Cross-country ski history a family affair for Poplawski

MILAN — Joe Poplawski experienced plenty of surreal moments during his professional football career. The proud Winnipegger — one of the most popular Winnipeg Blue Bombers players in franchise history — has a trophy case filled with accolades.

But nothing prepared the Hall of Fame wide receiver for what he witnessed this week in Italy: watching his daughter-in-law gut through a painful injury and still climb the podium at the Winter Olympics in the women’s 10-kilometre interval start free cross-country skiing event.

“Just an incredible event to witness,” he told the Free Press on Friday. “I’ll tell you what, I sure was pumped after she ended up winning bronze.”

At this point, you might be saying, ‘Wait — Canada didn’t medal in that event.’ And that’s true. Jessie Diggins was born in Saint Paul, Minn., and while she holds dual citizenship after once living in Thunder Bay, Ont., she competes internationally for the United States.

The 34-year-old is the most accomplished cross-country skier in U.S. history and is now competing in her third — and final — Olympic Games. She won gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games in the women’s team sprint, then added silver and bronze medals in separate events at the 2022 Beijing Games.

This week brought a fourth Olympic medal, captured in her third of six races at the Milan Cortina Games — and earned while battling bruised ribs after a crash earlier in the competition that impacted her ability to breathe.

“She really is an inspiration,” said her husband, Wade Poplawski. “To be able to dig deep, that’s kind of her special power, to play through pain.”

“She really is an inspiration.”

Wade — who was born in Winnipeg and was a standout, all-star defenceman with the Winnipeg South Blues of the MJHL who went on to play four years at Colgate University — has been married to Diggins since 2022. The pair met at a mutual friend’s wedding in Canmore, Alta., years earlier, and their origin story is the stuff of a Hallmark movie.

“You know how they have the little wedding games to get the bride and groom to kiss? Well, this one was a life-sized Jenga game. And if the blocks tumbled, the two people playing had to kiss instead,” said Wade.

With some gentle nudging from friends, Wade and Jessie were paired together.

“Jessie successfully removed her piece, but as I was pulling mine out, one of our friends walks by and kicks the table, so of course they all fall. So I pull her in, plant a smooch. And that was kind of the icebreaker,” he said.

They really hit it off that night, leading to another fun game. Diggins was living and training in Vermont, while Wade had recently relocated from Winnipeg to Boston for work in the world of finance following the end of his collegiate hockey career.

“We decided to play another game of Jenga, where the loser would have to rent a car and drive to go visit the other. I lost, and sure enough, I rented a car and drove up. The rest is history,” he said.

Wade was there in 2018 to see her first medal. “I remember I picked up Jessie’s grandma and spun her around, just stunned at what we had just witnessed. It was incredible,” he recounted. But there were no spectators in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Poplawski, along with his wife, Darlene, is at their first-ever Olympics.

“I think I’m the first one on the Jessie bandwagon,” he said.

“You know, prior to getting to know Jessie and becoming fans of cross-country skiing, we would have been the first people to turn the channel if it came on. Because we really weren’t interested in it and didn’t know much about it. But this is probably our fourth event now we’ve watched Jessie at, and we’re absolutely blown away by these athletes.”

European skiers typically dominate in this field, which makes her accomplishments even more impressive. Diggins has seven World Championship medals and three World Cup titles on her resumé.

“Jessie is going nose-to-nose, blow-for-blow with each and every one of them, and coming out on top a fair number of times,” said Poplawski, 68, who played nine CFL seasons, all in Winnipeg, and is inducted in both the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.

“And you know what? We’ve got some Canadians starting to climb up the ranks, so that’s pretty cool to see.”

Cross-country skiing events are being held in Tesero, roughly 300 kilometres northeast of Milan. The Poplawskis planned to watch Diggins race again Saturday before returning to Milan to take in several other events, including Sunday’s Canadian men’s hockey game and Monday’s women’s contest.

They’ll then head back to Tesero for Diggins’ final two races of the Games.

“This being her final Olympics, it’s amazing to have so many family and friends here. I think it’s a group of over 30 people, a combination of Canada and Minnesota,” said Wade.

“And it’s funny, all of us are cheering for Jessie, of course. But then we’re also connected to our Canadian roots and cheering for the Canadians in non-ski events. So it’s been a lot of fun.”

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