The Swedish men hardly impressed in the skiathlon. The best Swede was Edvin Anger in 24th place. But on the women's side there was a Swedish podium – Ebba Andersson came third. It is Andersson's first podium in the World Cup this season.
I'm still happy with the finish, because there were a lot of people fighting for the podium places. So to still be one of three who managed to squeeze through, it actually felt good, says Andersson, who did a lot of the pulling work during the race, but there was a certain American who had the energy to pull away at the end.
First victory in skiathlon
The winner was Jessie Diggins, who thus took her first World Cup victory in skiathlon, and was overjoyed after crossing the finish line. Diggins finished just over two seconds ahead of Ebba Andersson, with a time of 50.29.5.
I just tried to think, 'just go for it, keep it together,'" Diggins says.
Second place went to Norwegian Heidi Weng, who finished second after Diggins.
It was also Swedish in fourth and fifth place. Moa Ilar finished one hundredth of a second ahead of fifth-place Frida Karlsson. Emma Ribom came in ninth, just over eleven seconds behind Diggins, which meant four Swedes in the top ten.
Tough for Sundling
I wasn't really that energetic today, I was a bit sluggish.
I think it's a bit of a lack of energy, it doesn't really get my body going. But I still think I'm doing pretty well, says Frida Karlsson.
Jonna Sundling had a tough race and finished in twentieth place, over 1.5 minutes behind the leader. The worst Swede was Märta Rosenberg in 34th place.
It became a dramatic competition long before any riots.
Multiple dropouts
German Laura Gimmler, who finished fifth in the sprint on Friday, was forced to quit the skiathlon early due to nausea and left in tears, reports Expressen. The newspaper writes that Gimmler vomited before the start but competed anyway.
Polish Eliza Rucka was also forced to abandon the race after fainting, something she has had problems with throughout her career, according to Viaplay's reporter Ludvig Svan. But Rucka was quickly examined by doctors and is doing well despite the circumstances.
When changing skis, Frida Karlsson and Jessie Diggins hooked together and the Swede fell to the ground, but was quickly back on her feet and didn't lose too many seconds in the fall.
