Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[BullsFan22]

Re:

Forzzaaa polto-ustiugov

Norway looks mighty again thoigh...

It will be a sad day for nordic skiing if the Norwegians sweep both the women's and men's podium tomorrow at the end of the TDS.

 

[infeXio]

What happened to Cologna? Looked weird

 

[Norbea]

Re:

What happened to Cologna? Looked weird

Leg cramps?

Should be an interesting fight for 2nd place tomorrow between Poltoranin, Ustyogov, Northug, Krogh and Tønseth.

The Machine in a league of his own.

 

[BullsFan22]

Re: Re:

What happened to Cologna? Looked weird

Leg cramps?

Should be an interesting fight for 2nd place tomorrow between Poltoranin, Ustyogov, Northug, Krogh and Tønseth.

The Machine in a league of his own.

Northug, played a cunning game today, as usual. He went after the first bonus second sprints, got them, then sat back and kept an eye on Ustiugov and maintained enough of a gap between himself, Ustiugov, Krogh and everyone else. Not sure what sort of shape everyone is gonna be in today, but Poltoranin and Tonseth are better classic skiers, and Poltoranin hasn't traditionally done well on the Alpe Cermis, so I don't think he'll play a major role. Tonseth will stick in, but not sure how long, which leaves it to Ustiugov, Krogh and Northug. Northug has the most experience, and I am sure he'll wait for the others to catch him, catch the ride and see what happens. I think, if they are not exhausted, Krogh and Ustiugov are my tips to get on final podium.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

ARGH, Laura, what have you done?

Great, now *** Soukalová wins (no way she misses from the lead now) and we get the usual false modesty, the usual fawning, sycophantic commentary, the camera ignores everything else in the world, and the cycle continues.

Last season was so much better, when the much more likable Vitková was the best Czech.

Come on Laura!!! Komm komm komm komm komm komm!!!

JAAAAAAAA!!!

It looks like Soukalová had the better glide on her skis as she opened up a bit of a gap on the descent, but Dahlmeier was willing to take more risks in the corners as that's where she got back on. Surprised Soukalová didn't contest the sprint.

 

[python]

http://medias2.fis-ski.com/pdf/2016/CC/2186/2016CC2186TDS.pdf

before the last hill, the 2nd through 6th overall are within 25 seconds...
northug
poltoranin
ustiougov
krogh
toenseth

i would expect that krogh should easily make his 5 second deficit to ustiugov way before the climb starts. toenseth will join the 4 too (probably on the 1st uphill.) my money for the podium is on krogh and toenseth...northug and ustiugov will fight a personal battle i would give to ustiugov by several seconds on the last very shallow slope.
this means the top 6 are more or less defined b/c roethe is too far down even though he's the best pure climber of the top 7.

 

[Bavarianrider]

The hell happened to Cologna

 

[Singer01]

if eckhoff ever sorts out her shooting she will be immense.

 

[BullsFan22]

Re:

http://medias2.fis-ski.com/pdf/2016/CC/2186/2016CC2186TDS.pdf

before the last hill, the 2nd through 6th overall are within 25 seconds...
northug
poltoranin
ustiougov
krogh
toenseth

i would expect that krogh should easily make his 5 second deficit to ustiugov way before the climb starts. toenseth will join the 4 too (probably on the 1st uphill.) my money for the podium is on krogh and toenseth...northug and ustiugov will fight a personal battle i would give to ustiugov by several seconds on the last very shallow slope.
this means the top 6 are more or less defined b/c roethe is too far down even though he's the best pure climber of the top 7.

It's gonna be tactical. Even Toenseth, with a 25 second gap, will catch up relatively quickly. They'll play mind games, and I suspect that someone will attack halfway up the hill, when the hill is at its steepest. I hope Ustiugov hangs on and gets a podium. For the sake of nordic skiing. Nobody wants to see a 1-4 Norwegian sweep. Unless you are Norwegian.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

if eckhoff ever sorts out her shooting she will be immense.

She always seems to do her best racing from deep in the field though, even down to her relay legs like Hochfilzen last season. A bit like Simon Fourcade (although he does it by shooting, she obviously doesn't), who seems to regularly be bad at sprints, then make huge gains in the pursuit when there aren't expectations on him.

 

[BullsFan22]

Re: Re:

if eckhoff ever sorts out her shooting she will be immense.

She always seems to do her best racing from deep in the field though, even down to her relay legs like Hochfilzen last season. A bit like Simon Fourcade (although he does it by shooting, she obviously doesn't), who seems to regularly be bad at sprints, then make huge gains in the pursuit when there aren't expectations on him.

