python said:
another beautiful day packed with xc skiing…
several interesting happenings. ..I first thought of using the word ‘unexpected’ happenings but on the second thought figured it was not all that unpredictable.
- that bjoergen won is a no brainer, but randall only 5th in a skating sprint
well, unlike marit, she is a human.§§§
- before the final heat, i would bet on brandsdal before hattestad. the 2 purposely colluded to make me wrong §§§ both are forgiven... one thing i would definitely not guess before the toblach sprints that northug would be dead last in a quarter final heat ! wtf. either he is bluffing again, or he really is tired from yesterday. whatever the reason, i can not understand why would he even consider to be on a starting line before the olympics in which he plans 5-6 starts
- some interesting observations from the junior worlds…really huge gaps in the abilities of front runners vs. also-rans. top boys and girls from norway, sweden and russia stand out in almost every element. during one of the camera shots of the boys 10 k today, i could not help but notice almost a perfect fluidity of one of the russian boys shown from the rear just past a control point…he happened to be a winner (can’t recall his name exactly but when i tried to pronounce it gave me a mouth pain)
@torebear
you are right about harvey skiing behind legkov for a while but harvey lead him to the finish when legkov could easily lose 2.5 seconds w/o seeing Harvey’s back in front. so, they likely helped each other involuntarily. Also, cologna sat behind sundby and even admitted it was a huge help. part of racing. Aanyway, the latest news is that lego after triumphantly winning yesterday is….
out of the Olympic 15k interval. said his choice. it is rather unexpected, but, if true, would indicate he is finally becoming smart(er).
….about legkov’s style…forgive me the association, but i call it 'orangutang on skis'. it is true that his forward leaning classic style, while not pretty, works for him due to his upper body strength. but it is still inefficient from the point of proper striding and loading in most snow conditions. in this regard, i have a curious observation - that his best classic performances seem to be on no-wax (‘zero’) skis. recall the toblach 5k interval he won 2 years ago, i believe (almost sure) he was also on ‘zeros’. what does that mean? perhaps, his awesome power is more pronounced when his major competitors are on more or less the same skis and only a glide wax is part of the equation ? that would be similar to a skating situation which we all know is his real strength.
About vyleg- kriu vs. jap-vyleg. i hear you. there is probably another reason. kriu is their national hero, a golden boy with second-to-none record in the very classic sprints. The whole nation will simply not understand if he was excluded, as the Norwegians would not accept northug not being the anchor in a team relay they almost always win with him
I think Randall just used the wrong tactic. She didn't want to lead on the downhill, but she was leading at the top so she slowed down to get someone in front of her. That meant she lost speed and she was eventually shut out from those coming from behind.
I actually think it's a good result for her, since it gives her less pressure from an audience at home that likely wont know much about the sport.
Same for Musgrave who failed to qualify.
On the Bransdal/Hattestad contest, the question is who had this race as a goal. Hattestad was told after NM that he was a reserve, so doing well in this sprint, was the only way to get into the Sochi sprint.
The coaches have a problem selecting now. After NM Bransdal, Glørsen and Krogh were said to have already been selected according to the media, and Northug had to compete with Hattestad for the spot. In reality I think they had already selected Northug. He won on the course last year, so he might be called a favorite. Not selecting Northug would not be very popular, since most people are aware of what Northug can do.
About Northugs shape. It's pretty normal to be very unpredictable in the first few days after altitude camp. Also Northug said it made him seig(don't know how to translate this) for a few days after come down from altitude. He said this was easier to camouflage in a long distance race, but in a sprint there was no hiding it.
I think Krogh had this, and had a real off day since he failed to qualify. Also, I haven't heard anything, but I suspect this might also be why Hellner failed to qualify.
On selecting the Nor sprint team I'm unsure what is smart. I suspect the others are focused both mentally and physically for next week, and I think one of the reasons for leaving out Hattestad is that they are unsure if he can go through the course in sochi 4 times.
I didn't really watch the juniors races in individual, since I really didn't expect to learn that much about the athletes skills, since you only get to see them a short time. And there was so much else going on, so I kinda let that one slide.
Pronouncing "Roman" gave you problems? Really Python, I think you should go to the dentist.
Good point about the ending, I didn't think about that. It could also be that Harvey did a lot of work in the downhill sections. Legkov is one of those skiers you don't want to ski too close to to while going downhill, so it's a sensible precaution as well.
Interesting choice by Legkov(if it was his choice that is...). It might be a good idea to rest up for the Relay two days later, where the Russians will likely need him to go full gas to have a chance.also the Russians have a lot of good skiers available for that race.
About Legkov's style, I think 'orangutang on skis' is the perfect way to describe his style!
About the conditions, he certainly needs a good grip for his poles. I don't have much of an idea if your theory is correct, since there would be so many variables to account for. I think for example the Toblach, 5k was the day after the sprint, or second day after the sprint, so Legkov would be well rested, while his main competitors were not. I also remember the Russians having very good skis while the Norwegians did not have so good skis. It's difficult to asses whether it's the no-wax, since we can only compare his performance to the other starters usual performances. And we don't know the situation for them that day.
It might take a little studying of him to get any Idea if it's true or not. I really haven't studied Legkov so closely, since the Orangutang on skis is more likely to make me want to look away, than studying his style.
Good point about the politics. Though the Norwegians not selecting Northug is very theoretical. It hasn't happened, and I think he would tell the coaches if he should not compete. Though there might be some discussion about the sprint selection. The coaches are being criticized for naming the sprinters so early.
There was also discussion on Jacobsen being given a spot on the skiathlon. I think thats all forgotten now, since she didn't really impress this weekend.
Also, I don't think it's a bad idea to select Kiri. Lets say Jap and Vyleg go up against Rønning and Northug. I don't see either of the Russians being able to drop either of these to before the finish, and Vyleg vs. Northug, seems like a very unfavorable matchup for the Russians.
With Kiri, Northug might need to drop him, but if he can't Kiri would be the favorite.
Anyway the Junior relays were very interesting. If you haven't watched them, try to find a torrent or something.
It certainly gave me a clearer understanding, of whether Augdal could have beaten Chervotkin regardless of the delay in the skiathlon.
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