Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[Libertine Seguros]

Preuß is just fated. Two 2nd places with a COMBINED margin of defeat of 0,4s. She will probably now get sick (this is one thing that she is the undisputed best in biathlon at) and never have this form again.

And so it is written, and so it shall come to pass.

Anyway, Hochfilzen kind of shows that we will be resuming normal service soon; the Norwegians starting to cluster back up toward the front as the usual suspects start to get back into some form, the Germans hover around the top 10 but no longer as strong as they were (anybody who realistically expected Nawrath to stay at the head of the field was probably wishful thinking, he is back to being the Philipp Nawrath we have come to know this week, following up a great couple of races with a terrible one and vice versa, and his brief sojourn in the yellow bib will be a bit like Carl Johan Bergman's early season stint with it a few years ago), and the Norwegian overspill dominating at the IBU Cup level means those races are going to be predictable as well - Johann-Olav Botn won his third straight race at the level, this time with 8/10 so his only problem is the roadblock especially as the 7th starter bonus from winning the IBU Cup will go away shortly too, making competition for spots even tougher.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

LS correctly predicted that Preuß would get sick, so Jeanmonnot is in a pretty good position to take over the lead.

I didn't need a crystal ball for that one. Predicting Franziska Preuß to get sick as soon as she has good form is like predicting Ilnur Zakarin to lose time on a technical descent or Domenico Pozzovivo to lose a two-up sprint.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I didn't need a crystal ball for that one. Predicting Franziska Preuß to get sick as soon as she has good form is like predicting Ilnur Zakarin to lose time on a technical descent or Domenico Pozzovivo to lose a two-up sprint.

Yeah, it was probably always going to happen sooner rather than later, but at least it's not ahead of the German races in January, although with her luck it might happen then as well.

Braisaz-Bouchet with her best performance so far following her return, but it won't be enough to win. It looks like Tandrevold has it, cause I doubt Elvira Öberg can't find 10 seconds in the final km.

She did close down half of it though, so she's in a good position ahead of the pursuit.

 

[search]

surprisingly good race from Häcki today, just missing out on the podium

 

[KZD]

surprisingly good race from Häcki today, just missing out on the podium

I think the fact that Lenzerheide is the next World Cup venue helps to explain her excellent result today.

Knotten beating Simon with one extra miss is something that I would never expected to see before this season but apart from Braisaz the French don't seem to be in great shape, even worse in the men's side.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Häcki is pretty quick and has a good record in Östersund historically, this year less so and as KZD says, probably the introduction to the World Cup for Lenzerheide is a major factor in that.

Things seeming to return to 'normal' a bit more, only two people in the top 10 ski times that wouldn't have been easily predictable before the season started - Tomingas and Knotten, the latter of which has had a huge leap forward reminiscent of that which Olsbu had, only at an even later point in her career (Olsbu was shortly before turning 26, Knotten is 28) and having spent a while as a shooting-first athlete you hide on leg 1 of the relay, suddenly setting top 5 ski times and skiing on par with Justine Braisaz is wild. And at least with Arnekleiv you can say, hey, this is the first summer she'll have trained with the A-team and it's the same age as Eckhoff made her jump up in ski speed, but she came crashing to earth today with what is still a decent ski time, but a disappointing performance in the range. The German women were somewhat weak certainly compared to last week - but how much of that was that last week's conditions they just got the skis right for (and a couple shot unsustainably high percentages) and how much of that is to do with illness in the camp (Weidel missed Östersund ill, Preuß is out now, and we learned that Kebinger's underperformance at Östersund was because she had Covid at the time and didn't realise) will shake out in the wash. Their young women on the IBU Cup are having a ball though, while Grotian is doing a decent job of adapting - we have to remember she's still a year one junior here, so this is equivalent to the start of 2012-13 for Dahlmeier and the start of 2013-14 for Preuß; Preuß' early season results there match up fairly well to what Selina is doing, while Dahlmeier of course wasn't on the World Cup until the end of that season, but when she got there she was an instant hit (although then took her time to replicate this in 2013-14).

 

[BigCoward]

Russia are back in the Olympics as neutrals. I assume that will carry through to the winter games. Can't tell if they could put a relay team up. But still it improves the depth.

 

[search]

Russia are back in the Olympics as neutrals. I assume that will carry through to the winter games. Can't tell if they could put a relay team up. But still it improves the depth.

it's still not allowed to be associated to the the military (like Chervotkin, for example), or to have endorsed the war (like Bolshunov, among others). So by the current rules, for many nothing would change.

No idea how those military contracts exactly work though, or what happens if someone "changes his mind".

 

[Libertine Seguros]

it's still not allowed to be associated to the the military (like Chervotkin, for example), or to have endorsed the war (like Bolshunov, among others). So by the current rules, for many nothing would change.

No idea how those military contracts exactly work though, or what happens if someone "changes his mind".

I think this rules out the entirety of the biathletes. The only Russian biathlete I know to have expressly opposed the war was Svetlana Mironova and she's got a military association. She also has entered maybe one or two races since the war began in the first place.

