Swedish cross-country skiing champion Frida Karlsson has withdrawn from Sunday’s women’s 50km mass start classic event at the Milano Cortina Olympics after becoming sick, according to a Swedish team official speaking from Tesero, Italy on February 21.
The absence of Karlsson, who many experts believed had a strong chance of earning another medal, comes after her impressive Olympic performance that included gold medals in both the 20km skiathlon and 10km freestyle events. Her victories helped establish Sweden’s women’s cross-country team as the dominant force at these Winter Games.
Karlsson joins a growing list of elite athletes who have been sidelined by sickness during this Olympic week. Italy’s Federico Pellegrino and Team USA’s Ben Ogden were also unable to compete in Saturday’s men’s 50km classic event after falling ill.
