Skiing evidently becomes much harder without the actual skis.
Sweden blew its chance to win gold in the women’s 4 X 7.5km relay on Saturday when Ebba Andersson fell hard and was forced to race with just one ski for roughly 30 seconds.
After falling, Andersson could be seen unable to put her right ski back on.
She subsequently used her right leg to propel herself forward while waiting for Sweden’s ski tech to reach her with a new ski.
But the ski tech also fell, delaying Sweden even further.
It meant Sweden, which was the favorite in the event, had to settle for silver, opening the door for Norway to take gold.
“It was a tough day for me and unfortunately, that made it a tough day for the team,” Andersson said afterward. “But we share victories and also when it’s not going that well. Today was one of those days.”
The mishap momentarily dropped Sweden to seventh, though they were able to rally back to second.
“She’s fallen again,” BBC commentator Rob Walker said as it unfolded. “An absolute disaster – and she’s lost a ski. She’s doing her level best to catch it up.
“What a nightmare this has turned out to be for the Swede. It’s all been going so well so far. Frida Karlsson [Andersson’s teammate] can barely bring herself to look.
“And what an effort from Andersen. She’s running. She’s running with the ski under her arm. Desperate to give Karlsson at least something to aim at.”
Andersson and Karrlson, the latter of whom helped Sweden climb back to second, were lauded for their effort amid adversity.
“This is what the Winter Olympics means,” Walker said. “You keep going, you don’t give up and you don’t stop.
“If you’re a young aspiring male or female athlete, look at these images. Yes, of course, Karlsson is absolutely devastated at the moment.
“But help is at hand. All is not lost. Never give up. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
Norway finished with a time of 1:15:44.8, which was 50.9 seconds ahead of Sweden.
“I actually didn’t realize there was so much drama,” Astrid Oeyre Slind, on the Norwegian team, said afterward. “They were just ahead of us, but I wasn’t paying much attention. I could see we had a really good gap, so we hoped for the gold already. We are so proud.”
