Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[Singer01]

Re: Re:

Another walk in the park for fourcade.

Though it does look like JTB has the ski speed now, must have been a problem with his equipment yesterday to lose that much on the last lap.

No problem with his equipment, he just run out of powers. I remember we have discuseed it this year at least once... Not first time that happened to Johannes (or anyone olse), in his case we've seen it before that he fails to distribute his powers properly. Doll on the other hand had great last lap.

I would have agreed with you, if he had looked in similar shape yesterday, however his ski speed was excellent. So it makes me suspect it wasn't entirely to do with his fitness/managing his efforts.

 

[kingjr]

Re: Re:

VOkay, Raphael belongs up there too.

So far Raphael is clearly above JTB, if you are speaking about three best biathletes of all times...

Of course, but I was extrapolating

 

[Kokoso]

Re: Re:

VOkay, Raphael belongs up there too.

So far Raphael is clearly above JTB, if you are speaking about three best biathletes of all times...

Of course, but I was extrapolating

Even if JTB continues his performances, Poiree will stay above him. JTB would have to step up his game to be on par with Poiree.

 

[Kokoso]

Re: Re:

Another walk in the park for fourcade.

Though it does look like JTB has the ski speed now, must have been a problem with his equipment yesterday to lose that much on the last lap.

No problem with his equipment, he just run out of powers. I remember we have discuseed it this year at least once... Not first time that happened to Johannes (or anyone olse), in his case we've seen it before that he fails to distribute his powers properly. Doll on the other hand had great last lap.

I would have agreed with you, if he had looked in similar shape yesterday, however his ski speed was excellent. So it makes me suspect it wasn't entirely to do with his fitness/managing his efforts.

Both days he had 4th time overall, so it's not that he was horrible in sprint. Some day is better, another worse, that's natural. Those races are different, sprint is shorter, more explosive, pursuit longer. And it is not that he had horrible last lap in that sprint; he had 9th time, +14.6 loss, nothing so bad. JTB himself said that powers just weren't there in last lap.

 

[Singer01]

Re: Re:

VOkay, Raphael belongs up there too.

So far Raphael is clearly above JTB, if you are speaking about three best biathletes of all times...

Of course, but I was extrapolating

Even if JTB continues his performances, Poiree will stay above him. JTB would have to step up his game to be on par with Poiree.

No evidence whatsoever to support this. At the age JTB is now, Poiree had 0 Olympic medals, 0 world championship medals and 1 WC victory. Compared to 0 Olympic medals, 8 world championship medals (with possibility of a couple more) and 12 WC victories.
Though obviously there is no guarantee that JTB continues to develop, and victories will be in short supply over the next few years assuming Fourcade doesn't get bored.
His WC victories for his age is more than OEB and just less than Fourcade (2 fewer, but with a bit of the season still to go).

 

[Singer01]

is it just me or is the individual the most boring race. i don't mind how much it rewards good shooting, it just doesn't draw me in at all.

 

[kingjr]

Re:

is it just me or is the individual the most boring race. i don't mind how much it rewards good shooting, it just doesn't draw me in at all.

If you just watch it on TV, probably. If you use the IBU live results, it's just as good as a sprint, sometimes better.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Fourcade a few years ago gave every impression he was going to get bored and move on, but seems a lot more likely to stick around now, he seems to be motivated by the fact his domination has made him pretty unpopular and now seems to derive a lot more pleasure from asserting his superiority. I expect that as long as that's the case Bjørndalen's records will be a motivating factor for him.

Personally I love the Individual. It's certainly true that you see way too much of the shooting range and not enough of the trails in the time trial format races, but it's really unique as biathlon races go as well as being the biggest endurance challenge, with the biggest penalty for shooting but also the longest skiing loops and also throwing up the most unusual results as well. The fact that a lot of the big names went late didn't help this particular one, however.

 

[kingjr]

Re:

Fourcade a few years ago gave every impression he was going to get bored and move on, but seems a lot more likely to stick around now, he seems to be motivated by the fact his domination has made him pretty unpopular and now seems to derive a lot more pleasure from asserting his superiority. I expect that as long as that's the case Bjørndalen's records will be a motivating factor for him.

Personally I love the Individual. It's certainly true that you see way too much of the shooting range and not enough of the trails in the time trial format races, but it's really unique as biathlon races go as well as being the biggest endurance challenge, with the biggest penalty for shooting but also the longest skiing loops and also throwing up the most unusual results as well. The fact that a lot of the big names went late didn't help this particular one, however.

You'll like the startlist for tomorrow then

 

[Singer01]

Re: Re:

is it just me or is the individual the most boring race. i don't mind how much it rewards good shooting, it just doesn't draw me in at all.

If you just watch it on TV, probably. If you use the IBU live results, it's just as good as a sprint, sometimes better.

While i agree that the sprint is similar for TV viewing, at least you have the added excitement of the gaps being generated for the pursuit, and it is much shorter.

 

[kingjr]

Re: Re:

is it just me or is the individual the most boring race. i don't mind how much it rewards good shooting, it just doesn't draw me in at all.

If you just watch it on TV, probably. If you use the IBU live results, it's just as good as a sprint, sometimes better.

While i agree that the sprint is similar for TV viewing, at least you have the added excitement of the gaps being generated for the pursuit, and it is much shorter.

Right, it's over way too quick ;p

What I was getting at was that compared to the sprint, it's much harder to keep track of everything that's happening if you only watch it on TV, and you can't always rely on the commentator. Back when I was a little kid my father used to sometimes print out the startlists and keep track of the race himself using pen, paper and a clock

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

is it just me or is the individual the most boring race. i don't mind how much it rewards good shooting, it just doesn't draw me in at all.

