Already in the qualifying round, it was clear that Sundling would be almost impossible to beat in the Swedish Championship sprint; the 29-year-old was over seven seconds faster than second-placed Moa Lundgren.
The superiority continued in the final round. A slowing-down Sundling was six seconds ahead of the rest in the quarterfinals, and the winning margin was almost as large in the semifinals.
Enormous winning margin
In the final, she didn't hold back, and it became a demonstration of her skills. No one had a chance to keep up, and Sundling won the final – despite almost falling in the last curve – with a ten-second margin down to second-placed Emma Ribom. It's an eternity in sprint.
It feels great to get this competition, it's the last sprint before the World Championship. It's clear that I'll take it with me, says Sundling to SVT after the victory.
Johanna Hagström, Ulricehamn, took bronze, narrowly beaten by Ribom in the sprint.
Hagström and Sundling are the only Swedish sprint skiers selected for the World Championship in Trondheim at the end of February–March. Even Emma Ribom is likely to get a spot there – the rest of the team will be presented at the weekend – but the question is how she and the others will be able to beat Jonna Sundling.
Sundling has two consecutive World Championship gold medals in sprint and has also won all three freestyle sprint events in the World Cup that she has participated in this winter.
Dramatic men's final
On the men's side, the Swedish Championship gold went to Marcus Grate, IFK Umeå, after a dramatic sprint. Östersund's Adam Persson was surprisingly in the mix, fighting for gold, but fell just before the finish line.
Emil Danielsson, Högbo, was thus able to snatch silver, while Persson managed to get up quickly enough to still secure a bronze medal.
