Biathlon-Swede Stina gets "crispy" reception in Chinese cold snap

ZHANGJIAKOU, China : Swede Stina Nilsson got a chilly reception at the Beijing Games' biathlon venue, posting a picture of her frost-covered face on Instagram ahead of the competition beginning next week.

The 28-year-old, who won one gold and two silver medals in cross-country skiing at the 2018 Pyenongchang Olympics before switching to biathlon, published a photo that featured frost in her hair, eyebrows and eyelashes.

"The weather here is like a little (potato) chip. Crispy," she wrote in the caption.

Temperatures in Zhiangjiakou, which is some 200km north-west of Beijing, have dropped as low as -20 in recent weeks, but by Sunday they were up to around freezing as a light dusting of snow fell.

Sweden coach Johannes Lukas told Swedish state broadcaster SVT that his team had been very impressed with what they had seen so far in China.

"It's a really cool stadium and really fine (ski) courses, I think the whole area is very good," he said.

The biathlon competitions begin next Saturday.

(Reporting by Philip O'Connor, editing by Pritha Sarkar)