NEWNow you can listen to Pak Gazette articles!
No two Olympic medals are achieved in the same way.
Sweden had a chance at a gold medal in the women’s 4 x 7.5 km relay, but Ebba Andersson crashed hard and fell. When Andersson got up, he realized he had lost his right ski and couldn’t put it back on.
She then plodded on one ski, carrying the other under her arm, while she waited for Sweden’s ski technician to catch up with a new ski. The hectic scene unfolded as Andersson attempted to maintain Sweden’s place on the podium.
To make matters worse, the ski technician, while running to catch up with Andersson, also fell into the snow to further delay them.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PakGazette.Com
Ebba Andersson tags her teammate Frida Karlsson, right, during the women’s 4×7.5 km cross-country skiing relay at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Tesero, Italy, February 14, 2026. (Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Photo)
“He’s fallen again,” BBC commentator Rob Walker said when the mishap occurred, via the New York Post. “Absolute disaster, and he’s lost a ski. He’s doing everything he can to get it back.”
“What a nightmare this has turned out to be for the Swede. Everything has gone very well so far. Frida Karlsson (Andersson’s teammate) barely dares to look.”
AMERICAN SPEED SKATER JORDAN STOLZ WINS SECOND GOLD AT MILAN CORTINA GAMES AFTER BREAKING THE OLYMPIC RECORD
Frida Karlsson leaves the track after completing her leg of the women’s 4×7.5 km cross-country skiing relay at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Tesero, Italy, February 14, 2026. (Matthias Schrader/AP Photo)
“And what an effort on Andersson’s part. She’s running. She’s running with her ski under her arm. Desperate to give Karlsson at least something to aim for.”
The accident and subsequent time without skiing left Sweden in seventh place, but they recovered to finish in second place and win a silver medal. Norway beat Sweden by 50.9 seconds and finished with a time of 1:15:44.8 to secure the gold medal.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE Pak Gazette APP
Heidi Weng celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women’s 4×7.5 km cross-country ski relay at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Tesero, Italy, February 14, 2026. (Matthias Schrader/AP Photo)
Despite recovering enough to earn a silver medal, Andersson was distraught over the accident.
“My body is fine, but my heart is not,” Andersson said. “I can’t blame anyone but myself. I didn’t perform well enough at the time. Then we had the worst possible bad luck with the broken ski. It was mainly panic and chaos throughout the stage.”
