At the Olympics in February, the classic sprint will be the event, so that's fortunate. The Swedish men's performance on the first stage of the Tour de Ski left much to be desired.
Edvin Anger was the only Swede to make it past the qualifying round in the freestyle sprint in Toblach. In the quarter-finals, Anger finished no better than fourth in his heat but narrowly managed, as the last skater, to advance on time.
However, the semi-final was the end for the 23-year-old, who finished fifth and was eliminated. By then, the other Swedish men had long since finished competing.
Shooting star Alvar Myhlback is primarily specialized in classic skiing but still fared poorly in the qualifiers, about two seconds short of advancing. He was not happy with the day.
"Damn, how bad I am, it's crazy. But it was a bit expected. I thought I could move on, but when the speed in skating is so high, every pole stroke becomes so important," the 19-year-old told SVT.
Anton Grahn, Gustaf Berglund, Truls Gisselman, Johan Ekberg, Eric Rosjö and Jonas Eriksson also did not advance. Neither did national team star William Poromaa, who finished 68th in the qualifiers.
Norwegian Johannes Høsflot Klæbo won Sunday's final in dominant fashion. Klæbo paraded to the finish line and brought two compatriots, Lars Heggen and Oskar Opstad Vike, onto the podium.
The Tour de Ski continues on Monday with a 10-kilometer classic.
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