The restart after the Christmas break became a nightmare for the Swedish women. In the rain and strong winds in Oberhof, there were so many misses in the sprint that only Elvira Öberg was among the top 40 who received World Cup points. She finished 36th with five misses.
I'm getting tired, it's getting so boring. I had a decent day on the track and had good skis, the waxers have done a great job. It's really boring that it's like this in the sprint, she says to SVT.
She has no good answer to why all Swedish women fail in the shooting.
I can only speak for myself. It was special in Östersund, it was 18 degrees below zero during the last lap, so we had to shoot indoors. It's hard to say if it can play a part. Anyway, I should do it better.
Elvira Öberg dropped from second to third place in the overall World Cup, which is still led by Franziska Preuss, Germany.
Completely new podium
Hanna Öberg, who went on early Christmas vacation after the tough season start, was next best in 54th place after five misses. Anna Magnusson finished 59th and Ella Halvarsson 60th. Halvarsson took the last spot for Saturday's pursuit start.
Frenchwoman Paula Botet shot clean and won, 31 seconds ahead of Norwegian Maren Kirkeeide and Bulgarian Milena Todorova, both with one miss each. All three took their first podiums in the World Cup.
Forgot to ski penalty round
Newcomer to the A-national team, Anna-Karin Heijdenberg, shot three misses in the standing shooting but forgot to ski a penalty round.
Right before I came out of the round, I got completely confused, was it three rounds? It was a rookie mistake, it shouldn't happen, she says to SVT.
After crossing the finish line, Heijdenberg was penalized with a two-minute time addition and finished 79th. Without the time addition, she would have finished 45th and qualified for the pursuit start.
Corrected: In earlier versions, incorrect placings for the Swedish women were stated.
