BEIJING, China — Jessie Diggins is bringing a medal back to Minnesota!
Early Tuesday morning, the three-time Olympian and Afton native competed in the women’s individual cross-country sprint and landed herself on the podium.
Diggins secured a bronze medal for Team USA, making her the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in an individual cross-country skiing event, and the second American ever behind Bill Koch in 1976. Diggins finished behind Swedish skiers Jonna Sundling, who took gold, and Maja Dahlqvist, who won silver.
Diggins crossed the finish line with a final time of 3:12.84, 3.1 seconds behind Sundling.
WATCH: Jessie Diggins wins her first individual Olympic medal:
In an Instagram post Tuesday afternoon, Diggins celebrated her victory and thanked her coaches, fans and fellow athletes. "My heart is bursting! Feeling all the love and most of all just grateful to have such an amazing team to celebrate with," she wrote in the post.
The 30-year-old Minnesotan is no stranger to Olympic success. Diggins won gold in the team sprint freestyle at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
In her first event in Beijing, Diggins finished sixth in the cross-country skiing, women’s skiathlon classical/freestyle on Feb. 5.
Long before she was an Olympic icon, Diggins grew up skiing every weekend with the Minnesota Youth Ski League. A graduate of Stillwater High School, Diggins was on their ski team for six years before deferring an academic scholarship to Northern Michigan University to spend a year racing on the Central Cross-Country Elite team.
Ahead of the Olympics, yard signs and messages of support could be seen around her hometown, "AFTON CHEERS FOR JESSIE DIGGINS" looked right at home next to the "GO JESSIE GO" banner currently hanging in the center of town.
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