Team Sweden may have had one song playing in their heads as they competed in the women’s cross-country skiing relay in the Milan Cortina Olympics on Saturday. We’ll give you a hint: the chorus goes, “I get knocked down, but I get up again...”
In one of the wildest medal finishes of the Games so far, Sweden absolutely refused to quit.
Swedish skier Ebba Andersson, a four-time Olympian medalist, refused to quit when she crashed forward into the snow and broke her ski during the second leg of the relay. She refused to quit as she ran to the side half skiing, half hobbling to get the Winter Games equivalent of a Formula 1 pit stop.
Sweden’s ski tech refused to quit as he hurriedly ran to Andersson to deliver a new ski but also fell in the process.
Here’s that hilarious sequence of events:
Absolute cinema from Sweden recovering from a crash and claiming the silver medal! 👏 pic.twitter.com/obTwg5etNC
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 14, 2026
After two brutal falls that cost the favorites a gold medal (Andersson’s little mishap temporarily dropped the team down from first to seventh), Sweden still pulled through to win silver in part thanks to Frida Karlsson and Jonna Sundling, who skied the final two legs and got the Swedes’ Olympic dreams back on track.
“This is what the Winter Olympics means,” BBC commentator Rob Walker said as he watched Sweden stumble. “You keep going, you don’t give up and you don’t stop. If you’re a young aspiring male or female athlete, look at these images. Yes, of course, Karlsson is absolutely devastated at the moment. But help is at hand. All is not lost. Never give up. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
Just look at Andersson’s face after she gets her new ski:
That’s not the face of a quitter. It’s the face of a maniacal fighter. Big props to Team Sweden for never giving up.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Swedish Skier Eats It, Loses Ski, and Still Wins Silver in Olympic Cross-Country Relay.
