Anna Magnusson Relay: Tough Start

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The ladies’ relay began chaotically for Anna Magnusson.

A strap for the rifle came loose on the first shot.

– Oh, oh, it’s loose. She wants the spare rifle, exclaims SVT expert Björn Ferry.

It looked really good until the first shot for Anna Magnusson who started the relay for Sweden in Oberhof. The Swede had left the rest of the group together with the Frenchman Lou Jeanmonnot when they entered the shooting range.

But there began a few nightmare minutes for Anna Magnusson.

When Magnusson laid down on the carpet, the rifle slid to the ground with a thud and one of the straps came loose. Magnusson tried to put the strap back on, waved for a spare rifle but finally found the nut on the carpet and managed to screw the strap back on.

– You are not your smartest self. You are stressed and quite tired when you lie there. At first I thought I could shoot without it, but it doesn’t work and then I thought I wanted help. But it didn’t feel like someone was coming, then I thought I’d shoot without the strap but then I realized I could get the thread and then it still went well, says Magnusson and continues:

– But then I felt on the second round that I was really numb in my legs, it was hard afterwards. So numb legs and quite a lot of wind, it was difficult standing, says Magnusson in SVT.

Sweden far behind

Anna Magnusson then managed to manage with only one reserve shot in the prone but in the standing shooting there were three reserve shots. Magnusson switched over in sixteenth place, 1 minute and 38 seconds behind the Frenchman.

On the second leg, Anna-Karin Heijdenberg got the chance when Ella Halvarsson was ill. But Heijdenberg did not convince, the 25-year-old incurred a penalty round after the prone shot and used all three reserve shots in the standing.

The competition is ongoing.