Kern poorly positioned in the last 2/3 of her heat; she was very close to getting in and had the motor, just did not read that course well.
If I was just watching a silhouette of Diggins I would not know it was her; her classic technique has completely transformed.
- Feb 20, 2010
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Eurosport read this as "desperately unlucky, missing out by the narrowest of margins", when it was clear she was just making herself do way too much work by where she had placed herself and even if she had scraped through she'd have paid for that in the semi.
Apparently Schoonmaker didn't get the memo! Looking very strong; you'd think he'd be paying for that but he didn't look pressed at all there.
- Apr 10, 2019
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- Feb 20, 2010
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I was thinking that it looks like the entire team were allowing Ogden to dictate strategy, but it is clearly a course where you can succeed from that. Diggins at least has enough of an engine to do that in back to back rounds and still be competitive but some of the less established skiers are just gonna blow themselves up like that.
Edit: and then Diggins dies on the last uphill despite her vastly improved technique, while Brennan with her still-scruffier-than-Kowalczyk-downhill technique somehow still is there. Skistad's glide downhill made the difference at the end for her getting up to 2nd, but Ribom is just imperious at the moment in this format.
You can see that it was a bit more of a challenging course though, because the Swedes at the ehead are the more versatile ones like Ribom and Svahn who are also pretty good in a lot of 10ks, at least mass start ones.
- Apr 10, 2019
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- Apr 10, 2019
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Klaebo once again getting a gap by clearly skating out of that hairpin, but he seems to be immun to get any warnings or yellow cards for it...
- Feb 21, 2019
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A good day for both Norwegian Johannes', both Bø and Klæbo back to the wins.
I don't even remember the last time Tarjei led the World Cup.
The Americans did great today has to be said, what surprises me in Schoonmaker and Ogden is that the classic sprint seems to be their best race.
I don't even remember the last time Tarjei led the World Cup.
The Americans did great today has to be said, what surprises me in Schoonmaker and Ogden is that the classic sprint seems to be their best race.
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- Feb 20, 2010
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Put Ben Ogden on leg 1 of the relay!
It probably doesn't make them any closer to challenging for the win, but his book of tactics being a sheet of paper with "FULL GAS" written on it in sharpie will make the race a bit more entertaining than everybody trotting around in unison like they did last week...
- Aug 31, 2019
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Ogden always been better in classic. Schoonmaker has previosuly been pretty 50/50 in skating and classics, getting to the semies regularly in both. Will be interesting to see if he can bring todays level to the upcoming skating sprints.
In general I think the level is slightly higher in skating sprints. Especially because of Pellegrino and Chanavat, but also the Swiss guys are much more competitive in skating.
- Aug 31, 2019
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Fail on my part, fine time for him to learn a second tacticOgden was on the first leg last week
Norway really should rest some of their big names
Keep it interesting
Rest up
Prepare lesser know athletes for when they might need them.
Soerum, Stroemsheim, Dale, Christiansen is still pretty strong.
Keep it interesting
Rest up
Prepare lesser know athletes for when they might need them.
Soerum, Stroemsheim, Dale, Christiansen is still pretty strong.
- Apr 10, 2019
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I really dislike these short loops; I know organizers are limited but it's such a lottery during the race. Some guys get great drafts, others get screwed.
- Apr 10, 2019
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Yeah, the 2 Norwegian groups Krüger-Amundsen and Toenseth-Andersen are clearly ahead of the rest.
She is definitely vastly improved, but she had nowhere to go but up compared to last year! A solid result still, especially when you look at the excellent classic skiers who didn't make it to the final. Personally I really liked that course yesterday; the skiers really had to work for that. Ribom just flying; also really happy to see Svahn establishing her comeback. That was a long hard road for her.
Wondering if the people who made the final yesterday might pay for it a bit today? I'm not a betting man but if I was I'm picking Ebba today to deliver a little "right back at you" to Jessie. She may be smarting from last week and is a ferocious competitor (one of my favorites) and perhaps will have an advantage not having advanced past the quarterfinal.
- Feb 20, 2010
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A good biathlon stadium has to have obstacles close enough to the range to affect the shooting, There are only a few venues that suit the Single Mixed Relay which uses the same kind of length course as the sprint; I think Östersund is kind of middle of the road for that. The actual ski course is very good, but the range configuration means there's quite a bit of downtime approaching the range allowing athletes to relax a bit. On longer ski loops that's not a problem as fatigue is greater, but in the 1,5km loop it's a bit too long because the last part of the course being a descent and then flat means there's a lot of recovery time, so I prefer a course like Oberhof or Antholz where they climb up into the range for the Single Mixed as it varies the shooting performance more.
However, the XC sprint negates that problem because they have to sprint into the stadium, rather than use that time for recovery, so it works pretty well as those shorter climbs that break up the drop into the stadium from the last time check make for good rhythm-breakers and platforms to attack in the XC.
Edit: Patrick now going on about how Nové Město is the best venue because they're "less partisan than other venues and tend to support everybody". This being the venue where their own star athlete, Gabriela Soukalová, had to admonish the fans and apologise to Laura Dahlmeier for cheering her misses and booing her hits, saying that "the crowd are just fans of Czechs winning, and still have a lot to learn about biathlon".
I would hate to go into the final shoot knowing I could go to the penalty loop and still win. That is some f'ed up pressure.
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