Olympics-Crosscountry-Sweden's Karlsson out of women's 50km classic race due to illness

Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Cross-Country Skiing - Women's 4 x 7.5km Relay - Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium, Lago, Italy - February 14, 2026. Frida Karlsson of Sweden in action during the women's 4 x 7.5km relay. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq

TESERO, ⁠Italy, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Sweden's ‌Frida Karlsson will sit out the women's 50km cross-country skiing mass ​start classic race ⁠at the Olympics ⁠on Sunday due to illness, ⁠a ‌team representative said.

Karlsson, widely seen as ⁠a podium contender, won a ​gold ‌medal in the 20km skiathlon ⁠and ​10km-freestyle race to help lead a dominant Swedish women's ⁠team at the Milano ​Cortina Games.

Several other medal contenders have been hit by ⁠illness this week, including Federico Pellegrino of Italy and American Ben Ogden, who ​did not start ⁠Saturday's 50km men's classic ​race.

(Reporting by Tommy ‌Lund and Liz ​Hampton in Tesero, Italy; Editing by Ken Ferris)