Hardly anyone could have missed the somersault that ruined Sweden's chances of gold in the women's relay. The fact that it still ended up being an Olympic silver medal in the end - Ebba Andersson was forced to ski a long distance on just one ski when the other one broke in the dangerous fall - doesn't matter.
The 28-year-old is looking for revenge in Sunday's final 50-kilometer classic.
"When something like that happens, it's clear that it gets into your head a little. So it's important to just try to throw yourself out there again," says the long-distance star.
Aiming for gold
In recent days, she has therefore been practicing extra hard on the downhill slopes.
I've tried to get my head back to feeling a little joy again, and it happened pretty quickly. But then it's been important to prioritize the downhill runs a little extra.
The goal of the 50-kilometer race is a given for Andersson, who still lacks an individual Olympic gold medal.
Absolutely, I'm aiming for gold. I have two individual medals and one from the relay with me from here already. So now it's more that I'm inspired to try to achieve something even better, because I've felt that it's been good but maybe not quite as good as I had hoped.
She came second in the skiathlon and second in the 10-kilometer freestyle, both times behind a superior Frida Karlsson. However, her teammate has had cold symptoms in recent days and is uncertain about starting.
Without Karlsson, Andersson loses both perhaps her biggest competitor and a possible teammate who could help break up the field.
Met disappointment with humor
Frida Karlsson was, incidentally, one of the relay teammates who took the edge off the seriousness after Ebba Andersson's upset by joking about it instead of being dejected about a missed Olympic gold.
It has been uplifting, though, to direct the focus there instead of on the problems the fall led to. It really feels like we as a team have managed to support each other in everything that has happened. Because even though I was the one who was lacking, it was a disappointment for the others as well.
Andersson fell twice during the relay. And there is another fall that she will take with her into Sunday's race.
In the fight for the World Championship gold medal in the 50-kilometer event in Trondheim last year, Andersson fell on the last uphill climb and finished a disappointed fourth.
It's something that has really motivated me over the past year. I really want to get revenge for what happened in Trondheim. Because otherwise, the 50-kilometer is a distance that I usually master well.