 

[BullsFan22]

it's still not allowed to be associated to the the military (like Chervotkin, for example), or to have endorsed the war (like Bolshunov, among others). So by the current rules, for many nothing would change.

No idea how those military contracts exactly work though, or what happens if someone "changes his mind".

Has Bolshunov stated that he endorses the war?

Anyway, I think many Russians will not agree to these discriminatory ‘terms,’ whether they’re part of the military or not. Plus, a lot can change in two years.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Has Bolshunov stated that he endorses the war?

Anyway, I think many Russians will not agree to these discriminatory ‘terms,’ whether they’re part of the military or not. Plus, a lot can change in two years.

Bolshunov appeared with Putin at one of the pro-war rallies.

FWIW tho he was the only person at it who didn't wear the Z.

 

[BullsFan22]

Bolshunov appeared with Putin at one of the pro-war rallies.

FWIW tho he was the only person at it who didn't wear the Z.

I am aware of that, but that doesn’t mean he supports any wars

 

[search]

"Athletes who actively support the war will not be eligible to be entered or to compete" is what the IOC statement said, which I summarized as "endorsed".

So literally speaking, Bolshunov may not have endorsed it (or I am not aware of any statement, at least), but turning up on stage at a pro-war rally probably fits the "actively support" description nonetheless.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Bolshunov appeared with Putin at one of the pro-war rallies.

FWIW tho he was the only person at it who didn't wear the Z.

And 3-4 weeks ater he wasn't there when all the other medal winning Skiers got an award at the Cremlin, the official story was that he didn't have time to get tested for Covid before...

Not to get too political, but the guy also comes from a small village only around 4kms away from the border and a few weeks ago his parent's farm almost got hit by artillery fire, but they refuse to leave their farm.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I am aware of that, but that doesn’t mean he supports any wars

Sure but it's probably going to make it difficult for him to get cleared to compete.

As I say, the only one I know has actively opposed the war is Mironova.

 

[dobrien]

Bolshunov appeared with Putin at one of the pro-war rallies.

FWIW tho he was the only person at it who didn't wear the Z.

As I recall wasn't the feeling that Bolshunov was there under duress? He certainly did not appear very happy..

I believe Veronika Stepanova was vocal in her support of the war and was harshly criticized by Valbe.

 

[BullsFan22]

Stepanova talks/writes too much. Some say that it isn’t her that’s in charge of her social media, but whatever the case may be, she needs to calm down, whatever her opinions are.

 

[roundabout]

As I recall wasn't the feeling that Bolshunov was there under duress? He certainly did not appear very happy..

I believe Veronika Stepanova was vocal in her support of the war and was harshly criticized by Valbe.

Bolshunov specifically missed a national level race to appear at the rally (should have missed 2, but rules were broken specifically for him so that he could race)

17.03.2022 Bolshunov did the sprint, finished 3rd
18.03.2022 was an interval race that set the starting order for the pursuit the next day, but Bolshunov went to Moscow for the rally
19.03.2022 back to do the pursuit race

 

[BullsFan22]

Bolshunov specifically missed a national level race to appear at the rally (should have missed 2, but rules were broken specifically for him so that he could race)

17.03.2022 Bolshunov did the sprint, finished 3rd
18.03.2022 was an interval race that set the starting order for the pursuit the next day, but Bolshunov went to Moscow for the rally
19.03.2022 back to do the pursuit race

Maybe he was pressured into going there. My opinion is that if that is what is going to keep Bolshunov and other Russian skiers from competing at the Olympics and beyond, then the idea of the Olympics and bringing people together has long disappeared.

Specific to FIS, they lost a huge chunk of their viewership (just look at their season reports this spring) and the Norwegian men have no real, consistent competition. Even on the women’s side, Nepryaeva couldn’t defend her overall WC title and TDS victory last season. Plus the Russians won both of the relays in Beijing and have a ton of up and coming young talent.

I am not going to go into the conflict, as obviously isn’t a political forum, but this goes back years, not just Feb 2022 and it’s not black and white, at all. I’ve followed it for years.

That’s all I am gonna say on that.

 

[dobrien]

Swedish women = Norwegian men... Dahlqvist just 8th best on her team! At least she'll get into the quarterfinals this time.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Rare mythical Iivo Niskanen sprint appearance.

Nearly 300 entrants on the IBU Junior Cup startlist in Pokljuka today, and that's without at least 20 high calibre youths and juniors already on the World or IBU Cup.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Austrian Benji Moser ahead of Anger and Pellegrino. Yeah, both of them underperformed, but still wild. The new waxing team seems to work well for Austria.

 

[Rob5091]

Emil Persson who won Vasaloppet this year, had the genius idea of having a catheter (to be exact an uridome) so he did not have to stop to pee.
(original article in Swedish at
https://www.expressen.se/sport/langdskidor/bianca-ingrosso-reagerar-pa-emil-perssons-avslojande-/ )

Let's see if this is an idea that catches on elsewhere.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The French are just about back.

Dear God, do we need them to be. Jesus wept.

 

[BigCoward]

At least they weren't 5-7th as well I suppose.