Winter Olympics 2026: Swedish skiers blame bad waxing for performance in 15km mass start biathlon - ‘Worst I ever had’
Published 21/02/2026 at 15:01 GMT
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Sweden are often amongst the favourites in the biathlon but in the men's 15km mass start at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, their trio of men's competitors were well off the pace. Afterwards, they explained that the waxing of their skis was the reason they performed so poorly, with one calling them the 'worst I ever had'. Ski waxing is vital for dealing with specific race settings in biathlon.
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After a disappointing outing in the men’s 15km mass start biathlon, Swedish skiers blamed the waxing done by their team for their underwhelming performances.
Swedish athletes are typically among the favourites in the biathlon at the Winter Olympics but on Friday at the 2026 Milano Cortina Games, the men’s trio of Sebastian Samuelsson, Martin Ponsiluoma and Jesper Nelin were well off the pace.
In a 30-man field, Samuelsson finished 18th, Martin Ponsiluoma 21st and Jesper Nelin 26th. Samuelsson completed the course over three-and-a-half minutes behind eventual winner Johannes Dale-Skjevdal.
Afterwards, the clearly frustrated Swedish competitors said it was the waxing on their skies which meant they struggled as much as they did.
"The skis were the worst I ever had. They were c***," Samuelsson told Swedish TV, per Reuters. "Today the glide from the skis was very bad ... I'm here to fight for medals, but today I go without."
The waxing of skis is pivotal to any biathletes’ chances, with it helping competitors cope with specific snow, temperature and altitude settings.
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According to Reuters, Sweden’s wax technicians met their athletes as they crossed the finish line and apologised for how their skis were prepared.
And the athletes appeared to hold no grudges.
"You just have to laugh at it," Ponsiluoma said. "When you feel like you don't have the materials, you feel it would have taken 25 hits to beat Dale-Skjevdal today."
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In biathlon, there are only 20 targets to shoot at, with gold medallist Dale-Skjevdal hitting all 20 of his efforts.
"This kind of thing happens to all nations at some point, and we have a very good waxing team, it's just not going well right now," Nelin said.
Watch every event of Milano Cortina 2026 live on discovery+. Available across all subscription plans, starting at £3.99.
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