Biathlon-Swede Nilsson has to wait longer for Olympic debut in new sport

Biathlon – Biathlon World Cup – Ostersund, Sweden – March 19, 2021 Stina Nilsson of Sweden reacts after the women’s 7.5 km sprint. Anders Wiklund/TT News Agency via REUTERS/File Photo

ZHANGJIAKOU, China, Feb 10 (Reuters) – Former Olympic cross-country ski champion Stina Nilsson will have to wait a little longer to make her Olympic debut as a biathlete after being overlooked for Sweden’s four-woman team for Friday’s 7.5 km sprint at the Beijing Games.

The Pyeongchang cross-country sprint gold medallist, who also took silver in the relay and team sprint events in 2018 before announcing her shock switch to biathlon in March 2020, was considered for Friday’s race, but team boss Johannes Lukas instead chose to give an Olympic debut to Anna Magnusson.

She will be joined at the start line by Linn Persson and the Oeberg sisters, Hanna and Elvira. Mona Brorsson, whose 12th place in Monday’s 15 km individual race made her Sweden’s best performer on the day, is another surprising omission, alongside Nilsson.

Apart from the sprint, there are three other races for women still to take place at the Beijing Games and the 28-year-old Nilsson could still make her debut in Beijing, most likely in the 10 km pursuit race on Feb. 13 or the 4×6 km relay on Feb. 16.

Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman

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