Sweden came tenth, last of all teams in Sunday's men's relay in Val di Fiemme.
A low point that the team took on immediately afterwards. Mattias Berglund, the person most responsible, with team manager Anders Svanebo ill, throws up his arms in despair and states:
It's too bad. We're not delivering what we're supposed to today. It's terrible.
Already at the end of the second lap, things were starting to look worrying for Sweden's starter Johan Häggström. It soon became clear that the skis were not up to par. Häggström did what he could, but without sufficient grip, the task was too much for him.
Blue-and-yellow shame
When Häggström handed over to Calle Halfvarsson, Sweden was already last, 38 seconds behind the lead. All thoughts of a medal were already gone.
It's too bad that it's going to be like this. I immediately thought, "Johan isn't that bad, so either he's sick or he has bad skis." And it was the latter, says Halfvarsson, who was also dissatisfied with the equipment.
How it is possible to fail so much with my skis is a mystery.
Halfvarsson, who made his first Olympic start in Val di Fiemme, could do nothing about the hopeless situation. When he finished his leg, he was one and a half minutes away from the medals.
It's embarrassing. You feel ashamed out there. I do the best I can but nothing happens, says Halfvarsson.
"To hell with it"
For Swedish television viewers, the relay was an almost unique experience, as hardly a single frame was dedicated to the blue-and-yellow skiers. William Poromaa and Edvin Anger continued to fight in no man's land but it was no use. At the last changeover the distance to the lead was 2 minutes 26 seconds. When Anger crossed the finish line as the last skier, Norway had already celebrated the gold for almost three and a half minutes (+3 minutes 29 seconds).
It's sad, you suffer with both Johan and Calle. They had deplorable things under their feet. It's terrible to watch, says Anger.
The question is whether even a perfect ski prep could have resulted in a medal. The cross-country skiers have not had much to show for at the Olympics, with Truls Gisselman's seventh place in the opening skiathlon being the only small bright spot.
"I think we need to sit down and discuss how to turn this around. We have a home World Cup (in Falun) next year so we have to look ahead. But right now it's completely gone to hell," says Anger.
