Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[BullsFan22]

Anne Kjersti Kalvå, World Cup race winner. Who would have uttered those words back in November…

 

[BigCoward]

That was a decent end to the season. But shows why their needs to be something done to ensure everyone gets similar skis/waxing. That whole gap was built on better gliding.

 

[dobrien]

That was a decent end to the season. But shows why their needs to be something done to ensure everyone gets similar skis/waxing. That whole gap was built on better gliding.

Completely agree with this. The sport is already sliding toward irrelevance (pun may or may not be intended) and then you have days like this which are so ridiculous as to make the physical aspect of the racing a joke. Train 1000 hours a year only to come up against a team willing to spend the GDP of a small country to make boards slide fast. Long past time for a change.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Yep, definitely a race won on ski prep but to be fair, Kalvaa was clearly flying on every downhill and others needed to take that into account. Congratulations to Kerttu Niskanen for, in effect, winning the real skiing crystal globe.

Swirbul retiring means the US need to find a new "least worst" athlete to take a classic leg in the relay, on today's evidence McCabe performing on similar level to Brennan and Diggins makes her the likely choice, but obviously a 20k and a 7,5 or 5k relay leg are different beasts.

 

[KZD]

Anne Kjersti Kalvå, World Cup race winner. Who would have uttered those words back in November…

Well, it was more expected than Tiril Weng winning the World Cup overall as in the last seasons she was one of the best classic distance skiers in the Norwegian squad but was unlucky with covid and had to miss the Olympics.

Sundling getting second today is really impressive. Without World Championships and Olympics next season I wouldn't be surprised if she tries to go for the overall together with Andersson and Karlsson. Anyway, if the Russians are allowed to compete next season, Nepryaeva will be tough to beat.

 

[Norbea]

Tiril Weng winning the World Cup shows that this World Cup was a joke, she is not one of the best sprinters and is far from being one of the best distance skiers but because of the ridiculous points system and 13 sprint races she ends up winning it.

Tiril has done the most important thing if you are to compete for the globe. Show up at every race and be as consistently good as possible. If the rest of the field can't cope with the race program, it is their loss.

But I agree there are too many sprints

 

[dobrien]

Yep, definitely a race won on ski prep but to be fair, Kalvaa was clearly flying on every downhill and others needed to take that into account. Congratulations to Kerttu Niskanen for, in effect, winning the real skiing crystal globe.

Swirbul retiring means the US need to find a new "least worst" athlete to take a classic leg in the relay, on today's evidence McCabe performing on similar level to Brennan and Diggins makes her the likely choice, but obviously a 20k and a 7,5 or 5k relay leg are different beasts.

Zero shock at Swirbul retiring; she made no secret of her dislike of the grind of the WC circuit. Her happy place is ski mountaineering in Alaska, not living out of a suitcase in Europe; no shame in that, it's definitely not for everyone. Unfortunately the US seems like it's always going to have issues with team depth; it's such a cult sport and getting truly world class athletes into the pipeline is a lottery, and right now the level of domestic skiing in the US seems very low. The sad fact is in a country of 330 million people there are probably a lot of Diggins level athletes out there, but unlike in Norway that talent will never be identified, much less nurtured.

Going to be very interesting to see who else pulls the plug on the womens side after this season; I won't be shocked to see some pretty high profile people calling it a day. I have to believe some were hanging in there mainly for a post-Johaug era shot at a worlds medal and with the next chance 2 years away that might seem like an eternity to some.

Add to that the fact that Ebba and Frida are only going to get stronger, the inevitable emergence of some new young guns, and the prospect of winning medals isn't looking any easier.

Prediction: at least one or more of Parma/Niskanen/Brennan/Stadlober call it quits.

 

[BigCoward]

Klaebo sick of you all slagging him off so he's going rogue.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Niskanen with a masterclass in how to minimise your results at the end there.

 

[dobrien]

Klaebo sick of you all slagging him off so he's going rogue.

That finish was as fun as a root canal.

 

[titan31]

Not often I see someone but the wall like Lapalus did towards the end there. Just went to a complete stop on the climb there and bent over.

 

[KZD]

Tiril has done the most important thing if you are to compete for the globe. Show up at every race and be as consistently good as possible. If the rest of the field can't cope with the race program, it is their loss.

But I agree there are too many sprints

Sure she took advantage of the points system and of her versatility and benefitted from the someone like Nepryaeva not being allowed to race.

Klæbo with 20 wins this season, the most victorious season for a man in the World Cup and equalling Johaug in 2019/2020. Still, given that he didn't won an individual distance gold medal in the World Championships this season can't be a full success for him.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Klaebo sick of you all slagging him off so he's going rogue.

Most impressive performance by him in a distance race since Val di Fiemme last year.

Poromaa happy about finoshing 3rd and being able to hold hands with Klaebo on the podium...

Anger wanted to race this one to potentially finish top 10 in the overall world cup, but the coaches didn't allow him to start. You only have 3 Swedish guys who'd be clearly ahead of him on paper and it would have been a great learning experience. We're at the point that Calle is the voice of reason on the Swedish men's team...

 

[BigCoward]

Still, given that he didn't won an individual distance gold medal in the World Championships this season can't be a full success for him.

I think he would have take 20 wins and 3 golds if you offered it at the start of the season.

Riiber about to walk to another victory in all likelihood. Lamparter and Scmidt finishing the season badly, tor some reason they have really underperformed on this hill.

