Halvarsson has burst into the world top with a bang. She started the season in Finnish Kontiolax by first winning the single mixed relay together with Sebastian Samuelsson and then finishing second individually in a short distance.
Now she was on the verge of reaching the podium again, in her first pursuit start in a World Cup context.
It doesn't feel like I've grasped that I'm fourth today. What weeks, anyway. It's so incredibly fun. I'm extremely proud of what I'm doing, says Halvarsson.
"Did everything I could"
She went out as the 16th skier, 47 seconds behind the leader, but delivered a brilliant pursuit. The 25-year-old hit 19 out of 20 targets and was also fast on the tracks.
After a clean shoot in the final standing stage, she went out as third and fought for second and third place with Germans Vanessa Voigt and Franziska Preuss.
Halvarsson lost that battle. Voigt finished second, and behind her, the Swede tried to shake off Preuss in the battle for third place. It didn't work out, and Halvarsson crossed the finish line just over four seconds from the podium.
I did everything I could, says Halvarsson.
Öberg climbed strongly
Lou Jeanmonnot won the pursuit convincingly. The Frenchwoman was also one of only two skiers – Vanessa Voigt was the other – who were faster than Ella Halvarsson solely based on the time in Saturday's race.
Elvira Öberg also climbed significantly in the results list. Despite three misses, she moved from 25th to eighth place, 1:19 behind Jeanmonnot in the end.
Anna Magnusson finished 13th (+1:42), Anna-Karina Heijdenberg 40th (+3:12), and Sara Andersson 45th (+3:29).
