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Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

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I think the Germans would still be favourite (with teams as planned), but yeah, hopefully him and Frenzel will be around in good shape for the team competiton at least. Tomorrow I wouldn't expect too much.

Edit: Situation for Frenzel is the same as for Riiber, btw, out of isolation now, but missed training. He is already confirmed to not start tomorrow, though. Weber was replaced by Faißt, so can't compete anymore in this Olympics, even if he recovers over the coming days.
 
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the waxing toping has come up again in Swedish and Norwegian press, by the way, with at least the Norwegians declaring that they don't use fluorine wax, and hope that others follow the FIS guidelines as well.

As mentioned before the Games, C8 is not banned in China, nor does FIS rules apply - so I would be very surprised if it really is a level playing field in that regard.
 
the waxing toping has come up again in Swedish and Norwegian press, by the way, with at least the Norwegians declaring that they don't use fluorine wax, and hope that others follow the FIS guidelines as well.

As mentioned before the Games, C8 is not banned in China, nor does FIS rules apply - so I would be very surprised if it really is a level playing field in that regard.
Links? I haven't seen anything about this in Swedish press. However, VG (Norwegian newspaper) had an article on the 2nd of February which struck me as somewhat self-glorifying.
https://www.vg.no/nyheter/meninger/i/G38exq/ogsaa-fluor-floken-er-en-parodi
There are usually some basic principles in top sports:
The competition is within a clear and comprehensible set of rules. Testing and inspections must detect irregularities, and there must be consequences for not complying with the rules.
The purpose is to ensure fair competition.


This from a country that have streched every rule to the maximum to get an advantage.

Inhaling Salbutamol in the waxing trailer with Nebulisators during competition, in doses unheard of in medical practice.
Having so far three ahtletes suspended from competition in Ski Jumping, due to suits larger than legal.
When explaining how it was possible to dominate in the EPO 90s; using new stone grinding techniques unknown to other countries.

and so on...
 
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Links? I haven't seen anything about this in Swedish press. However, VG (Norwegian newspaper) had an article on the 2nd of February which struck me as somewhat self-glorifying.

It was in Dagbladet today, referring to a Swedish "Expressen" article I can't read because it's behind a paywall


(google translated): "Are we being cheated?, he [Pettersson] asks in a comment at Expressen. He raised the issue after it got warmer in China's weather, and wrote that he had a bad feeling after the women's relay that Russia won ahead of Germany and Sweden.

Russia and Germany had fantastic skis all day. Have they just done a fantastic job? A lot is possible, and even probable, Pettersson writes before adding a big "but": "The problem is that we never get to know for sure. Now hits in the lubrication bus are met with suspicion of what they actually have under the skis."

The Norwegian lubrication manager Svein Olav Snesrud made it clear that Norway would not use any of the FIS illegal products. [...] "we feel that we have found good products with the legal fluorine products we have had with us and used here"
 
Inhaling Salbutamol in the waxing trailer with Nebulisators during competition, in doses unheard of in medical practice.
Having so far three ahtletes suspended from competition in Ski Jumping, due to suits larger than legal.
When explaining how it was possible to dominate in the EPO 90s; using new stone grinding techniques unknown to other countries.

and so on...

I just watched the 30km men's race from Salt Lake City 2002 Olympics. It was sad to see Elofsson getting completely destroyed by his efforts to try and follow doped to the eye Muehlegg and I couldn't help but laugh at the margin he built against top class opponents in just a few kilometres, and then just kept on building the gap until the very end. But then I remembered that we keep seeing that same scenario repeating by a convicted doper in the women's races for years now...

It's beyond hypocritical for Norwegians to call out on anyone over cheating.
 
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I just watched the 30km men's race from Salt Lake City 2002 Olympics. It was sad to see Elofsson getting completely destroyed by his efforts to try and follow doped to the eye Muehlegg and I couldn't help but laugh at the margin he built against top class opponents in just a few kilometres, and then just kept on building the gap until the very end. But then I remembered that we keep seeing that same scenario repeating by a convicted doper in the women's races for years now...

It's beyond hypocritical for Norwegians to call out on anyone over cheating.
The ones who also tried to start in Mueleggs tempo, Botvinov and Hoffman didn't blow up. As did not Skjeldal and Bjoerndalen...
 
Wish I knew more back story on the Bo brothers

Genually nice guys. The first time I heard about Terje Bø was when the long time commentator for NRK on the biathlon shooting arena, Ola Lunde, told the viewers about the greatest talent he had ever seen as long as he had followed biathlon. The way he described Terje Bø gave the impression that we really had something special coming up. And when the guy eventually arrived at the national scene he started talking about his worries that - although he had high hopes for his own chances to succeed - he might be surpassed by his younger brother rather soon.

Terje is the sencible one who works hard and is very diligent in his training. He has had a string of health problems, especially he had huge problems recovering from a twar virus attack, that really set him back and maybe deprived him of his best years. Johannes has benefitted greatly from an insane natural talent and great technical abilities. He is even described as a bit lazy and unstructured in his training, but when he "wakes up", he is just a freak of nature. He also has some hang ups on details and last season he experimented a lot on details with his weapon. Not always very wise, but at least he would get all options out of his head before the olympics. Both are of course very competitive also in all other matters than biathlon. I would also describe them as very intelligent.