 

[Silhouette]

Klæbo with 20 wins this season, the most victorious season for a man in the World Cup and equalling Johaug in 2019/2020. Still, given that he didn't won an individual distance gold medal in the World Championships this season can't be a full success for him.

Klæbo somehow managed to get 20 wins and still looked a bit off for large parts of the seasons. He lost sprint finishes and didn't look as dominant as before, and I don't think he got the results in distance races that he wanted. I wonder if he's happy with the results of his increased focus on altitude training.

 

[KZD]

Klæbo somehow managed to get 20 wins and still looked a bit off for large parts of the seasons. He lost sprint finishes and didn't look as dominant as before, and I don't think he got the results in distance races that he wanted. I wonder if he's happy with the results of his increased focus on altitude training.

To be honest I think he was fine overall. He was lucky that the Russians were not around and that Niskanen was not in good shape until February but still 9 distance wins plus the 10 sprint wins and the TDS is impressive . I just don't think that his season was totally successful for him because in the World Championships he missed once again on the distance races, and this time without the Russians so he could have wasted a unique opportunity, even though two distance silver medals was still his best result ever.

He might get lucky again though if FIS decreases the length of the races to 10k and 20k in the World Championships too and I also expect easier courses for Trondheim 2025 and Val di Fiemme 2026

@BigCoward I am pretty sure, Klæbo would have swaped 5 or even 10 of those 20 World Cup wins for a 50k goal medal and the 3 gold medals were totally expected.

 

[OJRvE]

Poromaa happy about finoshing 3rd and being able to hold hands with Klaebo on the podium...

Poromaa even put Klaebos IG post with 3 red hearts on Instastories. Maybe he and Karlsson broke up because he was having an affair

 

[Mayomaniac]

Poromaa even put Klaebos IG post with 3 red hearts on Instastories. Maybe he and Karlsson broke up because he was having an affair

Ok, that's actually a bit weird. Honestly, It wouldn't even surprise me that much. Imagine if the Scandinavian yellow press starts running with that story...

 

[BullsFan22]

It’s the fault of the ski federations in agreeing with the calendar. It’s littered with mass starts and sprints. Also having two 50kms within a week is mind boggling. People can criticize FIS, but the calendar is made every May and finalized later on, and the ski federations give the ok, as they are involved. I don’t see any major changes in the near future.

 

[BigCoward]

I always feel sad after the final race. The gap between seasons is too long (with obvious justification).

 

[Mayomaniac]

So after Calle cried once again about having bad skis ("the worst I ever had") Myhlbäck is stepping back as the head of the Swedish waxing team. I can't blame him, when their athletes underperform they always blame the waxing team in public. His suggestion that Calle just picked the wrong skis, because Poromaa had good ones seems to be correct, because according to Calle himself he had great grip, but no glide, while Svensson had no grip.

In other news, Hailey Swirbul ending her career at the age of 24 came a bit out of the blue.

 

[dobrien]

So after Calle cried once again about having bad skis ("the worst I ever had") Myhlbäck is stepping back as the head of the Swedish waxing team. I can't blame him, when their athletes underperform they always blame the waxing team in public. His suggestion that Calle just picked the wrong skis, because Poromaa had good ones seems to be correct, because according to Calle himself he had great grip, but no glide, while Svensson had no grip.

In other news, Hailey Swirbul ending her career at the age of 24 came a bit out of the blue.

As an American fan I can say Swirbul's retirement was no surprise at all. Her Instagram account made no secret of the fact she frankly hated the pressure and grind of the World Cup, and also just didn't like being away from home so much. The US coaches gave her permission to skip periods 1 and 2 just to keep her in the game for the WC relay, but long term that was never going to be a solution. I dont know her personally but am close to someone who does and was told this had been brewing for the last couple of seasons.
She will continue racing things like the American Birkebeiner, just had zero interest in continuing at the highest level.

She's actually a really great ski mountaineer and her happy place was always playing in the mountains of Alaska. A big loss for the team, and not just as a skier. By all accounts a great person and teammate who will be missed on the squad.

 

[Mayomaniac]

As an American fan I can say Swirbul's retirement was no surprise at all. Her Instagram account made no secret of the fact she frankly hated the pressure and grind of the World Cup, and also just didn't like being away from home so much. The US coaches gave her permission to skip periods 1 and 2 just to keep her in the game for the WC relay, but long term that was never going to be a solution. I dont know her personally but am close to someone who does and was told this had been brewing for the last couple of seasons.
She will continue racing things like the American Birkebeiner, just had zero interest in continuing at the highest level.

She's actually a really great ski mountaineer and her happy place was always playing in the mountains of Alaska. A big loss for the team, and not just as a skier. By all accounts a great person and teammate who will be missed on the squad.

Ski Mountaineering is really taking over in the Alpes and the Pyrenees, once they get better TV coverage and more media exposure the talent pool for XC skiing will be even smaller around here...

 

[Silhouette]

Skistad's positioning and decending is second to no other woman, not to mention her absurd topspeed.

She easily beat the others in the team sprint in the national championships today. Fun fact, her last name literally translates to polehill skiplace.

 

[Mayomaniac]

She easily beat the others in the team sprint in the national championships today. Fun fact, her last name literally translates to polehill skiplace.

Yeah, it has almost the same meaning in German?

Why was there only a 5km classic individual start for the Women at the Norwegian NC, lack of snow?
The snow situation at the Italian one in Toblach is terrible, weather wise we're one month ahead compared to usual. They had to shorten some races, change all the races to skating races and use shorter laps. On the "bright" side both the women's and the men's mass start races got turned into individual start races, 20km for the women, 30km for the men.