Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[meat puppet]

Bad call from Finland to put Niskanen in the third leg, if she had been in the second leg they coumd have been with Germany in the second exchange and the third athlete would probably have still put Parmakoski at better position.

Maybe. But Kyllönen on leg three was a risk too. No way she can hang with Ger and Rus. If one considers shuffling in hindsight, perhaps one way to a medal today was to put Matintalo-niskanen-pärmä first, to hang with the leader as one in a group of 3, and then hope for the best with Kyllönen.

Karlsson imho bluffed just enough on leg three to keep Sweden in the game. I criticized Niskanen for pulling too much in the skiathlon; today she should have just gone for it from the beginning to drop Karlsson. The minute they started pulling with Fossesholm, Karlsson was in trouble. But maybe Niskanen just did not have it today. Losing to Fossesholm was not what I expected.

Yet, none of that was anywhere near enough without Sundling. She was the MVP today. First bridged 18sec in 1km (!!!), challenged pärmä, and then took the sprint. Honestly, did not see that coming.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Wow. Johannes with a superb sprint.

 

[Norbea]

Norway xc relay team:

1. Iversen
2. Golberg
3. Holund
4. Klæbo

 

[Discgear]

J T Boe, from being totally out of shape both in tracks and shooting, rises from the ashes like the bird Phoenix in the Olympics.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

J T Boe, from being totally out of shape both in tracks and shooting, rises from the ashes like the bird Phoenix in the Olympics.

I guess that the winter games have been the main goal for the season.

 

[Discgear]

I guess that the winter games have been the main goal for the season.

Obviously.

 

[Silhouette]

Norway xc relay team:

1. Iversen
2. Golberg
3. Holund
4. Klæbo

So...
Either leaving Iversen out of the 15km was a stupid decision, or using him in the relay is a stupid decision.

I don't like either decision. He should have been given the opportunity in the 15km but when they didn't do that he shouldn't race the relay.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I guess that the winter games have been the main goal for the season.

Yeah, he was clearly meant to peak now, but I doubt he intented to be so far away from the crystal globe.

Sadly the French missed too much to challenge him here, but a Bø/Jacquelin sprint finish in the pursuit is still a possibility.
It was a bit "wrong" to see Fillon Maillet there instead in the mixed relay.

 

[Norbea]

So...
Either leaving Iversen out of the 15km was a stupid decision, or using him in the relay is a stupid decision.

I don't like either decision. He should have been given the opportunity in the 15km but when they didn't do that he shouldn't race the relay.

It is shocking. Seems to be a lot of infighting among the coaching-team.

 

[Norbea]

Johannes keeping up with Røiseland. Who will bring the heaviest medal load back home?

 

[Silhouette]

I would have preferred røthe on the 3rd leg . I think he could have done something similar to Fossesholm today, they are both good at short skate distances.

Who knows how Iversen will do, at least some of the coaches think he isn't in shape and I'm against using untested skiters in the relay because of previous collapses.

 

[DenisMenchov]

Russian team for tomorrow:

1. Chervotkin
2. Bolshunov
3. Spitsov
4. Ustiugov

 

[BullsFan22]

Maybe. But Kyllönen on leg three was a risk too. No way she can hang with Ger and Rus. If one considers shuffling in hindsight, perhaps one way to a medal today was to put Matintalo-niskanen-pärmä first, to hang with the leader as one in a group of 3, and then hope for the best with Kyllönen.

Karlsson imho bluffed just enough on leg three to keep Sweden in the game. I criticized Niskanen for pulling too much in the skiathlon; today she should have just gone for it from the beginning to drop Karlsson. The minute they started pulling with Fossesholm, Karlsson was in trouble. But maybe Niskanen just did not have it today. Losing to Fossesholm was not what I expected.

Yet, none of that was anywhere near enough without Sundling. She was the MVP today. First bridged 18sec in 1km (!!!), challenged pärmä, and then took the sprint. Honestly, did not see that coming.

