Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[Libertine Seguros]

When was the last time a team won a mixed relay with 3 penalty loops?
it helps that most of the better teams also shot terribly.

It certainly helps that Botn and Lien have such a colossal ski speed advantage over most at this level (Nilsson was the exception for Ida, but she needed all her standing reloads while Lien went 10 for 10). For any other country Botn is established on the World Cup team; Lien is only here because she got injured in the offseason and is working her way back to form and fitness. Some of those who fought into the team in the selection races pre-Christmas have been rather anonymous in January so far (Skogan in particular has had a noticeable drop off in the New Year so far).

I think some of the juniors who've been racing since season start seem to be tailing off, Germany also putting Puff and Zobel in the SMR instead means they had the more volatile Simon Kaiser who is a much less reliable shot on leg 3. For the French, Levet is less established than the others on the team and Bondoux is a very fast skier but she's both erratic and slow in the range which is obviously the main thing she needs to work on going forward.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Tweedledee and Tweedledum have finally noticed what has been obvious for the last 15 minutes, that the conditions are clearly getting faster and we might get a start number race with some very interesting implications for the pursuit startlist now. Most of the big names went early so we are going to get some surprise names up there now.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Jacquelin getting the shooting right, but now he'll probably do the worst final lap of his life.

 

[BigCoward]

Jacquelin getting the shooting right, but now he'll probably do the worst final lap of his life.

he lost 13 seconds to christiansen in about 1km so that was very prescient.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

he lost 13 seconds to christiansen in about 1km so that was very prescient.

Yeah, his skis look terrible.

 

[KZD]

I am starting to think Johannes Bø might not win the World Cup at all.

He is looking really slow, especially when compared to guys like Ponsiluoma, Samuelsson, Dale or even Giacomel and his brother today gained more points on him with his 3rd place.

 

[DenisMenchov]

I am starting to think Johannes Bø might not win the World Cup at all.

He is looking really slow, especially when compared to guys like Ponsiluoma, Samuelsson, Dale or even Giacomel and his brother today gained more points on him with his 3rd place.

But I expected him to smash it at the World Champs though.

 

[BigCoward]

He seemed to be coming into form before the Christmas break so I expect this is by design to be top shape for WC.
Either way I can't remember the last time he had 1 miss and barely made top 10. Last year it was almost still a guaranteed win.

 

[kingjr]

That was a fun sprint, there were about 10 min of complete mayhem where the TV barely managed to pick up half the contenders and I can hardly blame them for it.

 

[kingjr]

He seemed to be coming into form before the Christmas break so I expect this is by design to be top shape for WC.
Either way I can't remember the last time he had 1 miss and barely made top 10. Last year it was almost still a guaranteed win.

He was feeling a bit under the weather this week and reportedly had a headache, which is why he missed the relay.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Ida Dahl dominated the Pustertaler Ski Marathon, over 3min margin to the 2nd place after a 40km solo move.
On the men's side highspeed double poling specialist Nygaard won the sprint from a group of 21.

Today they had -17 degrees C around Landro in the morning, a proper winter race.
Back in the day they often manipulated the thermometers so that they could still race with extreme cold. I remember when the race still went through my hometown and right past our house when I was a little boy, back then they still started in Innichen.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

That was a fun sprint, there were about 10 min of complete mayhem where the TV barely managed to pick up half the contenders and I can hardly blame them for it.

The Norwegian media complained about Tandrevold not getting enough TV time yesterday so they tried to make up for it today. Even missing almost all of Strelow (the top finishing German)'s race in the process.

 

[kingjr]

The Norwegian media complained about Tandrevold not getting enough TV time yesterday so they tried to make up for it today. Even missing almost all of Strelow (the top finishing German)'s race in the process.

Yeah, and we only caught 2 seconds of Jacquelin on the shooting range. They made up for it by showing most of his final lap, by which time he was falling apart unfortunately

 

[BigCoward]

Yeah, and we only caught 2 seconds of Jacquelin on the shooting range. They made up for it by showing most of his final lap, by which time he was falling apart unfortunately

Must have taken most of the broadcast.

 

[BigCoward]

Cracking finish. Be nice for a new winner.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Great win by Vittozzi. I thought Tandrevold had it when she had the better glide towards the finish, but she she didn't have the power. The fight for the overall is getting close. Braisaz-Bouchet was lucky to get 7th with poor shooting.

