PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Sweden had to settle for “only” WC bronze in the relay.
While Norway won the WC gold and is now enjoying a lot of injury pleasure.
– Only gold was valid for Sweden, says TV2 expert Petter Northug.
Expectations were enormous for the Swedish women’s team ahead of the relay. Unfortunately, the pressure became far too great and they failed to fulfill the high expectations with yet another blue-and-yellow WC gold.
Sweden’s miss
For Sweden, they had to fight hard during the relay to keep up with the medal hunt. It all started when Ebba Andersson so unlucky fell and created a gap up to the melee, then took Frida Karlsson out completely but failed to keep up and on the final stretch Maja Dahlqvist had to give everything to secure a WC bronze.
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But the WC gold was not even close to Sweden, but Norway was able to save its first gold on the women’s side during this championship with an incredible display in the relay. After the race, the schadenfreude is also enormous in our dear neighboring country.
READ MORE: The Norwegian giant sawing of Frida Karlsson – and the pictures immediately after the finish line: “Isn’t she a little…?”
“It’s a fiasco”
Norwegian skiing icon Peter Northug goes hard for the Swedish effort in the relay.
– It is a fiasco with bronze for Sweden. For Sweden, it was only gold that mattered, says the Norwegian who is an expert at TV2.
“There is probably some schadenfreude in Norway now. This is a difficult day for Sweden. And yes, it’s a bit of fun that Sweden fails,” writes the columnist Leif Welhaven in VG.
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It was precisely on the third stretch that it was decided when the veteran Ingvild Flugstad Östberg jerked hard and drove away from Frida Karlsson completely. The Norwegian gained a comfortable gap of 15 seconds, which then became absolutely decisive for the final stretch.
– It is absolutely incredible what she delivers here. That jerk, and to get away from Frida on that stretch, it’s impressive. Absolutely fantastic, exclaims the expert and former ski queen Therese Johaug in NRK.
READ MORE: The SVT expert’s harsh criticism after the gold miss – points out the blue-yellow scapegoat: “It decides everything”
Norwegian criticism
Northug’s colleague Petter Soleng Skinstad then goes even harder in his criticism of Sweden’s relay setup.
– The Swedes miss everything. The team selection, the lubrication, the sliding and the tactics, says the TV2 expert in his judgment and thinks that Jonna Sundling should have gone the final stretch.
– The team selection creates stress internally in the team, when they know that they have a weaker card in the final stretch than they had imagined. It creates unnecessary pressure on Ebba Andersson and Frida Karlsson. This means that they ride poorly and are nowhere near getting the best out of what they have.
Skinstad says that Ebba Andersson’s fatal fall was significant for the entire blue-yellow relay race.
– Yes, just like when they failed in the Olympics and during the WC in Oberstdorf. It’s the same way that Norway have clung to it for themselves, when they have been favourites. But this time Norway did everything right, in stark contrast to Sweden, says the Norwegian TV2 expert.
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