Nah, Matintalo, Niskanen, Pärmäkoski and Joenssu, or Joenssu on third and Krista as anchor. At the same time, I thought Kyllönen didn’t to too bad. She was within 15 seconds and finished ahead of Sweden. Weng fell, so we can’t really compare her to the others. Pärmäkoski trusts her sprint, she beat Diggins last year in Oberstdorf in a very similar battle (though this course, particularly when compared to the skate course in Germany last season, is easier), but she really should have tried to attack Sundling on the same part of the last hill that Stepanova attacked Krehl. Now I know that Sundling would be tougher for Krista to distance than Stepanova to distance Krehl, but you have to do something.

 

[KZD]

Russian team for tomorrow:

1. Chervotkin
2. Bolshunov
3. Spitsov
4. Ustiugov

Superb Russian team, they will win tomorrow and it won't even be close. Putting Iversen in the first leg is a recipe for disaster even if Norway doesn't have much better choices.

As for biathlon, Johannes Boe with a really dominant win today equalising Olsbu, although I bet that the latter one will have a bigger chance of having more golds in the remaining individual races as I don't see anyone with the shape of Fillon Maillet in the women's side. First individual medal for Tarjei Boe in the Olympics and a disappointing performance in the shooting range from Latypov and Loginov (but at least they are in good shape which bodes well for the relay).

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Looks like they will do 3.3k course for the classic part and the 5k course for freestyle.

 

[meat puppet]

Nah, Matintalo, Niskanen, Pärmäkoski and Joenssu, or Joenssu on third and Krista as anchor. At the same time, I thought Kyllönen didn’t to too bad. She was within 15 seconds and finished ahead of Sweden. Weng fell, so we can’t really compare her to the others. Pärmäkoski trusts her sprint, she beat Diggins last year in Oberstdorf in a very similar battle (though this course, particularly when compared to the skate course in Germany last season, is easier), but she really should have tried to attack Sundling on the same part of the last hill that Stepanova attacked Krehl. Now I know that Sundling would be tougher for Krista to distance than Stepanova to distance Krehl, but you have to do something.

In theory maybe, but Joensuu has not shown anything in distance races all season, and the race was at altitude, so I think the coaches chose the right skiers. Kyllönen did what she could, a decent leg, matintalo too.

Pärmä herself said perhaps she should have pushed the pace, but didn't dare. It was up to the skaters to deliver, but simply were not good enough.

On top of that, Germany did really well.

Finnish men:

Hakola
Niskanen
Hyvärinen
Mäki

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Jouve, Lapalus, Parisse, Magnificat
Svensson, Poromaa, Burman, Haeggstroem
Brugger, Moch, Notz, Boegl

 

[Libertine Seguros]

2x 4th places in 2 races for Maxim Tsvetkov. And while he got towed around the trails by Bø for much of the Individual toward that result, today was an unassisted top 10 ski time.

 

[search]

2x 4th places in 2 races for Maxim Tsvetkov. And while he got towed around the trails by Bø for much of the Individual toward that result, today was an unassisted top 10 ski time.

One of the coaches said that they have the best skis of all teams. The Russians sent a big team to investigate the tracks in December, and it seems like it paid off - not sure everyone did that?!

 

[BullsFan22]

Russian team for tomorrow:

1. Chervotkin
2. Bolshunov
3. Spitsov
4. Ustiugov

Dangerous to put Ustiugov in there, he hasn’t done a proper distance race on the WC level in two months, didn’t do the skiathlon, and was ok in the sprint, but tactically kind of fell asleep in the semis. Maltsev is in good form, and the logical thing would have been to put him in one of the skate legs, but I think the Russian coaches want him to leave China with a medal. A medal is virtually guaranteed if the first three legs go as the form of the skiers suggests, but Ustiugov needs 20 seconds at least (as his form isn’t really known after such a long time without WC’s). Klæbo is surely getting better, so it will be interesting.

Iversen on the opening leg seems risky, though Golberg died in the last couple km’s yesterday and Valnes wasn’t exactly sprightly either, and got blown away by the Russians in his semifinal heat.

