Biathlon-Samuelsson puts struggles behind him to secure relay bronze for Sweden

ANTERSELVA, ITALY, Feb 17 : Sweden's Sebastian Samuelsson has struggled to find his best form in the biathlon competitions at the Milan Cortina Olympics, but on Wednesday he played it safe to secure a bronze medal in the men's relay, with France winning and Norway taking silver. 

The 28-year-old, who won gold in the same event in Pyeongchang in 2018, anchored Sweden on the final leg and couldn't threaten the French and the Norwegians, so he concentrated on making sure his team got on the podium instead. 

"It snowed the whole morning so we knew it was going to be tough out there, and it was," Samuelsson told Reuters, adding that the support crew that prepared his skis had their work cut out for them due to the bad weather. 

"It's difficult for all the waxing teams, and even if they get it exactly right, it's still heavy going (in the snow). On the last lap, I tried to get after them but they were too far ahead, so I just celebrated the bronze."

Ranked third in the world coming into the Games, Samuelsson has yet to hit his best form in Anterselva, but he still managed to add a third Olympic medal to go with his 2018 relay gold and a silver in the pursuit race at the same Games. 

“I was very, very happy with my sprint performance (here on Friday), which was great, but no medal - I have done worse races before in which I have been on the podium, and this time I was not, but that's how it is. It's biathlon," he explained. 

"Then I was most disappointed about the pursuit, where I didn't really feel I was in the fight for some reason, but now I shot clean in the last shooting, and I'm excited about (the mass start on) Friday - one more race to go."