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Nordic skiing is at the core of who we are at Bivo. Carina and Charlotte grew up in the New England ski scene, and Caitlin and Sam raced through high school. Sam even coached the St. Michael’s Nordic team while running our warehouse. Simply put: cross-country skiing is in our bones.

When Carina was young, an American Olympic medal in Nordic skiing felt out of reach. Then came Kikkan Randall, followed by Liz Stephen, Sophie Caldwell, and, of course, Jessie Diggins. We all cried when Jessie and Kikkan won that historic gold in 2018, a moment that changed U.S. skiing forever.

As news of Jessie’s retirement spreads, our friend Peggy Shinn recently heard her speak about community and team, and her words were too good not to share. Jessie, thank you for redefining what’s possible and inspiring so many of us who love this sport. We’ll be cheering you on every step of the way this winter.

xoxo, and sparkle on. ✨

The following article was written by Peggy Shinn, following a press conference on Jessie Diggin's retirement.

This is it for Jessie Diggins. The most decorated cross country in U.S. history, Diggins announced her retirement at the end of this coming winter. She will compete in her fourth Olympics in Milano Cortina in February, then say her final goodbyes on home snow at the Stifel Lake Placid Finals in late March.

Jessie has always been a team player, helping raise the tide of the whole U.S. cross country team while also thriving on her teammates’ performances. Her favorite wins are those with her teammates — in team sprints and the World Cup podiums they have earned in relays. The first American to win an Olympic gold medal in cross country skiing, with Kikkan Randall in the team sprint at the 2018 Games, Jessie has two more Olympic medals in her collection as well as seven world championship medals. In 358 World Cup starts to date, she’s won 29 races and finished on the podium 79 times. 

On the eve of her final season, we asked her about the importance of community — friends, family, and fans (what we might call the three ‘f’s,’ as well as the behind-the-scenes members of a team (coaches, wax techs, physios, sports psychologists, and other support staff). 

Even if you’re training for an upcoming century on your bike or a local 10k, it’s still important to have a supportive community around you, as Jessie knows. One of her goals in retirement is to run 100 miles off-road.

No one achieves anything alone, right? Like the greatest things of our entire lives, we do it with a team, with a community, whether that's your family, your friends, the people that you gather around when you encounter challenges or big obstacles or just something really important that you want to do.

This ski team has really become my family, so I'm not worried about losing connection, like I'll be back, except I'm going to be ‘team mom’ from the sidelines cheering and not with them in the race, but I'm still going to be there. I'm still going to come and support it from the other side. We have a thriving text chat with like the original eight girls, like Kikkan and Liz and Holly and everybody. So I am not worried about straying too far from all my people and losing that connection, because I think what we've built is so incredible and so strong that we’re never going to lose that.

But the community aspect has been so cool, because it's like extending that team and that family so much broader. Something I learned is that it was scary at first to be so open and vulnerable with my experiences, especially around mental health and eating disorders. It’s scary to really put yourself out there. But I've realized that when I do, people see their stories reflected in mine, and they're like, I get that. I've been there. I’ve felt that. When we have these big community events (during training camps in Bend and Park City, and with the SMS T2 Team in Stratton), we work very hard to make sure we're very open. It's so cool to have people come up and be like, “I really relate to your story. And I actually went and talked to my parents about my own struggles with body image or food, so thank you, it made it easier.”

For me, that sense of community is so important because it helps other people feel less alone, but also helps me feel less alone. It's a two way street, and I think that's been really cool and very important.

At 2025 world championships in Trondheim, Norway, Jessie competed in a grueling 50km where rain and soft snow made it a two-and-a-half-hour sufferfest. She had had high hopes for the race and ended up finishing 22nd But after the race, she did not disappear from the venue.

I remember stopping to give the coach a hug because I wanted all the coaches and the wax techs to know that I love them and was proud of them, and I was going to stand by them no matter what. Obviously, we had our challenges, I'm not going to lie about that. But I wanted them to know like, hey, we're in this together. We win together. We struggle together. We're just together. We're a team in this. 

But it was really heartbreaking for me because I came into that championship with really good preparation, and I was really happy about where my fitness was at and everything else. There was a lot of excitement and then a lot of pressure from the outside, and a lot of people there. It was really beautiful seeing how many people and fans were out there, even though it was like really crazy weather. Everyone just put on rain ponchos and was out there supporting skiing. It was super high and super low all at the same time.

I was heartbroken for my own race experience, because I had put everything into this, and it didn't come back the way that we had all hoped it would. But at the same time, it was really cool to see how many people just love the sport and were cheering for me, even though it was the worst race experience in my entire life. There were so many people who were just cheering so hard for me anyway, even though they knew it wasn't a good day for me. It just showed the beauty and the passion of this community.

What piece of advice would she give all athletes, regardless of sport?

My advice to the next generation is do the thing that you love and share it with as many people as possible. It's okay to be super vulnerable, just race with your heart on your sleeve. It's scary, but it's so worth it because the amount of people that you let in and the amount of people that then become part of your story and part of your life is incredible. It's the best feeling ever.