Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer
Posted: May 02, 2018

Former Assistant Cork Awarded Olympic Coach of the Games 

Former Assistant Cork Awarded Olympic Coach of the Games 

HOUGHTON, Mich. – Former Michigan Tech assistant coach for Nordic skiing, cross country, and track and field Jason Cork has been award the Olympic Coach of the Games by the United States Olympic Committee. The current Assistant Cross Country Coach of the United States Ski Team was presented with the award on April 26 at the Team USA Awards presented by Dow, Best of the Games ceremony, held at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C.

As a long time personal coach of Jessie Diggins, Jason was able to be a part of history when Jessie won gold in the women's skate sprint at the 2018 Winter Olympics. It was the first-ever Olympic gold medal for the United States in Nordic skiing, as well as the first-ever medal for U.S. women in Nordic skiing. In addition to the historic medal, Cork also guided Diggins to three individual top-five finishes—the best-ever for an American woman in Olympic cross-country skiing (prior to the gold medal). 

During his two years at Michigan Tech, Cork had nine athletes qualify for the NCAA Championships. He helped Jesse Lang earn All-America honors in Nordic skiing in 2009 and was responsible for training Ken Gilkerson, who finished 10th at the 2010 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

The awards show—which featured NBC sportscaster Mike Tirico as host—will be televised as a 90-minute feature for the first time ever, and will run from 6-7:30 p.m. on May 12 on NBCSN.