Davidová did her best race of the season so far, so maybe she'll be back to her best in Novo Mesto.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

You don't usually see 5 people fight for the win on the last lap, although you never really thought Jacquelin and Strelow had much of a chance. Lægreid is now pretty much the only Norwegian without an individual win this season

 

[KZD]

Norway now has their 6 main biathletes in the top6 of the World Cup, the most dominant I've ever seen any country in this sport.

At least Jacquelin is getting better and the Italian duo, Vittozzi and Giacomel are in great shape ahead of Antholz.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Norway now has their 6 main biathletes in the top6 of the World Cup, the most dominant I've ever seen any country in this sport.

Weirdly enough, it still doesn't feel as dominant as last season, probably because more other athletes have been able to win races and the spread of podiums between the Norwegians have been more even, rather than just being JTB wins, SHL is second, somebody else who may or may not be Norwegian comes 3rd as so much of last season was.

But that's also partly why they fill the top 6, because with the points system revamped to put more points on victories and podiums relative to the rest of the field, the fact that they've all been collecting wins and podiums here and there has pulled them away from those who have largely sat in the top 10 without winning too much, like the Samuelssons and Kühns of this world.

 

[BigCoward]

At least Jacquelin is getting better and the Italian duo, Vittozzi and Giacomel are in great shape ahead of Antholz.

It's hard not to see them win 3 of the 4 relays, and all of the men's races with loads of podium lock outs.

 

[KZD]

Weirdly enough, it still doesn't feel as dominant as last season, probably because more other athletes have been able to win races and the spread of podiums between the Norwegians have been more even, rather than just being JTB wins, SHL is second, somebody else who may or may not be Norwegian comes 3rd as so much of last season was.

But that's also partly why they fill the top 6, because with the points system revamped to put more points on victories and podiums relative to the rest of the field, the fact that they've all been collecting wins and podiums here and there has pulled them away from those who have largely sat in the top 10 without winning too much, like the Samuelssons and Kühns of this world.

Yes, the fact that both JTB and Lægreid are not as good as last year makes it easier for other athletes to get a win like Doll was done already twice in sprints this season while Nawrath and Samuelsson benefitted from the Norwegians being not as strong as usual in Östersund to get their wins but like Samu said having 5 Norwegians winning races this season is just brutal especially because guys like Dale and Tarjei are stronger than last season with Strømsheim becoming yet another Norwegian capable of top results.

I also agree that the points system adopted since last season contributes to this, I actually support it because I think its fairer than the previous one but the downside is that someone like Christiansen can skip the Öberhof round and still be sixth in World Cup while not even doing great in the previous rounds. Samuelsson's covid case and the weaker French team also contributes to this outcome.

 

[YavorD]

Yes, the fact that both JTB and Lægreid are not as good as last year makes it easier for other athletes to get a win like Doll was done already twice in sprints this season while Nawrath and Samuelsson benefitted from the Norwegians being not as strong as usual in Östersund to get their wins but like Samu said having 5 Norwegians winning races this season is just brutal especially because guys like Dale and Tarjei are stronger than last season with Strømsheim becoming yet another Norwegian capable of top results.

Mind you, Soerum is still 22nd in the WC standings while he only started 1 race after Hochfilzen. How of their IBU cup team could probably be top 30 in WC standings as well.

Meanwhile Aleksander Andersen retired and I'm not sure what happens with Syvert Bakken after his heart issues

 

[BigCoward]

Mind you, Soerum is still 22nd in the WC standings while he only started 1 race after Hochfilzen. How of their IBU cup team could probably be top 30 in WC standings as well.

If you are good enough for top 30 you should be allowed to race regardless of how you are ranked in your country.
Same for Jamaican and American sprinters, Kenyan distance runners etc in Olympics. The Olympic moto isn't 'inclusion, diversity, fairness'.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

If you are good enough for top 30 you should be allowed to race regardless of how you are ranked in your country.
Same for Jamaican and American sprinters, Kenyan distance runners etc in Olympics. The Olympic moto isn't 'inclusion, diversity, fairness'.

Do you also want to see the best countries have multiple teams competing at the FIFA World Cup?

 

[BigCoward]

Do you also want to see the best countries have multiple teams competing at the FIFA World Cup?

No. Because team sports are just that 'which country has the best team'.
Also I don't think it would matter, france minus their best 23 are no real threat, whereas as has been shown this year, multiple Norwegians are good enough to win races.
American golfers aren't restricted to 4 or 5 per tournament. It should be the best of the best.