Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[BigCoward]

The Norwegian teams undone again by Echoff and her rubbish shooting. I doubt they will be able to make this up like they did in the mixed relay.
What has happened to the person from the previous 2 seasons?

 

[KZD]

Eckhoff is just so bad at relays, she was shaking all over the place in the last shots. Russia in a similar position as yesterday let's see if they can take advantage this time.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

It looks like a Swedish victory now. Germany keeps up the tradition of missing almost every time they have a chance of getting close to the top spots. Røiseland is not far from the podium now.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Hermann is struggling a bit, and Røiseland is hunting her like Hushovd.

But the gap was too big in the end.

 

[BigCoward]

Didn't see the heats. What happened to RoC, lucky loser?

 

[search]

Didn't see the heats. What happened to RoC, lucky loser?

I was watching the Biathlon as well, but Terentiev crashed midway through the race. No idea if this was the reason he lacked power in the end

 

[BigCoward]

I really really want anyone but ROC to win.
Norway have had terrible relays.

 

[BigCoward]

Didn't expect Germany to win.

 

[Norbea]

Surprise victory for Germany. Well deserved.

 

[search]

wow, yeah, really didn't expect that. Carl was a late replacement for Sauerbrey because she was "not feeling well". Seems like it was exactly the right decision

 

[Norbea]

Valnes bossing Bolshunov and Niskanen around.

 

[Silhouette]

Extremely short delay between the semis and the final?

 

[Vroome.exe]

Bolshunov again a sour loser, not even congratulating his teammate.

 

[KZD]

So Klæbo and Bolshunov now both with 2 golds, one silver and one bronze. The 50km race will be the decider so Bolshunov should have the upperhand in the end although I expected him to do more damage today. Finland finally getting a team medal well deserved.

Surprised to see Germany beating Sweden and Russia in the women's but not Norway failing hard after all Tiril Weng and Falla had been already 6th in the Worlds last year and Falla was in better shape back then...

 

[Silhouette]

I wish the semi finals and finals were done a bit differently. I realize the weather affected the start times here but the luck of the draw is a huge factor when the teams from semi final 2 get such a short rest period.

If circumstances prevent a long rest, then the teams should get to pick which semi final they would like to race in based on previous results.

 

[BigCoward]

Bolshunov again a sour loser, not even congratulating his teammate.

He's a scumbag. And very very much over rated.

 

[Mayomaniac]

So Klæbo and Bolshunov now both with 2 golds, one silver and one bronze. The 50km race will be the decider so Bolshunov should have the upperhand in the end although I expected him to do more damage today. Finland finally getting a team medal well deserved.

Surprised to see Germany beating Sweden and Russia in the women's but not Norway failing hard after all Tiril Weng and Falla had been already 6th in the Worlds last year and Falla was in better shape back then...

Yeah, but it's hard to compare sprint and relay medals to distance race medals.
Klaebo now has more medals than someone like Cologna, but winning the individual start 3 Olympics in a row is clearly more impressive.

 

[Mayomaniac]

He's a scumbag. And very very much over rated.

Clearly not overrated, but he's just unlikable. I cheer for many of the Russians, but I can't bring myself to cheer for him.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Also De Fa keeps getting worse after doing a good Skiathlon. Today they could habe brought back Didi Nöckler and he'd have done better...

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Time to start singing "Vicky, Vicky Carl!" to the tune of Daddy Cool.

 

[BigCoward]

Clearly not overrated, but he's just unlikable. I cheer for many of the Russians, but I can't bring myself to cheer for him.

Whether he is over rated is surely a matter of opinion. I think he is clearly superb, but not as good as everyone around here seems to.

 

[BigCoward]

Yeah, but it's hard to compare sprint and relay medals to distance race medals.
Klaebo now has more medals than someone like Cologna, but winning the individual start 3 Olympics in a row is clearly more impressive.

Nobody thinks Bolt is less of an athlete than Farah. Klaebo likely finishes with 7 or 8 golds, it's better than Cologna, even though Cologna's achievement is remarkable.
I don't disagree with you, I just don't understand why we feel that way.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Nobody thinks Bolt is less of an athlete than Farah. Klaebo likely finishes with 7 or 8 golds, it's better than Cologna, even though Cologna's achievement is remarkable.
I don't disagree with you, I just don't understand why we feel that way.

There's probably the element that the number of sprint races that can be settled due to luck, questionable judging decisions and similar will affect perception. Take the Lahti Worlds where Kikkan Randall got through to the final on almost nothing but sheer luck, with a crash in front of her in one race and a questionable DQ in another, but that's fine - only the last 2-3 minutes matter, the rest is just manoeuvring yourself into position to have the chance to fight for that win and how you get there is irrelevant. Individual start distance, however, is perceived as purer, one man or woman against the clock, in the same way as the time trial is the Race of Truth in cycling. And also, compared to a real distance race, a sprint is fleeting; no matter how good the action is, each race is only a few minutes long, so it doesn't have the chance to really imprint itself in our heads as an epic the same as, say, Johan Olsson at Val di Fiemme in 2013.

It's very much like the component parts of a GT. A sprint stage win is no less valuable, but we've kind of been trained to think of those stages as transient, plentiful and interchangeable, so they tend not to live on in the memory as long.

Of course, like Northug before him, Klæbo is far more than just a sprinter, but there's also a reason why defenders and supporters of Northug will point more at those individual start races he won and long distance events to point out that he was great above and beyond being 'just' a sprinter. Even if Northug winning long distance races where everybody skis as a pack for 95% of the duration are one of the main things Northug's detractors disliked about him (regardless of whether that was his fault or not).

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Also, Joni Mäki is Bolshunov's kryptonite.

 

[Discgear]

Congrats Germany! A well deserved medal in the female sprint relay. It is however clear that the teams who raced in the first semis had a slight advantage in the finals.
Who could see Valnes outperform the stamina of Nisk and Bolsh over six tough laps? Superhappy over the podium in womens biathlon relay.