Sweden still has the world's best sprinter. But her name is no longer Jonna Sundling. After four straight championship gold medals in the individual sprint, Sundling had to give up her place on the throne on Tuesday to a national teammate.
It was a blue-yellow duel for the gold when Linn Svahn and Jonna Sundling crossed the finish line ahead of, among others, King Carl Gustaf.
"It's great to finally get it over with and to have two teammates on the podium. The sport is great," Svahn tells SVT.
"I think I had a weapon in my body today and a couple of weapons in my skis," she said.
Sundling tried, but couldn't get past. Slightly behind them both, Maja Dahlqvist completed a Swedish Olympic triple.
"It means a lot. Just getting to go into my second Olympics and my second Olympic sprint and to get another medal feels really great, and the fact that we are also three Swedes on the podium doesn't make it any worse," Sundling tells HBO Max.
It is difficult to argue that Svahn's Olympic gold is anything but well-deserved.
Many setbacks
Linn Svahn has been so unlucky throughout her career that it almost seemed like a curse.
Already in the 2020–21 season, she dominated the sprint tracks in the World Cup overall, and racked up victories. But Tuesday's sprint was Svahn's very first Olympic race. A complicated shoulder injury then disrupted several seasons, and when she looked to be back to full strength last year, she suffered a concussion the day before the World Championships in Trondheim.
"Championships haven't gone my way, and that I can get this gold is a nice story," says Svahn.
The aftereffects of the concussion have also been felt ahead of the Olympics in Val di Fiemme. The medical team stopped Svahn from doing any interviews ahead of the games, citing continued brain fatigue as the reason.
Saved the best for last
The 26-year-old has stayed out of the way, been allowed to do her own thing and do as much (or as little) as she can. The approach has had maximum effect.
Already in the qualifying round, it was clear that Linn Svahn was up to something big. She was the fastest of all, just ahead of the reigning Olympic champion Jonna Sundling. She won her quarterfinal easily, as did Sundling and Dahlqvist. In the semifinals, Sundling looked the sharpest, but Linn Svahn had saved her best for last.
She was first up the last tough hill, first into the finish area and, most importantly, first across the finish line.
Linn Svahn, Jonna Sundling and Maja Dahlqvist produced the first-ever Swedish Olympic triple on the women's side in cross-country skiing, in the sprint in Val di Fiemme.
On the men's side, however, Swedish cross-country skiers have previously achieved three Olympic triple victories.
1928, St. Moritz: Per-Erik Hedlund – better known as "Särna-Hedlund" – took gold in the five-mile race ahead of Gustav Jonsson and Volger Andersson.
1936, Garmisch-Partenkirchen: Elis Wiklund, Axel Wikström and Nils Englund secured a new blue-yellow triple in the five-mile race.
1948, St. Moritz: The distance was 18 km when Martin Lundström won ahead of Nils Östensson and Gunnar Eriksson.
Source: skidor.com