Iversen will be hit or miss. He could stay with Chervotkin and hand over in the lead or be with the leading group or he could completely fall apart and then it'll be tough for the Norwegians to catch the Russians.

For the Russians the dangerous leg is Ustiugov. Chervotkin skied well yesterday, but Ustiugov can be a bit like Iversen, if he's on he's extremely dangerous in head to head races and if he's given 20 or more seconds, Klæbo will have a hard time closing the gap. But, if Ustiugov is in not feeling it, and there's a possibility he gets nervous, he could lose time as well. The Russians need to really put everything into the first two classic legs. Hopefully Hakola doesn't lose too much time on the opening leg and gives Niskanen a reasonable chance to catch Bolshunov and if he does catch him, those two can work together to destroy the field, as they did in the skiathlon. Spitsov I think will be fine, he skied away form Holund and Golberg in the classic portion of the skiathlon and he's generally weaker than those two in classic. He then put even more time on them in skating and blew by Niskanen.

They may try the same tactic that the women were able to employ today. One tricky thing is that snow is forecast overnight and will continue to snow during the day tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be like Oberstdorf last season.

 

[BullsFan22]

Superb Russian team, they will win tomorrow and it won't even be close. Putting Iversen in the first leg is a recipe for disaster even if Norway doesn't have much better choices.

As for biathlon, Johannes Boe with a really dominant win today equalising Olsbu, although I bet that the latter one will have a bigger chance of having more golds in the remaining individual races as I don't see anyone with the shape of Fillon Maillet in the women's side. First individual medal for Tarjei Boe in the Olympics and a disappointing performance in the shooting range from Latypov and Loginov (but at least they are in good shape which bodes well for the relay).

I won't believe an easy win for anyone until I see it. A poor leg from anyone could destroy medal aspirations. Skis will be important tomorrow, both kick and glide. The reports say snow is on the way (as it was before today's race) overnight and into the day. It could even snow during the race. It may be difficult to escape if that happens. While I do agree that the Russians are favorites, considering their results i the two distance races so far, they still don't want to leave it to a last leg showdown.

Halfvarsson not selected. He I think will retire after this season. He had a good TDS, and there were hopes that his form was getting better, but he got sick during the training camp last month. His results here haven't been that good. I understand leaving him out, but still may be a bigger risk putting in two sprinters in the team.

 

[Bavarianrider]

What will be the Weather be tomorrow?. It it is closer to minus, 10 Russia will win easily. If it is closer to zoo, then Norway has a chance.

 

[titan31]

Don't get what Parmakoski and Haga did on that last leg it all. When they went through the exchange, Fossesholm had got it down to 14 seconds and then at 6k, it went up to 24 and the gap they had built to Sweden was completely gone.

Looks like both Haga and Parmakoski eased off which was stupid considering there was still a chance at gold at a 14 second gap and neither of them were outsprinting Sundling once she caught them. Was just a bizarre tactic

 

[Mayomaniac]

Kinda surprised to see Moch in the 2nd leg, I would have expected to see him in the 3rd.
Norway is probably resting Valnes for the team sprint.

 

[Norbea]

Don't get what Parmakoski and Haga did on that last leg it all. When they went through the exchange, Fossesholm had got it down to 14 seconds and then at 6k, it went up to 24 and the gap they had built to Sweden was completely gone.

Looks like both Haga and Parmakoski eased off which was stupid considering there was still a chance at gold at a 14 second gap and neither of them were outsprinting Sundling once she caught them. Was just a bizarre tactic

Only good explanation is that it is really tricky at that altitude. If you push to hard in the start, there is no way to recover and then you're out of the contention. Saving energy for the last lap seems to be the best strategy if you are not Ivo in monster form and capable of holding on by pure Finnish sisu. Parmakoski and Haga may have hoped that ROC and Germany would burn out in front and that it would cost Sundling a lot to catch up. Eventually it failed because no one really burned out and Haga and Parmakoski didn't have the power to mobilize any attack in the last leg.