Jessie Diggins, America’s most decorated cross-country skier, arrived on Capitol Hill on Wednesday with her four Olympic medals in hand to urge lawmakers to protect clean air, clean water and a healthy planet. Her visit was part of a two-day lobbying push by Protect Our Winters, an athlete-driven environmental group that sent a coalition of current and former Olympians to meet with members of Congress.
“Protect Our Winters” organized the delegation, which included Diggins along with other winter-sports athletes. The group has focused its advocacy on the Trump administration’s environmental record, specifically what it describes as the weakening of key climate, water and pollution regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025.
Diggins, who has won multiple Olympic gold, silver, and bronze medals across three Winter Games, used her personal profile to press the message. She was photographed holding her medals during the meetings, a visual reminder of the outdoor environments and snow-covered competition venues that the group says are threatened by regulatory rollbacks and climate change.
The coalition spent Tuesday and Wednesday in meetings on Capitol Hill. While the group did not disclose the specific lawmakers they met with, the effort was part of Protect Our Winters’ broader campaign to elevate athlete voices in the environmental policy debate.
The EPA under Trump has taken steps to relax or reverse a number of Obama- and Biden-era regulations on emissions, water quality, and pollution controls, moves that environmental groups and some state attorneys general have challenged in court. Protect Our Winters has been among the organizations urging Congress to push back against the agency’s direction.
Wednesday’s Capitol Hill appearance marked one of the highest-profile athlete visits this year on climate and environmental issues.