental health is physical health; eating disorders are not a behavoiral choice,” Diggins said on a call from Finland, where she is training with the U.S. team. “I think it can be really challenging and scary subject, and it makes me feel really vulnerable putting it out there because everyone knows something really big about me. But at the same time, I’m trying to change the culture of sport for the better.”
Her September post on social revealed that Diggins was “putting too much pressure on myself,” she wrote. She said Monday the response she got from her post was inspiring, especially from other athletes: “So many athletes from other countries reached out,” she said.
“It was really cool to see that all around the world we have different languages and different cultures and different ideas about training, but understanding when someone’s in pain and when they need a hand… that’s pretty universal.”