Last Sunday, on the final day of the Winter Olympics, Ebba Andersson won gold in the five-mile race in Val di Fiemme in Italy. The race was caused by a chaotic situation in which several Swedish skiers had been sent home and some of the scheduled skiers subsequently fell ill. Linn Svahn, Olympic gold medalist in the sprint and Olympic silver medalist in the relay, was initially selected for the five-mile run, but then fell ill and was sent home along with Moa Ilar and Maja Dahlqvist, among others.
Subsequently, several of the selected five-mile runners fell ill locally in Italy. In the end, only Ebba Andersson and Emma Ribom represented Sweden in the five-mile distance – and three Swedish starting places remained empty.
– A lot happened in this situation. I wanted to do the five mile route and had been given permission to do so. Then I was stung. “Then I ran out of space and went home and complained about it,” the 26-year-old told Viaplay after his victory in the World Cup sprint on Saturday in Falun and continued:
– This is something we have to accept after the season because I don’t think something like this should happen.
National team manager Anders Byström spoke to Linn Svahn about the Olympic situation, most recently in connection with this week’s World Cup competitions in Falun.
– She was ready to run the five miles. Then she became ill and we doubted how she would cope after the illness. We initially thought that way, but then things changed, Byström tells Viaplay and continues:
– So it always gets confusing: When you have done one thing and then the situation changes with the illness. I understand that she might be disappointed. We’ve talked about it and I hope it’s okay.
Byström admits that lessons have been learned from the situation.
– Just maybe to take things a little more calmly on such occasions and wait before making any final decisions.
