A Winter Olympics star suffered a horror fall during the cross-country relay, costing her country a gold medal and sending the event into chaos
Ebba Andersson endured a terrifying fall at the Winter Olympics on Saturday, causing absolute chaos for Sweden. The Scandinavians had been strong contenders going into the cross-country relay at Milano Cortina, but any dreams of claiming gold were shattered in the final stages of the race.
Having already taken a tumble earlier, the 28-year-old was descending at pace when her left ski collided with her right foot, sending her careering forward and smashing into the slope face-first before flipping onto her back. More drama unfolded as Andersson’s right ski flew ahead of her whilst she desperately tried to regain her composure and retrieve it.
Unable to secure her foot back into the ski, the Solleftea-born competitor was seen clutching the blade under her arm as she had to sprint to generate speed.
JOIN US ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page
As Andersson crashed, Ian Woods – providing TNT Sports commentary – was heard exclaiming: “Oh again, what has happened? And she has lost a ski. It is broken – the binding is still attached to her boot, so that ski is no use whatsoever. She will realise that now, there will be technicians nearby hopefully.”
Following assistance from officials who provided Andersson with a replacement, mayhem continued when a Swedish technician tumbled as he hurried to remove the damaged ski from the course, prompting TV2 expert Petter Skinstad to say: “Ebba Andersson looks really stressed in the downhill here now. Terrified, simply!”
Despite a late comeback from Frida Karlsson and Jonna Sundling, Sweden managed to claw their way back into the race, overtaking several teams to secure a commendable silver medal.
Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activateor add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings
Norway’s team, consisting of Kristin Austgulen Fosnaes, Astrid Oeyre Slind, Karoline Simpson-Larsen and Heidi Weng, clinched gold in the event with a time of one hour and 15 minutes. Sweden trailed by approximately 50 seconds, whilst bronze medallists Finland lagged behind Norway by one minute and 14 seconds.
Following the event, a distraught Andersson described her performance as a “complete disaster.”
Speaking to TNT Sports, she said: “This day was a complete disaster for me. Unfortunately for the team, my leg got a really big gap for both Frida and Jonna to chase the other nations.”
When asked about potential injuries, Andersson admitted that the mental impact of her mistakes hurt more than any physical pain. She added: “My body feels okay, but it hurts more in my heart.”
Her teammate Karlsson echoed Andersson’s sentiments, stating that the team shares her emotions and will recover together. She said: “I was just determined to give it my all out there and fight for the team.
“We will give [Ebba] a lot of hugs and love and we share her emotions. We’re the best team, we share everything – and we will melt this and reload together.”