This.

 

[meat puppet]

As I (plus Everyone and their aunt) predicted last spring, Dahlmeier is a star, perhaps even the star. The ruthlessness and grace in sticking it to soukalova in the technical descent after outskiing her by about 15sec was great entertainment.

 

[Kokoso]

Re:

ARGH, Laura, what have you done?

Great, now **** Soukalová wins (no way she misses from the lead now) and we get the usual false modesty, the usual fawning, sycophantic commentary, the camera ignores everything else in the world, and the cycle continues.

Last season was so much better, when the much more likable Vitková was the best Czech.

Come on Laura!!! Komm komm komm komm komm komm!!!

JAAAAAAAA!!!

It looks like Soukalová had the better glide on her skis as she opened up a bit of a gap on the descent, but Dahlmeier was willing to take more risks in the corners as that's where she got back on. Surprised Soukalová didn't contest the sprint.

You might be mistaking forcing/pretending with histrionic features, where the person isn't acting, it's him/her actually. There si no way tp distinguish it without actually knowing the person. I don't think it would matter to you, anyway. Often people hate certain people because of themselves. Anyway, don't blame Soukalova for camera work. And check that Khanty press conference, looks like your hate might make you remember that incorrectly

Edit: Soukalova didn't have better glide (or worse). She's usually faster than others downhill because of her weight.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re: Re:

You might be mistaking forcing/pretending with histrionic features, where the person isn't acting, it's him/her actually. There si no way tp distinguish it without actually knowing the person. I don't think it would matter to you, anyway. Often people hate certain people because of themselves. Anyway, don't blame Soukalova for camera work. And check that Khanty press conference, looks like your hate might make you remember that incorrectly

Edit: Soukalova didn't have better glide (or worse). She's usually faster than others downhill because of her weight.

She always seems to be playing the character of reluctant media star, but as you've pointed out, she did a lot of media work post-Olympics, to the detriment of her biathlon in fact, trying to raise her profile, which is hardly what somebody who's reluctant to be the star would do.

Overall though, it doesn't appear that our opinion of her character differs all that much, you're just much less angered by her than I am, and maybe you think the role she's playing in public is less of a façade than I do (and maybe those two things are related). I think she hit upon something which was genuine about her, which she realised was marketable, and is now playing that up, which comes across to me as forced and insincere.

 

[May0maniac]

The hell happened to Cologna

According to Swiss TV he suffered a calf strain.
Wow, Weng winning was just awesome I started screaming at my TV durning the sprint, nobody deserved it more than Heidi!

 

[Kokoso]

Re: Re:

She always seems to be playing the character of reluctant media star, but as you've pointed out, she did a lot of media work post-Olympics, to the detriment of her biathlon in fact, trying to raise her profile, which is hardly what somebody who's reluctant to be the star would do.

Overall though, it doesn't appear that our opinion of her character differs all that much, you're just much less angered by her than I am, and maybe you think the role she's playing in public is less of a façade than I do (and maybe those two things are related). I think she hit upon something which was genuine about her, which she realised was marketable, and is now playing that up, which comes across to me as forced and insincere.

I'm reluctant to judge whether she forces something or it's just her and that could actually make fundamental difference. Maybe you should consider that biathlon probably isn't sport which would make you big money in Czech republic, without taking care of it. You are blaming her for trying to do just that and that' nonsensical to me. And there are other moments where I can see that you're unjust to her sometimes because of??? Really don't know why. In fact exaggerated haters are making me to like her more (especially those who are jealous because she's pretty and succesful) and that's something I can probably thank them for because she isn't very bad biathlete

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re: Re:

I'm reluctant to judge whether she forces something or it's just her and that could actually make fundamental difference. Maybe you should consider that biathlon probably isn't sport which would make you big money in Czech republic, without taking care of it. You are blaming her for trying to do just that and that' nonsensical to me. And there are other moments where I can see that you're unjust to her sometimes because of??? Really don't know why. In fact exaggerated haters are making me to like her more (especially those who are jealous because she's pretty and succesful) and that's something I can probably thank them for because she isn't very bad biathlete

I don't know, I think she comes across as really loving herself but trying to pretend she doesn't, which makes her seem very unlikable to me, which then gets exaggerated because she seems to be very popular, which makes me wonder a) what it is that makes people like her because I'm clearly missing something, and b) if there isn't something I'm missing, why people are taken in by her. If it was just because of being pretty and successful, then I would dislike a lot of people who I either like or at least don't mind in sport. There's something else about her demeanour that rubs me the wrong way. Maybe it's even something she can't help, but she always looks like she has an air of superiority about her. With Soukalová, to me the more successful she's become, the more everything she does feels pre-meditated, calculated, designed for PR purpose; nothing's spontaneous or real about her, and I find that really unappealing. I also appreciate that the fact I do not have access to media in her first language will affect that and maybe in Czech there's plenty of her seeming more natural and less calculated.

