Rybinsk, Russia – World Cup rookie Jessie Diggins continued her strong Eastern European tour on Saturday, scoring another career best finishing fifth in a frigid 10k mass start skate race in Rybinsk.
Diggins, who had been sixth in the Moscow sprint two days earlier, bided her time in the massive pack in temperatures below zero before picking her way to the front, finishing 26.3 seconds behind Norway’s Marit Bjoergen to earn the best U.S. women’s distance result in modern World Cup skiing history.
“For some reason, I’ve been racing well in the cold – must be because I’m from Minnesota!” said Diggins, who hails from Afton near St. Paul. “I’m used to racing in some pretty cold weather. The skis were phenomenal today as I continue to be impressed by our wax techs and coaching staff. They absolutely nailed the wax and I felt like I was flying on the downhills!
“The start of the race was more relaxed for me because I was at the back of the mass start. So I spent the first lap playing it chill and trying to stay out of tangles. Then I played the catch-up game, which I really like in tough races because focusing only on catching one person at a time keeps your mind off the pain. I must have had some extra energy today, or maybe I just wanted to get to the warmup tent quickly, but either way the last lap seemed to go by much faster!”
Kikkan Randall, of Anchorage, Alaska, opted to sit out the mass start to rest after being ill earlier in the week. She remained fourth in the FIS World Cup overall.
Canada’s Devon Kershaw won the men’s 15k where Kris Freeman was 28th to lead the U.S. men.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Cross Country World Cup
Rybinsk, Russia – Feb. 4, 2012
Mass Start
Men’s 15K:
| Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation | Time | FIS Points |
| 1 | 3 | KERSHAW Devon | 1982 | CAN | 36:47.5 | 0.00 |
| 2 | 6 | CHERNOUSOV Ilia | 1986 | RUS | 36:48.4 | 0.57 |
| 3 | 7 | ANGERER Tobias | 1977 | GER | 36:49.1 | 1.01 |
| 4 | 1 | LEGKOV Alexander | 1983 | RUS | 36:50.7 | 2.03 |
| 5 | 5 | HARVEY Alex | 1988 | CAN | 36:53.0 | 3.49 |
| 6 | 14 | SEDOV Petr | 1990 | RUS | 36:55.3 | 4.95 |
| 7 | 22 | GLAVATSKIKH Konstantin | 1985 | RUS | 36:56.1 | 5.45 |
| 8 | 17 | MORIGGL Thomas | 1981 | ITA | 36:56.3 | 5.58 |
| 9 | 19 | CHECCHI Valerio | 1980 | ITA | 36:56.5 | 5.71 |
| 10 | 10 | TURYSHEV Sergey | 1985 | RUS | 36:59.0 | 7.29 |
Women’s 10K:
| Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation | Time | FIS Points |
| 1 | 2 | BJOERGEN Marit | 1980 | NOR | 26:43.9 | 0.00 |
| 2 | 4 | KALLA Charlotte | 1987 | SWE | 26:48.0 | 3.58 |
| 3 | 5 | KRISTOFFERSEN Marthe | 1989 | NOR | 27:03.3 | 16.93 |
| 4 | 3 | JOHAUG Therese | 1988 | NOR | 27:03.4 | 17.02 |
| 5 | 27 | DIGGINS Jessica | 1991 | USA | 27:10.2 | 22.96 |
| 6 | 11 | ROPONEN Riitta-Liisa | 1978 | FIN | 27:18.5 | 30.20 |
| 7 | 1 | KOWALCZYK Justyna | 1983 | POL | 27:22.8 | 33.95 |
| 8 | 9 | JACOBSEN Astrid Uhrenholdt | 1987 | NOR | 27:24.7 | 35.61 |
| 9 | 15 | WENG Heidi | 1991 | NOR | 27:25.0 | 35.88 |
| 10 | 8 | SKOFTERUD Vibeke W | 1980 | NOR | 27:25.1 | 35.96 |