Sweden was a major favorite ahead of the World Championship sprint relay in Edinburgh.
But on the final leg, star Tove Alexandersson missed a control and the team was disqualified.
I felt that something went wrong, said Tove Alexandersson to SVT after the race.
With a team consisting of Tove Alexandersson and Martin Regborn, who won World Championship gold in the individual event on Friday, plus bronze medalist Emil Svensk and top runner Hanna Lundberg, Sweden was a major favorite ahead of the sprint relay.
It also looked good when Tove took the lead on the final leg together with Switzerland and Finland. But then came the Swedish darkness.
First, Tove Alexandersson made several mistakes, which made her disappointingly finish second after Swiss Simona Aebersold, who delivered a top performance.
A few minutes later came the next blow when it was discovered that Tove Alexandersson had missed the 12th control.
I had a feeling that something went very wrong. That's what I thought when I was running. Damn, have I taken (the control)? But then it was no point in turning back and hoping for the best, said Tove Alexandersson to SVT after the race and continued:
This is extremely disappointing for the rest of the team, who have run so fantastically well and given me such a great starting position, and that I couldn't hold it together.