BOZEMAN — Jessie Diggins, the most decorated U.S. cross-country skier in history who is also known as a powerful mental health advocate, will speak at Montana State University on Thursday, Oct. 29.
The event is free and open to the public. It will begin at 7 p.m. in the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, with doors opening at 6 p.m. Tickets can be reserved in advance at https://montanastate.evenue.net/event/SU26/JD26.
Bridger Ski Foundation, a Bozeman-based nonprofit that provides ski programs for approximately 1,000 youth and maintains approximately 90 kilometers of local cross-country ski trails, is co-sponsoring the event with MSU.
"We are excited for the opportunity to welcome Jessie Diggins to MSU to share her inspiring story with us,” said Betsy Asserson, MSU associate vice president of student wellness. “Jessie's openness about her experiences with an eating disorder and mental health challenges helps reduce stigma and brings important conversations into the open. Her story encourages people to seek help, support one another, and recognize that recovery is possible. It also reminds us that people are more than their struggles, or their accomplishments."
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“Today's youth face a lot of challenges, and over the last few years with BSF's mental health initiative, we've seen firsthand how important it is to reduce the stigma around mental health and talk openly about these issues,” said Evan Weiss, BSF executive director. “It's a big deal for our kids to see someone like Jessie in person — someone who has excelled at the highest level and been honest about her own mental health journey."
Over her trailblazing career, Diggins, who is 35 and grew up in Afton, Minnesota, won four Olympic medals, four World Cup overall titles, seven World Championship medals and numerous other event championships and podiums. She earned a reputation for her legendary grit and mental endurance, often pushing her body to the limit and using every last ounce of energy in competition – a metaphorical space she calls “the pain cave.” She is also known for her candor about her own experience with an eating disorder and for her work as a mental health advocate.
Among other career highlights, in 2018, Diggins made history for winning an Olympic gold medal with her teammate Kikkan Randall in the team sprint event at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. It was the first-ever Olympic gold medal for the U.S. in cross-country skiing and only the second Olympic medal for the U.S. in cross-country skiing after Bill Koch’s silver in 1976. At the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Diggins won silver in the 30-kilometer freestyle and bronze in the individual sprint. She followed that performance with a second bronze medal, this time in the 10-kilometer freestyle, at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina.
Over the course of her World Cup career, Diggins secured 33 individual race wins and 90 total podiums. She won the overall FIS Cross-Country World Cup crystal globe, given to the top female Nordic skier worldwide, in 2021, 2024, 2025 and 2026. In 2021, she also became the first and only American to win the grueling Tour de Ski stage event, a feat she repeated in 2024 and 2026.
Diggins retired from competitive skiing in 2026. Her life and career are the focus of the 2026 feature-length documentary “Threshold.” She is the author of a memoir, “Brave Enough,” and a board member of Protect Our Winters, a nonprofit that mobilizes passionate outdoor people to advocate for climate action.
