PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Emma Ribom was washed during the sprint in Drammen.
It could be devastating for Linn Svahn in the pursuit of overall victory.
– It can destroy Svahn’s chances of winning the overall World Cup, says SVT expert Anders Blomquist.
Everyone thought that Emma Ribom advanced to the semi-finals during the sprint in Norwegian Drammen on Tuesday. Then a yellow card came out of nowhere and ruined everything.
Ribom punished
The Swede cut in front of the World Cup leader Jessie Diggins in the quarter-finals and the jury’s assessment was not kind to the Swede. As it was Ribom’s second yellow card of the season, it was an automatic washout and Emma had to leave the competition immediately.
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Ribom was clearly upset by the harsh judgment and broke down in tears when she was stopped from competing further. But there are more people who can be affected by Emma Ribom’s washing up.
Svahn is affected
Because the decision can have devastating consequences for the national team colleague Lynn Svahn in pursuit of the overall World Cup. As Jessie Diggins is awarded more points after Ribom’s exit.
– Besides ruining Ribom’s day, it could ruin Linn Svahn’s chances altogether as Diggins got eight more points when Ribom disappeared from the scoresheet. It is not impossible that in Falun on Sunday there will be a difference of eight points or less. Then it determines where the crystal ball ends up, says the skiing expert Anders Blomquist to SVT.
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Only one competition weekend remains of the World Cup, which now ends in Falun with a sprint race and two distance races for the weekend. Jessie Diggins leads the overall standings with a total of 2,490 points and Linn Svahn is chasing behind, just 102 points behind the American.
READ MORE: This is how Linn Svahn can write Swedish sports history and snuff out Jessie Diggins’ overall victory in the World Cup: “If it goes…”
But SVT expert Blomquist also thinks that the yellow card on Ribom in Drammen was far too harshly judged.
– It is a difficult situation to judge and can be anything from nothing, a “race incident”, a warning and to a yellow card. It is almost impossible to tell from the TV pictures. I think it is questionable and that it is harshly condemned, he says to the television channel.
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