Jessie Diggins led the Americans into the highly anticipated opening sprint stage with a win in the skate sprint in the 2024-25 Tour de Ski which began in Toblach, Italy, on Saturday.
Eight U.S. athletes advanced to the sprint heats—four men and four women—highlighting the depth of the team and landing 80% of the team in the top 30 at the end of the day.
For the men, Ben Ogden, JC Schoonmaker, Gus Schumacher and Jack Young qualified for the sprint heats.
Young, in particular, made an impressive debut in his first Tour de Ski appearance.
On the women’s side, Diggins, Rosie Brennan and Alayna Sonnesyn joined Diggins in advancing to the heats, setting the stage for an exciting day of sprinting.
Diggins, Schumacher and Ogden stood out as the races progressed by advancing through to the semifinals.
Schumacher and Ogden won their respective quarterfinal heats, setting the tone.
Toblach holds a special place for Ogden, as last winter, he skied to his first career podium in the same race.
Despite battling nerves and breaking a pole in the final, Ogden finished an impressive sixth on the day and is hungry for more.
“Most proud of my confidence today,” said Ogden, post race. “I was more nervous today than I’ve been in awhile – because I have some memories here. But I handled it well, I skied really smart. Unfortunate way to end it with all that work but what can you do? That’s part of the deal.”
Meanwhile, Diggins strongly returned to the top of the podium in the skate sprint, securing her first win in this format since 2021. Her victory marked a strong start to the 2024-25 Tour de Ski, earning her the overall and sprint leader bib. “Can I wear two bibs?” she said, laughing after the race.
“I’m excited to build through it like I’ve been able to in the past!” said Schumacher. “It’s been a while since I strung together a good full tour and I’m hoping that this is my year to get better every day.”
The podium for the men was led by Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway, Lucas Chavanat of France, and Janik Riebli of Switzerland.
Diggins was on top for the women, led by Jasmi Joensuu of Finland–first career podium– and Nadine Feindrich of Switzerland.
For the U.S., Kern was the second American, in 14th, Sonnesyn in 19th, a career-best result, and Brennan in 29th. Sophia Laukli was 63rd.
For the men, Ogden was sixth, Schumacher was 10th, Schoonmaker was 14th, Young 17th, and McMullen 36th, respectively.
“This was a huge surprise!” said Diggins. “It was so fun to be here, we had amazing fans, amazing skis! Toblach is so special, this is where I had my first podium, a long time ago during the Tour de Ski… so, this victory is an amazing surprise!”
The Tour de Ski remains one of the premier events on the FIS World Cup calendar, and this year, it attracted a strong field despite being a World Championships year.