– Crazy Swedish day then, crazy fun. When I saw that it was Linn and Jonna who sorted things out…it was so much fun. We had great stuff, so it’s also a great job by the herding team. “We pay tribute to them,” Karlsson tells Viaplay.
During the Olympic Games in Italy, Ebba Andersson opted for the classic five-mile run with over two miles to go.
When the distance was now run in freestyle in the World Cup, Frida Karlsson set the impetus a little later, but with just over 15 kilometers to go, the Swede literally blew up the field.
Neither Linn Svahn nor Jonna Sundling had the chance to come along. Home jumper Karoline Grøtting tried, but couldn’t hold back either. In the thick fog in front of the ski stadium on the outskirts of Oslo, the distance grew with every kilometer covered and Karlsson won by almost two minutes.
In the group behind the leader, Jonna Sundling and Linn Svahn fought for the podium places with three Norwegians. Then it took a riot to make the decision.
But none of the Norwegians could keep up with the Olympic champion and the Olympic silver medalist in the sprint. Svahn secured second place just ahead of Sundling.
– It’s great. We talked about eventually reaching three times the distance. Our coach said he didn’t think it would happen at Holmenkollen. “It was great,” Svahn tells Viaplay.
– It’s big. It feels a little sick. Sundling says that we get a triple here.
The Olympic gold medalist in the distance – Ebba Andersson – was in the lead after just over 19 kilometers, but two kilometers later she was gone. It later emerged that, according to Expressen, she had crashed and was far behind the leader Karlsson. She finished 27th, more than six minutes behind the winner.
