– We should do it again, absolutely. Guess what, no one was taken away in an ambulance. If you look at the reasons why women were first set to walk three miles, it’s quite insulting, says Jessie Diggins to news after the women’s first five-mile run in Holmenkollen. The recent 15 kilometer world champion came third in Sunday’s race and hopes there will be more reunions with the recent exercise. Currently, it is only a trial scheme. – That we finally got to walk 50 kilometers … This is the message we have to send to young women: You are able to do it, you can handle it, you can work hard and walk five miles too. You can do the same as the men can, says Diggins. Because it has not been a matter of course that there would be equal distances in the World Cup. When the proposal was launched, a full 88 per cent of active women were against the proposal. Weng about five miles: – 20 kilometers with “dassing” Swedes Frida Karlsson and Ebba Andersson have been positive about five miles, while Therese Johaug has been a clear opponent. Diggins would like dominant athletes such as Johaug and Marit Bjørgen to have the opportunity to try it themselves. – It breaks my heart a little that they didn’t get the chance, because they deserved it too. That is why it is important that we fight for them so that the next generation also gets to go and have proper equality in sport. HISTORIC PODIUM: Astrid Øyre Slind (from left), Ragnhild Haga and Jessie Diggins celebrate being on the podium in history’s first World Cup 5-mil for women. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB At the other end of the scale is Heidi Weng. Even before the start, she said that this could be her first and last five-mile race. Confronted with the plans of Diggins, she answers this in the press zone after the race: – I am the exact opposite. I don’t take that as an insult. I think boys are physically stronger than girls. It goes without saying, says Weng. – You look at the boys. There are 20 kilometers of “dassing”, they also increase the pace. Then I think: “what’s the point?” “What’s the point?” Weng says she is not very tired after the race, perhaps mostly because she never went really stiff. The profile left the field after a couple of laps and went a lot for itself. She believes that equality on the ski track is about the length of competition time, not the distance. – We manage to go there, that is not the point. When you see the guys fooling about 70 percent of the times they walk, they fool around for 20 kilometers, and walk as much as they can in three. There are probably a few exceptions they have gone from the start. Then I just think like this: “What’s the point?” Then they might as well just walk three miles and go as far as they could from the start. But that’s my opinion. She would rather return to the way it was before with five kilometres. She thinks that’s funnier. And she thinks it would have contributed to more than 32 people starting: – You can see that there are many who don’t go. That’s because it’s five miles. And then people don’t show up at the start. Then I think that you have to do something about it.
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