The reigning world champion in the 50-kilometer race, Frida Karlsson, withdrew due to illness the day before the race. The following morning, world champion Jonna Sundling, also ill, withdrew from the competition.
So what were the options for Sweden besides Emma Ribom and Ebba Andersson on the starting line? None.
Moa Ilar, Johanna Hagström, Maja Dahlqvist and Linn Svahn had all left Italy.
It's really bad that we only fielded two skiers. It feels really awful in the stomach, of course, says national team manager Anders Byström ahead of the restart of the World Cup in Falun.
“Don't want to force”
Byström believes that there were explanations that people forget.
We had skiers who were ready for the Olympics, and when you are mentally ready for the Olympics... Of course you can force people to start and stay, but the question is whether that is the right way to go. We don't want to force skiers to race.
Sprint specialist Maja Dahlqvist left the Olympics after winning gold in the sprint relay. She believes that a race over 50 kilometers can cost more than it would be worth.
"I think there are many who think and feel that we should have started with four people, and I agree, but that's also up to a certain point. It's not just about standing there and skiing a 50-kilometer course," she says.
If you're completely mentally drained and you can't even imagine completing a 50-kilometer race, it's not a good idea. If the last race had been a ten-kilometer skate, I wouldn't have hesitated for a second.
Ilar declined.
Moa Ilar says that she was asked about the 50-kilometer race during the Olympics, but chose to decline.
"When I turned it down, I thought there were five others who had a better chance in that race. It's just incredibly unlucky that several of them got sick," she says.
The third alternative out of four, Johanna Hagström, was at home in Sweden and won Tjejvasan, which is 30 kilometers, the day before the Olympic 50-kilometer race.
"If I had stayed, I would have gladly gone," says Hagström, who left Italy after the sprint.
Until next time, Anders Byström believes that the national team will not send people home at the same speed.
You have to have cover for at least one skier anyway. Illnesses always come and you have to take that into account. But I thought we did that by waiting so long to send them home, so we should have been safe. But things like that happen anyway.
Ebba Andersson won gold in the Olympic 50-kilometer race and Emma Ribom came in tenth place.
