AFTON, Minn. - Olympic gold medalist Jessie Diggins says she was nearly run off the road by an aggressive driver while she was roller skiing in Afton on Sunday.
According to the cross country skier's blog, she was roller skiing with her high school coach in her hometown when a car came up behind them. Diggins said they moved to the side of the road to give the driver plenty of room, but he passed so close that she was "rocked sideways from the wind."
Diggins went on to write that the driver came to a stop and when they tried to ski by him, he kept driving on the right side and forced them to the middle of the road.
"When we sped up, he sped up. When we slowed down, he came to a stop, blocking us from getting back to the side of the road," she wrote.
Diggins said she knocked on the window shouting that he was going to get them killed, and he flipped her a middle finger and turned up his music.
"It was the most incredible display of aggressive bullying and 'I’m bigger than you and I’m in a SUV so I’m going to harass you' that I’ve ever seen in person," she wrote.
Diggins and her friend called the police and gave them the man's license plate number. They were later informed that police tracked down the driver and that he apologized.
"But…it made me feel sick inside," Diggins wrote. "If that guy had been 6 inches closer to us, we would be in the hospital or dead. If a car had come over the top of the hill while he was pushing us to the middle of the road, we’d also be in the hospital or dead. I think sometimes aggressive drivers don’t realize that if they 'just tap' a person on the road to 'teach them a lesson', they could become a murderer right then and there."
Diggins said police told her that if they hear about the same driver harassing anyone again, they can "take next steps." Although that interaction was scary, Diggins said she experienced more positivity than negativity on her ski.
"One person passed with their windows rolled down, cheering for us and waving," she wrote. "Another slowed down to shout 'good job!!!' as they went by. Everyone else passed with what felt like 5 feet of space, and I felt so safe in my hometown. Let’s keep it that way!"
She did warn other skiers to ski single file, and bring a phone in case they need to call about an aggressive driver.
