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Get Starting Point<\/span><\/p>\nA guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAnd amid all of her successes, Diggins has been public with her fight against an eating disorder. She was bulimic as a teenager and went through treatment, finding a way to balance fueling the body that has won her so many accolades with the battles in her mind. She relapsed a few years ago but is doing better now.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI thought my life would actually be quite short because of my eating disorder,\u201d she said. \u201cI was in a really tough place, and because of the help I received and the love that I got \u2014 and the love I was able to finally show myself \u2014 I\u2019m sitting here at my fourth Olympics.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nSo, yes, these Olympics are about giving her all \u2014 her mind, her body, her joy, which she\u2019s bringing in buckets to the US cross-country team as she tries to go out on a high note.<\/span><\/p>\nDiggins announced in the fall she\u2019d be retiring from the sport after this season. She sits at the top of the FIS World Cup standings, has won the past two world titles, and will probably win again this year. <\/span><\/p>\nAll that success makes it easier to grapple with the results here in Italy. Diggins was such a favorite in her races that it\u2019s surprising she only has one medal through five competitions. But a fall in her first race, the skiathlon on Feb. 7, left her with bruised ribs and a lot of pain.<\/span><\/p>\nAfter she finished, she was her typical bubbly self.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m the happiest bronze medalist in the world,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m so grateful for everyone getting me here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThat gratitude is part of her second goal for these Games: \u201cBe the one who steadies the boat, not the one who rocks it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nDiggins gladly takes on the moniker of \u201cteam mom.\u201d She\u2019s 34 and more than half of the US team are first-timers. She\u2019s been their leader and their mentor since before they made the squad.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cHer impact has been huge and extends so much past the Olympic level or even World Cup level,\u201d Vermont\u2019s Ben Ogden, who has won two silver medals here, said. \u201cShe is a huge inspiration to even just kids getting out there and having a good time during breaktime at the local schools in Vermont.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nWhether it\u2019s her habit of knitting in the Olympic Village or constantly shouting out her teammates, such as Julia Kern of Waltham, Mass., on social media, Diggins is the glue of the Americans, who on the men\u2019s side are having their best Olympics ever. <\/span><\/p>\nAnd as she said she planned to do when she announced her retirement, she\u2019s spent every step of this final journey thanking the people who helped her reach this point. The coaches, the ski technicians, the friends and family, and her husband, Wade Poplawski.<\/span><\/p>\nThey\u2019re all here helping her fulfill her final goal: \u201cEnjoy this with my family and friends.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nDiggins is ready to retire because she\u2019s ready to live a normal life. Grow a garden. Get a dog. Spend Thanksgiving with family, not on the road. (But she won\u2019t stop her athletic feats: She said she plans to run an ultramarathon.) She and her husband plan to stay in the Boston area, at least for now, as his job has him in the city when he\u2019s not following her on tour. <\/span><\/p>\nBut that\u2019s for later, in March, after her final World Cup race, scheduled to be held in Lake Placid, N.Y.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI really want to soak in that experience of so many people that I know and love being here with me,\u201d Diggins said earlier this month.<\/span><\/p>\nOn Sunday during the 50K, her final Olympic race, she\u2019ll get a chance to do just that.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nKatie McInerney can be reached at katie.mcinerney@globe.com<\/a>. Follow her on Instagram at @katiemac.sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n