Norway shock Sweden to win an incredible women's relay; France 9th

The women's 4x7.5 km relay at Val di Fiemme produced a wildly unexpected finish as Norway upset pre-race favourites Sweden to win Olympic gold. Sweden — holders of seven of the nine individual cross‑country medals earlier in the Games — started with a line-up (Svahn–Andersson–Karlsson–Sundling) widely tipped for victory, but the race turned into chaos.

Linn Svahn gave Sweden a strong opening and Ebba Andersson began the second leg in the lead after Svahn's work, but Andersson suffered a nightmarish day: she fell twice, the second time unfastening her right ski and forcing a lengthy equipment change that cost Sweden precious time. Frida Karlsson skied a powerful third leg, recovering ground and moving back into contention to hand off to Jonna Sundling, who produced an extraordinary final effort to claw Sweden back up to silver behind Norway. Finland completed the podium.

Norway delivered a collective performance that capitalised on Sweden's troubles; Heidi Weng anchored Norway to the win. France endured a difficult afternoon as well — Julie Pierrel fell on the first leg, Cloé Pagnier could not bridge the gap, and only Léonie Perry managed to move the team back into the top ten; Delphine Claudel, the final French skier, also fell but the squad salvaged a symbolic ninth place.