Winter Olympics 2022 - Frida Karlsson rejects medal after Jonna Sundling saves Sweden in cross-country relay
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Published 16/02/2022 at 10:42 GMT
The Russian Olympic Committee took gold, while Germany finished second for silver in the event, which had seen Sweden in pole position for bronze in the third leg. However, sprint champion Jonna Sundling needed to pull her team back onto the podium after Frida Karlsson's slower pace allowed her to be overtaken leading to her think she was undeserving of her medal.
Karlsson rejects bronze medal after poor cross-country display
Swedish cross-country skier Frida Karlsson was so upset with her performance in her team’s relay event that she initially rejected the bronze medal she was awarded on the podium.
The 22-year-old was third to go in the race and held the bronze medal position until she was overtaken by two other competitors with 2km of her leg to go.
Karlsson handed over to team-mate Jonna Sundling in fifth place, giving the sprint champion a lot of work to do in order to salvage a place on the podium for Sweden.
Sundling took on the challenge and snatched the bronze medal from Krista Parmakoski of Finland in a thrilling sprint finish.
As the Swedish team took to the podium to collect their prize, the quartet presented each other with their medals. Maja Dahlqvist and Ebba Andersson gratefully accepted from each other, before Karlsson placed the bronze medal around the neck of Sundling.
Sundling went to return the favour, but as she did, Karlsson motioned that she did not want to receive it, and instead went to put a second medal on the team-mate who had clawed back the third place finish.
After protestations from her friends, Karlsson eventually took the medal before posing for photographs, despite saying, "I don't deserve this medal".
Her drop in performance level could be linked to health issues, which have caused concern throughout the Games so far.
Following the skiathlon, Karlsson said “I was just tired, I just felt empty”, before she needed medical care after the 10km classic race due to breathing problems.
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