Cross-country skiing: duel with Switzerland in the final metres of the relay
Once again, history was made in the final metres. In the men’s relay at the World Championships in Trondheim (Norway), Edvin Anger battled it out with Switzerland’s Valerio Grond on Thursday for the two medals still to be shared, with gold having long since been won by Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo and his team-mates. On the final bend, Grond closed the door on the Swede, who went on to win bronze, as he had done the day before in the sprint team.
Truls Gisselman, who was replacing Calle Halfvarsson still suffering from a cold, got off to a good start in the classic. But he fell as he approached the stadium.
As a result, he dropped William Poromaa to 7th place. The mass-start winner was able to rejoin the leading group. The third man, Jens Burman, was among the five chasing for a place in the top 3 for a long time, but he didn’t make it to the finish. In his first kilometre, Edvin Anger had to work hard to close the gap.
“I know Edvin well enough to know that he’s disappointed at the moment. He’s sad to have lost the sprint, but in my mind, we didn’t lose the silver medal. We won a bronze medal,” said men’s coach Lars Ljung on Viaplay (quoted by Aftonbladet).
The last time Sweden medalled at a world championships was in 2017. Back then, they finished in third place.
