The Olympics are just over two weeks away and Samuelsson and his teammates hardly got a confidence boost in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, where the last World Cup competition before the games in Milano-Cortina was held.
The Swedes were spread across the results.
Malte Stefansson was the best Swede in 16th place, with three faults and 3.25 behind the winner. Martin Ponsiluoma, third in the pursuit start on Sunday in Germany, finished in 21st place with four faults.
“Sorry about that”
Sebastian Samuelsson, third in the overall World Cup before the race, had maintained a consistent and high level earlier in the season.
On Thursday, he could only shake his head after finishing just over seven minutes behind the winner.
“I regret it,” he said of his contribution, and continued:
“I have a hard time explaining why it's happening the way it is. It's really sad. I want to perform better than this,” he said.
According to SVT, this is Sebastian Samuelsson's worst placement in nine years.
“Losing my head”
He missed three shots in the first shooting, prone, and repeated that in the second shooting, standing.
“The first series of laps is not fun at all, but I think if I push the rest of the way it might be okay. But when I miss the next one I lose my mind a little. The last three laps will be whatever they are, but I'm not worried about my form,” Samuelsson said.
It was a French one-two, Eric Perrot won by 41.8 seconds ahead of Emilien Jacquelin, both shooting cleanly. Italian veteran Lukas Hofer finished third.
The World Cup competition continues through the week.
