Re: Re:
Kokoso said:
Libertine Seguros said:
Soukalová was unremarkable but nevertheless hampered by the funding gap with the Czech team at the time
She wasn't even part of the Czech team in junior age.
Also, maybe more omportantly, Soukalova was originally xc skier and changed to biathlon in quite late age.
Whether or not she was part of the Czech team, they did take her to the Junior World Championships three years running, however, so we do have a handle on her junior level.
2008, Ruhpolding (year 2 youths):
37th in the sprint (3+2, +2'42 from Maren Hammerschmidt who shot clear)
22nd in the pursuit (2+2+2+2, +5'09 from Janin Hammerschmidt, Maren's twin sister, who missed 6)
36th in the individual (0+2+2+2, +6'09 from Dorothea Wierer who hit 19/20)
Here she has a good pursuit despite the weak shooting scores, but I suspect weather was a factor there as Ruhpolding is one of the easier places to shoot and there were several who shot worse - both Ringen twins and Maren Hammerschmidt missed 10, Dorothea Wierer and Synnøve Solemdal 11 and Bente Landheim 13 - but even shooting the perfect score she wouldn't have beaten Wierer, who's a year one youth at this point.
2009, Canmore (year 1 juniors):
15th in the sprint (2+2, +1'34 from Nicole Wötzel who hit 9/10. Gössner was second at 8" after missing 5)
15th in the pursuit (2+1+0+3, +4'01 from Gössner who started 1'26 ahead and missed 8 targets)
8th in the individual (2+0+2+1, +3'24 from Nicole Wötzel who hit 18/20. 9" behind Vitková who also hit 15/20 but is a year older than Soukalová. 2'19 behind Gössner who missed an extra target)
1st in the relay (together with Vitková and Zvaricová).
- Note at this point Gössner is a year 2 youth at this point as she's a year younger than Soukalová, but you can clearly see the issue with shooting exists for the reason you outline above, as these shooting results would be nigh on unthinkable for her now. And in fairness, with the exception of 2011-12 after intestinal surgery, Gössner was always an outlier in terms of ski speed until her accident.
2010, Torsby (year 2 juniors):
14th in the sprint (0+2, +1'57 from Maren Hammerschmidt who shot clear)
10th in the pursuit (1+1+0+1, +2'35 from Sophie Boilley who also hit 17/20 and started 1'40 ahead of her)
13th in the individual (1+2+1+0, +3'11 from Reka Forika who hit 20/20)
- the ski speed only really shows itself in the individual and even then not at an extent that suggests the improvement she has made in her years as a pro, but her shooting is massively improved on previous years here.
You can see her making progress through the juniors, but no evidence that she was a supertalent the way we can see with the likes of Dahlmeier. Of course junior records aren't the be all and end all, though; Maxim Tsvetkov and Maren Hammerschmidt are hardly the world's best but they were winning medals all through the junior years. Dorothea Wierer is a more direct comparison to make to Soukalová was a great junior, often besting her in the races they came up against one another in despite being a year younger, before dominating the 2011 Junior Worlds (the first year Soukalová went to the elite level).
Can you confirm when she switched to biathlon as it might give a bit more colour to the interpretation of those shooting results. Vanessa Hinz, for example, switched to biathlon in 2012 so when she was already a junior, so there aren't any youth results to point out, but Soukalová isn't in the squad in her first youth year (Martello 2007) - the Czechs are Lea Johanidesová and Jana Becajová at that point - so could that be where?