 

[python]

Re: Re:

http://medias2.fis-ski.com/pdf/2016/CC/2186/2016CC2186TDS.pdf

before the last hill, the 2nd through 6th overall are within 25 seconds...
northug
poltoranin
ustiougov
krogh
toenseth

i would expect that krogh should easily make his 5 second deficit to ustiugov way before the climb starts. toenseth will join the 4 too (probably on the 1st uphill.) my money for the podium is on krogh and toenseth...northug and ustiugov will fight a personal battle i would give to ustiugov by several seconds on the last very shallow slope.
this means the top 6 are more or less defined b/c roethe is too far down even though he's the best pure climber of the top 7.

It's gonna be tactical. Even Toenseth, with a 25 second gap, will catch up relatively quickly. They'll play mind games, and I suspect that someone will attack halfway up the hill, when the hill is at its steepest. I hope Ustiugov hangs on and gets a podium. For the sake of nordic skiing. Nobody wants to see a 1-4 Norwegian sweep. Unless you are Norwegian.

i hope so too, particularly it would be nice if he shoved northug down...but we have some objective data (and of course plenty of uncertainty) to make some predictions. while the skiers body weight/height should not be applied carelessly, the fact remains that it were the smaller-frame skier that almost always won the climb or out performed the '80-kilo-ites' so, the fastest time on a purely climbing part should go manificat, if not him it could be roethe...

regarding the fight for the podium, it gets more complicated but krogh given his demonstrated good recovery and a relatively smaller size (175 cm vs 185 for poltoranin, ustiugov and northug) should be a safe bet for the 2nd overall.

regarding the remaining 3d spot, it should get indeed exciting. i have compiled an exhaustive data (previously shared) on ALL northug climbs. unfortunately, we don't have ANYTHING on ustiugof and only ONE climb for toenseth. the didrik's body size, while visibly slighter, i did not find on the google.

some pointed that ustiugov is very competent up a sustained uphill based on his roller skiing. others are skeptical b/c, they say, serhey is as heavy as petter. there is, however, a noticeable difference btwn petter and serhey skating styles with the latter relying more heavily on the powerful back and shoulders. a somewhat similar preference in a well known climber like legkov (but of course in 2 different bodies). could this be a decisive difference btwn the 2 ? we'll have to see...

one thing i registered about petter - he has shown a remarkable consistency in his total relative climbing time as a proportion of a winner's time...i mean those years when he fought 100% on the same course...

2015: 7.2% slower than a winner
2014: 7.9 % (after adjusting for the duerr's cosmology)
2013: 7.4%
other years he either didn't exert or it was a different route making the comparison moot.

just few more hours remains to compile more data

 

[Kokoso]

Svendsen shi**ed his pants from Fourcade.

Edit: one have to give Fourcade credit for not getting let yourslef down after lost sprint finishes with Svendsen. Tough guy he is.

 

[Singer01]

that last lap by T Boe was immense. don't know what is up with Svendsen, he looked on that 4th lap that he had his form back, then he totally chokes.
even though Fourcade is winning consistently he looks much more beatable to me at the minute, he can't afford to miss as many as he used to and still win.

 

[jens_attacks]

So oestberg has this, no?

Or will therese go full pantani today? A mighty resurrection?
I'd prefer oestberg to win, to be honest

 

[Libertine Seguros]

39 seconds... last year Therese put 59" into Heidi (2nd fastest climber), 2013 she was 39 seconds ahead of Liz Stephen (2nd fastest climber) and 1'10" over Heidi, 2012 51" faster than Justyna (2nd fastest climber) and 1'08" over Marit.

She has looked tired the last two days, but 39" over Ingvild is definitely achievable.

 

[Squire]

Re:

So oestberg has this, no?

Or will therese go full pantani today? A mighty resurrection?
I'd prefer oestberg to win, to be honest

For Østberg to win, she'll need to do better than anyone has ever done on that hill compared to Johaug. Since 2009, when Johaug was 20, nobody has been closer to her than 39 seconds.

Østberg doesn't seem to believe she can do it, neither do the Norwegian commentators and experts.

Edit: I was Zabeled.

 

[meat puppet]

I fear Johaug will stomp this. But it would serve her right if Östberg holds her own.

 

[jens_attacks]

I know that but therese's form seems to go down big time.