The Swedish team is suffering from a coronavirus epidemic. Vaccines for team leaders did not help

Coronavirus restrictions on international competitions have been lifted, but the virus itself remains. After the Norwegians, the epidemic affected the Swedes. But if the first fell ill en masse before the first stage of the World Cup in Ruka and participated in the races, the second contracted the virus during the competition and will miss the home stage in Gällivare.

But despite the absence of some leaders due to illness, the Swedes have a surprise prepared that Petter Northug himself admires.

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Leaders: beyond the home phase

It is clear that the International Ski Federation cannot organize measures to protect and prevent viral infections at the stages of the Ski World Cup. Athletes from several countries fell ill in Ruka, but the hardest blow fell on the Swedish team. Now the hosts of the next stage in Gällivare will be forced to miss their home races.

William Poroma was the first to share the sad news. In the second race of the season, the skier won silver, but the next day he withdrew from the competition during the mass start, explaining this by health problems:

“I don’t know… Already during the warm-up, my body felt like it wasn’t mine. I had back problems and everything around me was not in good condition. We probably shouldn’t have gone to the starting line at all. But you never know what the race will be like.”

The coronavirus test confirmed the fears: the Swede became infected. And the girls followed him. Jonna Sundling, who won silver in the sprint, Frida Karlsson, who won bronze in the classic 10km, and Lynn Swan tested positive.

Jonna Sundling

Photo: Daniel Karmann/Getty Images

Sundling and Swan are forced to miss the stage at home, their illness being symptomatic. Frida Karlsson was luckier: she does not feel bad, but the girl was still isolated from the team. She will still be able to compete in Gällivare if her test returns a negative result before the start of the stage.

“She feels frustrated about being infected, even if she feels healthy or has no symptoms. We have to hope that this passes quickly and that at least she can return to Östersund,” said cross country team director Anders Byström about Frida’s condition.

By the way, the Swedes reported that the team was recently vaccinated against COVID-19, but this, as we see, did not save their leaders.

“The situation is of course unfortunate and we are now taking a number of measures to minimize further spread of the infection, as there are already many skiers in Gällivare,” said national team doctor Rikard Noberius.

But the “diamond” will debut in Sweden

Poroma, Sundling, Swann and Karlsson are undoubtedly a big loss for Sweden heading into the home game. However, in Ruka it was not them who won the races, but other members of the team: Emma Ribohm, Ebba Andersson and Moa Ilar, all of them girls who are in the candidacy for the second stage.

The main stars of this season’s World Cup are here:

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Sweden will be represented in Gällivare by a great team, as they are the hosts of the stage. The team may present up to 12 skiers in each race. And due to the absence of three or four outstanding athletes at once, the young Alvar Mühlback, Petter Northug’s own favorite, will have his chance.

The 17-year-old Swede will be making his first appearance at a World Cup, but he is already predicted to have a bright future. Alvar, by the way, has already gone down in the history of cross-country skiing as the youngest participant in Vasaloppet, thanks to him Sweden even changed the rules on the age limit. He finished eighth in the race.

Two weeks ago, in the same Gällivare, the Swedes held a preseason competition, in which the young Mühlback once again stood out. He won bronze in the sprint, beating team leader Kalle Halfvarsson by almost two seconds. However, he has not yet managed to enter the candidacy for the first phase of the World Cup.

Alvar Mulbak

Photo: Bjoern Reichert/Getty Images

Now the Swedish prodigy will be able to make himself known throughout the world. No wonder Petter Northug calls Alvar a “diamond” and “perhaps the greatest talent he has ever seen.” And Kalle Halfvarsson himself, by the way, believes that the dominance of the Norwegian team will soon come to an end, because there are quite veteran skiers in its composition. But the Swedes have athletes as talented as Muhlback growing up, and William Poroma is only 22 years old and has already won medals at the World Championships. It’s just the beginning!