Women’s sprint, resounding hat trick for Sweden on Linn Svahn’s redemption day

Linn Svahn is the new Olympic champion in the women’s cross-country sprint. The 26-year-old finished a race entirely dominated by the Swedish team, which also brought Jonna Sundling and Maja Dahlqvist to the podium, silver and bronze respectively at the end of a final dominated from the first to the last meter. It was a historic result, certifying the superiority of the Scandinavian movement and marking the handover between two outstanding athletes. For Svahn, back from years of injuries and difficulties, it is the day of ultimate consecration.

The final was an all-Swedish duel, almost a generational confrontation, with Svahn and Sundling setting the pace in front of the many Swedish fans who flocked to the Tesero Cross Country Stadium in Val di Fiemme. Sundling, undefeated in major events since 2021, tried to defend herself, but Svahn proved to be in her day of grace, passing first on the last climb and at the start of the final straight, raising her arms to the sky at the finish line. Dahlqvist, just behind, completed a hat trick that will remain in the annals of Swedish sports.

Francesco Lucivero

For Linn Svahn, a liberating scream also came: after the injuries that have plagued her in recent seasons and the decision to avoid interviews in recent weeks to avoid further pressure on the eve of the Olympic event, a result came in Val di Fiemme that repays her for the great sacrifices she has made. Already during the qualifiers she had sent more than one signal, with faster times than her opponents, but in the final it went even better for the 1999 cross-country skier.

Tuesday also saw the men’s race, won by Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo ahead of Ben Ogden of the United States and Oskar Opstad Vike’another Norwegian. No Italian managed to qualify for the final act of the sprint, neither in the women&#8217s nor in the men&#8217s sprint.

Between the men, going furthest among the Azzurri were Federico Pellegrino, third in his own semifinal, and Simone Mocellini, sixth in the previous one. Among the women, Italy’s hopes were also extinguished in the penultimate act: the first semifinal saw Caterina Ganz finish fifth, while in the second, Federica Cassol did not go further than sixth.