It was incredibly close to a Swedish World Championship silver. But despite Edvin Anger's heroic final stretch, it lacked a hundredth to take second place from Finland, whose Lauri Vuorinen was a toe faster across the finish line.
The photo finish didn't go Sweden's way, but no disappointment over the missed silver can be detected.
No, it doesn't sting. A medal means everything. Then whether it's bronze or silver, it doesn't play a big role. This bronze tastes very good, says Edvin Anger.
Tied Northug
Norway's Erik Valnes and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo were just as superior as everyone had feared. Klæbo has taken four World Championship golds out of four possible in Trondheim so far and has also tied Petter Northug's record in the number of World Championship golds with 13.
The competition for the other medals was much tighter. Sweden got a tough start when Oskar Svensson's poles malfunctioned right at the start.
I dropped the pole right away, it's the strap that comes loose. But luckily, I managed to catch the pole and put it back on. But it was a bit nerve-wracking, says Svensson.
As if he didn't already have enough to think about.
He wasn't even going to run the sprint relay, but when Calle Halfvarsson woke up sick, Svensson quickly had to gear up for a Wednesday in the World Championship tracks.
It's special. Yesterday when I got the message that I wasn't going to ski, you start evaluating the whole season and think "What went wrong?". So from that to standing here, it's like night and day, says Svensson.
It makes this feel even more fantastic.
First Men's Medal
The Swedish men managed to slowly but surely advance in the field and were soon in the medal race for real. At the final exchange, when Svensson sent off Anger, they were in sixth place.
In the end, it all came down to the final sprint, where Anger had taken additional places and, together with Finnish Lauri Vuorinen and Italian Federico Pellegrino, sprinted for the medals.
Anger made sure Sweden secured one of them. It's both his and Svensson's first championship medal.
It feels fantastic. It's hard to believe we finally get to step onto the podium, says Svensson.
The medal was also the Swedish men's first in Trondheim.
It means precisely everything, says Anger.
