Swedish cross-country skier Frida Karlsson, the overwhelming favorite for Sunday morning’s women’s mass start 50km race, has withdrawn the night before the race due to illness.
Karlsson, 26, won both the 20km skiathlon and the 10km freestyle in the Olympics’ opening week, but had missed Friday’s final training session after experiencing cold symptoms.
A spokesperson for the Swedish team subsequently confirmed to The Athletic on Saturday evening that Karlsson was suffering from “cold and fever” and would not race the following day.
Karlsson later uploaded a photo to her Instagram, captioned “fever,” featuring two broken hearts and the white flag emoji.
Her withdrawal suddenly blows Sunday’s race wide open, the first occasion in which women will race the 50km distance in the Olympics. Her teammate Ebba Andersson, whose crash cost Sweden a likely gold medal in the 4 x 7.5km relay last week, could now be fancied for victory.
It also represents an opportunity for the USA’s Jessie Diggins in her final Olympic race. Diggins won the silver medal in the event’s predecessor, the 30km, in Beijing four years ago. Though the 50km will be raced in the classical style, rather than Diggins’ favored skate technique, the longer distance is expected to favor the current World Cup leader.
Respiratory illnesses are particularly debilitating in cross-country events because of the sport’s aerobic and anaerobic demands.
Saturday’s men’s 50km was also affected by an illness that appears to be spreading among the athletes. Both the USA’s Ben Ogden, a two-time silver medalist at these Olympics, and Italian legend Federico Pellegrino, competing in his last Games, withdrew before the race with illness, and medal contender Iivo Niskanen quit after the second lap.
The men’s race was won by Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, claiming his sixth gold medal in a historic sweep of the men’s cross-country events.
Sweden has been equally dominant in the women’s cross-country events, triumphing in every event but one. So far, every gold medal has been split between the two Scandinavian nations — Karlsson’s withdrawal threatens that record.
