Under 23 Questions with Logan Diekmann

In an effort to showcase the North Americans competing at this week’s International Ski Federation (FIS) 2017 USANA Nordic Junior World Championships and U23 Cross Country World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 19-year-old Logan Diekmann, of the University of Utah who’s representing the U.S. at his first Junior Worlds. On Monday, Day 1 of the championships, he qualified for the classic-sprint heats in 23rd.

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“My full name is Logan Diekmann but you can call me Logan, or Logie Bear, I don’t really care. I was born in Seattle, raised in Bozeman, Mont., and one thing you should know about my hometown is that people don’t work and ski when they can, they ski and work if they must.

I started cross-country skiing when I was a child, thanks to my parents and the Bridger Ski Foundation. I currently train in Salt Lake City with the Utah Ski Team.

If I’m not skiing, you might find me squeezing in a 30 min. nap among training, classes, and homework. If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be ‘The Martian‘.

One of the things I’m most excited about for Junior Worlds at Soldier Hollow is repping the stars and stripes on my home course. One race I’m especially targeting there is the classic sprint.

The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was ‘hard work pays off.‘ One of the best race memories I have is the classic 10 k mass start at JN’s in Truckee CA where I earned my first national title.

If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be Alexey Poltoranin.

If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be bored out of my mind without any training to do.

I’m missing five days of school to be here, and my teachers are probably thinking, ‘Haha, good luck making up my 5 lectures, 2 quizzes, a midterm, and 12 pre-lectures.‘

You can follow me on Instagram @logandiekmann.”