Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[titan31]

After today I think Laegreid has the WC sewn up. He's already ahead when you take the 4 events out and JTBs shooting is all over the place even if he's miles faster than everyone else on the track.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Anderson should spend some time on alpine slopes with XC skies.

I agree with you.

I just watched the newest WM-Stammtisch and my god, you're spot on when it comes to Schlickenrieder. The athletes peaked too early because they are too eager to get results early in the season. Talking about how Hennig never was a serious medal candidate on this course and that she was overeager and did too much work (valid points) but it should be your job as a coach to talk with your athletes and work on a tactic for the race. Of course he also blamed the previous coaches once again and talks about "15 years of stagnation" before he became the trainer and hides behind the talk about new scientific training.
Instead of saying that Gimmlers two 10th places are a great starting point for her and they we'll see how far she can go along the way he already puts pressure on her and says that he has zero doubts that she can medals in the future and that she has the overall skillset to beat everyone if she keeps pushing herself in the training sessions. The funniest thing is that he wasn't even the one who convinced her to ski the 30km race, the other skiers talked her into it.

 

[Discgear]

I am as fed up of Norwegian dominance in cross-country as anybody, but I adore Heidi Weng and considering everything she's achieved, the relentless disasters that have befallen her when it comes to Championships makes it quite satisfying to see her get that silver.

Weng behaved unbelievably disgraceful after the relay. A devastated Frida Karlsson bravely met Norwegian television when Weng runs in interrupting the live interview with screams and cheers. Not so satisfying to see her get that silver before Frida...

 

[Discgear]

Weng behaved unbelievably disgraceful after the relay. A devastated Frida Karlsson bravely met Norwegian television when Weng runs in interrupting the live interview with screams and cheers. Not so satisfying to see her get that silver before Frida...

Jubler i ansiktet på svensken

JUBELBRØL: Heidi Weng jublet høyt foran Frida Karlsson etter VM-gullet i Ski-VM. Video: Ljosland

www.dagbladet.no

 

[DenisMenchov]

So tomorrow is the D day for Semikov. It's the race he's been preparing for, well basically his whole life. 50km classic is by far the worst Norwegian discipline (apart from Northug they had very little medals in it) in recent years. There are only two better classic skiers in the field tomorrow than him - Bolshunov and Niskanen, but Niskanen's been subpar the last couple of years and, he skied a lot during the Championships already, so I wouldn't put my money on him beating Ilia. I have to say I love the guys that stick to classic style like Bauer and Olsson in recent years. Really really hoping he can have the race of his life tomorrow and take at least a bronze medal, but secretly I believe it can be an even brigther one.

 

[titan31]

If it was freestyle, I'd have Holund as the biggest favourite considering his form ATM but even in classic I think he'll be in there (not sure he'll win). Based on the skiathlon performance, you'd have to favour Bolshunov again assuming he's not completely wrecked after all his races.

 

[BullsFan22]

If there are a number of attacks and Bolshunov has to try to bring back all of them, he won’t win, he’s already at his limit. The pace needs to be good, but not up and down for him to do well. Hopefully his skis are good and his three teammates will have good races and will be up at or near the front helping him. Klæbo needs to be dropped before the final lap, I think, otherwise he’ll just sit there and wait for the final few hundred meters to attack.

 

[Silhouette]

Bolshuov should maybe have skipped one or two competitions. I wonder how the conditions are today, some of the skiers need firm tracks more than others.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Bolshuov should maybe have skipped one or two competitions. I wonder how the conditions are today, some of the skiers need firm tracks more than others.

it's the final day, so I'd assume that they'll go all out with the salt, if it's needed.
Iversen looked really strong in the classic part of the relay, he could be an interesting weapon for the Norwegian team.
Klaebo has also raced all but 1 of the races, so fatigue could also be a factor for him.
I'll be cheering for Niskanen and Semikov.

 

[Silhouette]

It would be good to see someone on the podium who isn't Norwegian, Russian or Swedish.

 

[zarnack]

It's hard to tell, which one of the Norwegians would actually be the strongest. In 2020 Holmenkollen 50 km Krüger was 2nd and Iversen 3rd. Golberg won the Ski Tour with 30km classic pursuit. And Holund, while better in freestyle, isn't a slouch in classic either. Kläbo is really the odd one out here.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Krüger's had an early fall, Pyeongchang to relive itself?

 

[Mayomaniac]

Burman and Poromaa are looking pretty good atm, even if the race hasn't been super hard until now.

 

[Silhouette]

Ski change poker game.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Okay, so they really want to give this to Klaebo like this?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

In a better world, Iivo Niskanen is the king of this sport.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Iversen is looking strong, but thank god for Niskanen and his way of skiing!

 

[kingjr]

Klaebo is gonna laugh all the way to the finish.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Semikov is really having a bad day.

 

[kingjr]

Niskanen would need like a 20 sec gap at the top.

 

[meat puppet]

Niskanen should attack on the burgstall. Or actually he should have on the previous lap. If he does, I will eat crow alright. But it did not look too good, he had fresh skis and could not even lead after the lap. Or is not leading now.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I think Iivo looks pretty cooked, he has good grip but not glide and he's losing on the downhill whatever gains he was making on the climb. However, Niskanen is also one of the only people who is willing to risk feeling bad to find out if others are feeling bad.

 

[kingjr]

Let's not pretend this race is slow or something, there are only a handful of people still in contention.

 

[Bavarianrider]

If he has the green Light Iversen is the only one I can see beating Klaebo now.

 

[KZD]

Quite surprised to see Klaebo this strong. If he remains strong in ghe last lap he can equal Northug's record in Falun but even a medal would already be an achievement for him in such a long race.