Hanna Öberg made a splash when she won Olympic gold in the distance in Pyeongchang 2018. She also has two World Cup gold medals in the distance.
But in Antholz, her medal dream disappeared immediately with two misses in the first prone, and another miss in the last. She finished in 40th place.
"It feels empty. I'm very disappointed," she says.
I have no pressure at all on the course and I have no explanation for it. I can't handle going at full speed; I'm going at a snail's pace.
She says she has practiced not letting the feeling on the course affect her on the shooting range – but has not managed to ward off the negative feelings.
It definitely played a role in the first shooting series. And then it became difficult to motivate yourself.
In the mixed relay on Sunday, Hanna Öberg had the best time of the skiers on the final leg.
"That's why I don't know why it turned out like this today. I had seen something different in front of me," she says.
“May be satisfied”
Linn Gestblom, among the last to get an Olympic ticket, was the best Swede in ninth place. Like Elvira Öberg and Anna Magnusson, she had two shooting errors, but was faster on the course.
"I think I'm holding it together nicely. Of course, I can see in the results list that a clean shooting would have been enough, but I have to be happy with ninth place," says Gestblom.
Elvira Öberg, who was disappointed not to be able to compete in the mixed relay, was nevertheless satisfied with her 13th place, which included two errors.
"Of course I want more, but I'm happy to have turned the race around, completed the last shooting and put in a good sprint lap," she says.
"And it's nice to get a 90 percent shooting today, it's important for self-confidence."
Will comfort her sister
Perhaps her main task for the day will be to comfort her sister.
"As usual, when someone has a worse race, we are there. Everyone knows Hanna's capacity; she has three championship gold medals at this distance."
Anna Magnusson also had two shooting errors and she finished in twelfth place.
France's Julia Simon won her second straight Olympic gold medal after winning the mixed relay gold on Tuesday. Fellow countrywoman Lou Jeanmonnot took silver and Bulgarian Lora Hristova - who is coached by former Swedish biathlon coach Wolfgang Pichler - surprisingly took bronze.
