A few hours after the double victory in Saturday's Olympic skiathlon, Frida Karlsson and Ebba Andersson were celebrated with a cake at the national team hotel in Panchià, a couple of kilometers from the Olympic stadium in Val di Fiemme.
The duo had still barely noticed any reactions to their gold and silver, respectively. With one exception.
Frida Karlsson hadn't missed that Zlatan Ibrahimovic wrote "Congratulations!" and tagged her on Instagram.
"That's actually the only thing I've noticed. It's the kind of thing in Sweden that makes you a little starstruck," says Karlsson.
"I don't disagree. An icon," says Ebba Andersson.
Now they hope that the former Swedish football star, one of the torchbearers at Friday's Olympic opening ceremony, will make it up to the mountains to see the cross-country competitions in person.
"We hope so. We heard something about it maybe happening at the end of the championship," says Karlsson.