They are portrayed as positive, good humored and humble. And it is very true. Although they can sometimes be a bit cocky, it is always done with some charm or tongue in cheek and they have never grown to full of themselves. Always crediting their teammates, their coaches and with great respect to their competitors. I can understand why some Norwegian skiers are disliked, but when it comes to the Bø-brothers I don't understand why anyone would have any reasons to dislike them other than being excellent at what they do.
 
Genually nice guys. The first time I heard about Terje Bø was when the long time commentator for NRK on the biathlon shooting arena, Ola Lunde, told the viewers about the greatest talent he had ever seen as long as he had followed biathlon. The way he described Terje Bø gave the impression that we really had something special coming up. And when the guy eventually arrived at the national scene he started talking about his worries that - although he had high hopes for his own chances to succeed - he might be surpassed by his younger brother rather soon.

Terje is the sencible one who works hard and is very diligent in his training. He has had a string of health problems, especially he had huge problems recovering from a twar virus attack, that really set him back and maybe deprived him of his best years. Johannes has benefitted greatly from an insane natural talent and great technical abilities. He is even described as a bit lazy and unstructured in his training, but when he "wakes up", he is just a freak of nature. He also has some hang ups on details and last season he experimented a lot on details with his weapon. Not always very wise, but at least he would get all options out of his head before the olympics. Both are of course very competitive also in all other matters than biathlon. I would also describe them as very intelligent.

They are portrayed as positive, good humored and humble. And it is very true. Although they can sometimes be a bit cocky, it is always done with some charm or tongue in cheek and they have never grown to full of themselves. Always crediting their teammates, their coaches and with great respect to their competitors. I can understand why some Norwegian skiers are disliked, but when it comes to the Bø-brothers I don't understand why anyone would have any reasons to dislike them other than being excellent at what they do.
for me I have a weakness for the brother angle and 2 see them podium was super cool..the coverage we see in the US is very very limited we have a nationalist coverage and unless the US has someone in metal contention we don't see much..I used to occasionally ski and snow shoe and my body hurt watching the 2 brothers and others absolutely bury themselves and watching the mental switch that goes off at the finish as many racers collapse after the effort..I really respect and love watching them race..and being able to hit the side of a barn w w bullet w the heart rate before and during the target portion of the events is astounding to me..most animals I hunt walk up to me and then go for a walk after I miss!!
I particularly like the sprint events..I really don't have any idea of what cross training looks like for these athletes and see the sport as an extreme example of overall fitness and skill..and the speed they achieve while skate skiing..
anyway obvious I am a fan of all and the elite even more..still looking for the crossed O on my keyboard!!!
 
Hopefully he has been able to maintain his fitness. The Norwegians have been very unlucky with their relay teams in xc, biathlon so far, losing Riiber from the NC team (or him not being fully fit) would be a disaster.

I can't believe that almost two weeks in Chinese corona prison wouldn't set him back somewhat. And then there is the uncertain factor of the virus. As late as yesterday Riiber still was considered covid-positive as far as Beijing olympic standards were concerned. Riiber is so far ahead of the rest that he might even do good when he is not in his best form. When it comes to preparations the only things he has been able to do is whatever he can do in a hotel-room. I am sure he has had a bike or has done some running, but I would be surprised if he can pull of something special in these olympics.
 
for me I have a weakness for the brother angle and 2 see them podium was super cool.

I think that in Norway we were particularly happy for Terje. He had great success in his youth, but has been overshadowed by his younger brother, Johannes. Johannes has won everything worth winning, but Terje never had any individual medals in olympics. Even his parents said that they were happier for Terjes bronze medal than for Johannes gold. And I think even Johannes would agree to that.
 
But then I remembered that we keep seeing that same scenario repeating by a convicted doper in the women's races for years now...

Now, this is not the right place for this discussion. Yes, she was convinced, but also all instances that looked at the case found her explanation plausible and the amount found in the tests would match well with the explanation. It was never any values that would be considered performance enhancing. She was convinced on principle and rightly so, because any athlete always are responsible for whatever enters their body. Whether it was lip balm or not.

She was in the privileged position were she already was a star and her sponsors could support her even during her suspension. She wasn't that good technically, but has always had great stamina. When she came back she worked hard and had improved technically and that made a huge difference. You can have your theory about it all, but no-one can deny the fact that it can also be easily explained without assuming the worst.
 
Now, this is not the right place for this discussion. Yes, she was convinced, but also all instances that looked at the case found her explanation plausible and the amount found in the tests would match well with the explanation. It was never any values that would be considered performance enhancing. She was convinced on principle and rightly so, because any athlete always are responsible for whatever enters their body. Whether it was lip balm or not.

She was in the privileged position were she already was a star and her sponsors could support her even during her suspension. She wasn't that good technically, but has always had great stamina. When she came back she worked hard and had improved technically and that made a huge difference. You can have your theory about it all, but no-one can deny the fact that it can also be easily explained without assuming the worst.

I'm not accusing her of doping again. I was even a fan of hers when she first showed up, and even after the ban I have some sympathies towards her.

It's just I watched Muehlegg and thought "Wow, this performance is really out of this World, how did he think he can get away with it?!", but yet she is doing it race after race and maybe it is possible even though her previous 'actions' cast a shadow as well.
 

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