Already on the second day of competition, the first triumph came for the blue and yellow biathletes.
Not least Sebastian Samuelsson impressed the home crowd. He rode stages one and three and shot flawlessly – 20 out of 20 hits.
"We talked about how the single mixed relays are usually hectic. To be able to shoot full speed in one like that, I put that in my self-confidence account," Samuelsson tells SVT after his very strong season opening this weekend.
Ella Halvarsson, not nearly as experienced as her relay partner, was not much worse. She did have to use four extra shots – two on the last shot, when she was shaking a little – but when Halvarsson left the shooting range for the last time, the Swedes had the victory in their hands.
“World class”
Samuelsson was impressed with how Halvarsson handled the last shot in the lead.
Coming into lane one and having that kind of lead that you can't lose, but where it's still very easy for the seconds to slip away... She handles it in a great way, it's world class all the way through, he says.
26-year-old Halvarsson described it as feeling confident, even though she was shaking quite a bit. And she thanked Samuelsson for the greeting she received earlier during the relay.
At the first change when he dropped me off, he said, “Have fun.” I really took that with me – and I had that today.
“Like a dream”
Second-placed Norway, with Sturla Holm Lægreid and Maren Kirkeeide in the team, were around 15 seconds behind before the short final lap. The difference at the finish was finally 19 seconds after Ella Halvarsson had really had time to enjoy the finish in front of a cheering crowd. France took third place.
"It's like a dream. I had a perfect last lap," says Halvarsson.
Sebastian Samuelsson has previously won the single mixed relay in Östersund twice, on both occasions paired with Hanna Öberg.
He and Ella Halvarsson have previously triumphed once together in the World Cup, it was on the day exactly one year ago in Kontiolax.