If you just watch it on TV, probably. If you use the IBU live results, it's just as good as a sprint, sometimes better.

While i agree that the sprint is similar for TV viewing, at least you have the added excitement of the gaps being generated for the pursuit, and it is much shorter.

Right, it's over way too quick ;p

What I was getting at was that compared to the sprint, it's much harder to keep track of everything that's happening if you only watch it on TV, and you can't always rely on the commentator. Back when I was a little kid my father used to sometimes print out the startlists and keep track of the race himself using pen, paper and a clock

Good that we have the IBU Datacenter now. Even with the IBU datacenter, it is somewhat difficult to get a clear overview of the race situation in the individual competitions. Watching it on exclusively on TV just makes it even more difficult as it is basically just a shooting competition with no pictures from the course.

Sprints are a lot more exciting to watch if you have only a TV to get information from. If you have the IBU Datacenter at hand, watching the individual competitions can actually be just as exciting.

The relays are ofcourse the most interesting competition formats in my opinion, both because the race is easier to capture on TV when it's head-to-head-situations, but also because of how unpredictable they are most of the time (especially the men's relays are very exciting at the moment). Sprints are somewhat predictable. Individuals tend to hold a little surprise although the winner is rarely a surprise.

 

[BullsFan22]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

 

[kingjr]

No one can say that wasn't exciting ;S

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Fantastic result!

 

[Singer01]

awesome. over the moon for him.

 

[Kokoso]

I'm pretty sad for Moravec. Until last intermediate Moravec's loss kept dissapearing. Then Volkov went in front of Bailley and probably draged him downhill to win.

Happy to see Fourcade losing. JTB is psycho, or what?

 

[kingjr]

Moravec ran out of steam on the last k, but having Volkov with him certainly didn't hurt Bailey.

 

[Singer01]

Re:

I'm pretty sad for Moravec. Until last intermediate Moravec's loss kept dissapearing. Then Volkov went in front of Bailley and probably draged him downhill to win.

Happy to see Fourcade losing. JTB is psycho, or what?

I only saw the results, not the race, what happened?

 

[search]

Re: Re:

I'm pretty sad for Moravec. Until last intermediate Moravec's loss kept dissapearing. Then Volkov went in front of Bailley and probably draged him downhill to win.

Happy to see Fourcade losing. JTB is psycho, or what?

I only saw the results, not the race, what happened?

he went for the win in the final shooting and thereby missed the final shot. Totally fine I think, it was his only chance to take the gold medal

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

I'm pretty sad for Moravec. Until last intermediate Moravec's loss kept dissapearing. Then Volkov went in front of Bailley and probably draged him downhill to win.

Happy to see Fourcade losing. JTB is psycho, or what?

I only saw the results, not the race, what happened?

Johannes decided to go all-out on the last shooting to give himself a chance of catching Moravec (and Bailey). Eventually it cost him a medal that he shot so fast, but it's a healthy sign that he wants gold and nothing else!

Go to 1:33:15, and you will see one of the fastest shootings of this world championship
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yguD6SEAAmw

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Re: Re:

I'm pretty sad for Moravec. Until last intermediate Moravec's loss kept dissapearing. Then Volkov went in front of Bailley and probably draged him downhill to win.

Happy to see Fourcade losing. JTB is psycho, or what?

I only saw the results, not the race, what happened?

he went for the win in the final shooting and thereby missed the final shot. Totally fine I think, it was his only chance to take the gold medal

And he was going for it so fast. High risk, rapid fire.

Wonder what the czech team can do in the relay? Moravec and Krcmar with strong shooting, Slesingr with a good time on the course.

 

[Singer01]

Re: Re:

I'm pretty sad for Moravec. Until last intermediate Moravec's loss kept dissapearing. Then Volkov went in front of Bailley and probably draged him downhill to win.

Happy to see Fourcade losing. JTB is psycho, or what?

I only saw the results, not the race, what happened?

Johannes decided to go all-out on the last shooting to give himself a chance of catching Moravec (and Bailey). Eventually it cost him a medal that he shot so fast, but it's a healthy sign that he wants gold and nothing else!

Go to 1:33:15, and you will see one of the fastest shootings of this world championship
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yguD6SEAAmw

thats pretty funny, he might has well have not stopped and just done a drive by shooting.

 

[Kokoso]

Re: Re:

I'm pretty sad for Moravec. Until last intermediate Moravec's loss kept dissapearing. Then Volkov went in front of Bailley and probably draged him downhill to win.

Happy to see Fourcade losing. JTB is psycho, or what?

I only saw the results, not the race, what happened?

Johannes decided to go all-out on the last shooting to give himself a chance of catching Moravec (and Bailey). Eventually it cost him a medal that he shot so fast, but it's a healthy sign that he wants gold and nothing else!

Go to 1:33:15, and you will see one of the fastest shootings of this world championship
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yguD6SEAAmw

I realize why shoot so fast. First and foremost healthy was to shoot clear, not to make a mistake. To shoot clear was his only chance to take gold medal. The way he shoot he just messed up the shooting and got rid himself even of the tiniest chance for the gold. So I don't get what was healthy about that. Btw. even when he shoot clear he probably wouldn't overtook Moravec.

 

[Kokoso]

Re:

Moravec ran out of steam on the last k

Why do you think so? It was mostly downhill from the last intermediate and until then he was gaining on Bailey.