It started off well in itself.

Sara Hector, who was the first out of the Swedish riders in Meribel, managed to defeat the overall fourth in the slalom world cup, the German Lena Dürr, by ten hundredths of a margin in the first heat of four in the round of 16.

But then the setbacks came, one after another.

Kristoffer Jakobsen barely managed to get out of the starting grid before he missed a gate.

Hanna Aronsson Elfman had grabbed a small lead against Andrea Filser but lost the cut at the end of the hill and lost enough speed that the German could get past.

- It was fun to make a World Cup debut, but we would have liked to go a little further today, but that's what happens, says Aronsson Elfman to SVT Sport.

Before the last heat, Sweden still had the chance to advance, but then it required a really good time from Mattias Rönngren, who made a valiant attempt - before he also ran out a bit before the finish line.

"We just have to keep working"

- It's boring.

The air is running out a little, it's sad to only get to drive one ride today, you want more.

I was told at the start that I had to win that race.

I was a little late at the start and got a little stressed on the slope and started to skid quite a bit and then I tried to invest a little towards the finish because I was behind and then I lost the cut on an inner ski, says Rönngren.

A miscalculation, of course, given that the Swedish skaters had a WC silver medal to defend from WC 2021.

- None of us got it completely 100% today and that's how it is sometimes.

I was way too hot on it and didn't get off to a good start, but the ride still felt good, says Sara Hector and continues:

- It's like this, sometimes it goes well and sometimes it goes badly.

We just have to keep working and we can look forward to the successes that will come later in the WC.