‘All It Is Is Pain’: The Olympian Testing the Limits of Endurance

 'All It Is Is Pain': The Olympian Testing the Limits of Endurance

Jessie Diggins has become the best-ever American cross-country skier because of what she pushes her body through.

By Reid Forgrave, Feb. 5, 2026, The New York Times Magazine

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/magazine/jessie-diggins-ski-winter-olympics-milan.html as of 2/5/2026

Quotes:

"She's one of the best at getting exhausted, and one of the best at continuing after she's exhausted."

Diggins discovered this superpower at 15, when as a freshman she was anchoring the final leg of a high school relay. Her teammates told her that she had to beat a particular skier from a rival high school who would be wearing a green race suit. . . . and Diggins was overwhelmed at seeing some 20 skiers wearing the same green race suit.

Pushing herself in a way she had never done before, she passed all 20 skiers from the rival team, then collapsed at the finish thinking she was going to die.

"Then, 30 seconds later, it was, Oh — I'm not going to die," Diggins recalls. "It was a huge lightbulb. This whole next level had been there the whole time, and I can access it if I am willing to push that hard. All it is is pain. It's not permanent damage. I want to know what my true potential is. I never want to wonder, What if I had just been a little tougher mentally?"