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No two Olympic medals are earned the same way.
Sweden had a chance to secure a gold medal in the women’s 4 x 7.5 km relay, but Ebba Andersson crashed hard and flipped over. When Andersson got up, she realized she had lost her right ski and couldn’t put it back on.
She then plodded along with one ski, carrying the other under her arm, while waiting for Sweden’s ski technician to reach her with a new ski. The hectic scene unfolded as Andersson was attempting to keep Sweden’s place on the podium.
Making matters worse, the ski technician, while running to catch up with Andersson, also fell in the snow to delay them even further.
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Ebba Andersson tags teammate Frida Karlsson, right, during the cross-country skiing women’s 4×7.5 km relay at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Tesero, Italy, on Feb. 14, 2026. (Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Photo)
“She’s fallen again,” BBC commentator Rob Walker said as the mishap occurred, via the New York Post. “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.”
Frida Karlsson walks off the course after completing her leg of the cross-country skiing women’s 4×7.5 km relay at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Tesero, Italy, on Feb. 14, 2026. (Matthias Schrader/AP Photo)
“And what an effort from Andersson. She’s running. She’s running with the ski under her arm. Desperate to give Karlsson at least something to aim at.”
The crash and subsequent time without a ski dropped Sweden to seventh, but they rallied to finish in second and win a silver medal. Norway beat Sweden by 50.9 seconds, finishing with a time of 1:15:44.8 to secure the gold medal.
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Heidi Weng celebrates after winning the gold medal in the cross-country skiing women’s 4×7.5 km relay at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Tesero, Italy, on Feb. 14, 2026. (Matthias Schrader/AP Photo)
Despite recovering enough to land a silver medal, Andersson was distraught about the crash.
“My body is ok, but my heart is not,” Andersson said. “I can’t blame anyone but myself. I didn’t act well enough in that moment. Then we had the worst possible bad luck with the broken ski. It was mostly panic and chaos through that entire leg.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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