Cross-country skiing: bronze medal for the Swedes in the sprint team
A hundredth of a second made the difference. In the foot throw, Sweden’s Edvin Anger, in partnership with Oskar Svensson, won the bronze medal in the sprint team event at the World Championships in Trondheim (Norway), behind Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo and Finland’s Lauri Vuorinen. Italy’s Federico Pellegrino was no match for the power of the big man.
“What a final stretch for Edvin,” said Viaplay consultant Teodor Petersson.
This is Sweden’s first men’s sprint relay medal since 2013, when Emil Joensson Haag and Marcus Hellner won silver in Val di Fiemme (Italy).
The race did not get off to a good start for the duo. At the start, Oskar Svensson had problems with one of his poles and lost precious seconds. So much so that the men in yellow and blue were even outside the provisional top 10.
At the last relay run, they were still in 6th place. That’s how solid Edvin Anger’ s last lap was. He was so hungry for a medal in a season in which he has established himself as one of the best skiers in the world.
Winner for the first time in a World Cup race on the stage in Les Rousses (Jura), the Scandinavian placed 14th in the skiathlon. In the sprint, despite being one of the favourites, he finished 11th. Finally, on 4 March, he put his head on straight with a 4th place in the 10km classic, just 3.2 seconds from the bronze medal.
As for Oskar Svensson, he wasn’t even due to start. He replaced Calle Halfvarsson who fell ill.
