It was a nightmare opening for Tove Alexandersson.

She went out at a fast pace until the first control, but ran past the entire control and had to turn around.

That meant that Alexandersson was almost two minutes behind leader Venla Harju from Finland after 3.1 kilometers.

It was a better start for Sara Hagström, who was second fastest after 3.1 km, 28 seconds behind Harju.

Karolin Ohlsson (+1:09) and Lina Strand (+1:49) were also in the top 6 from the start.

At the next intermediate time, 6.1 kilometers into the race, the pit was even deeper for Tove Alexandersson.

At the time, she was in ninth place, 3:59 behind the Norwegian Andrine Benjaminsen, who rose to the top.

Once again, a serious mistake was seen in the TV images on the GPS over the controls and the runners' route choices.

- Oh, what is she doing now?

It is completely incomprehensible that she is running in the wrong direction on that path.

She has to read further down the track and has completely lost the concept.

It is a rookie mistake, said SVT's expert Mats Troeng in the broadcast.

Things went better for Strand, Ohlsson and Hagström, who were in fifth, sixth and eighth place respectively after 6.1.

Medal match between the Swedes

Even though Hagström, Strand and Alexandersson made up time to the 10.4 kilometer point, it looked like it would be Finnish at the top.

Marika Teini and Venla Harju were first and second, but right behind (almost two minutes) were Sara Hagström and Lina Strand with only one second between them.

Another 20 seconds behind in fifth place was Alexandersson.

Barely two kilometers later, the difference between Hagström and Strand was more substantial, where Hagström was able to pull away and looked to be heading for a bronze medal.

But then came the shock.

Tove Alexandersson had gained over two minutes and was only 17 seconds behind leader Venla Harju.

The short stretch to the finish after that was too short to bring in even more.

But Alexandersson was able to climb out of the deep hole she dug for herself in the first half of the stretch and save an EC silver.

Sara Hagström finished in fourth place.