Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[jsem94]

For some reason, I have the biggest man-crush on Fourcade. No homo (ok, maybe slightly).

I understand the point though. It's getting way too predictable. Svendsen and Bø among others have to start catching back up.

 

[Nastyy]

I see where you are coming from, but for me it doesn't get boring. I'd love to see him win every single race and I'd be dead excited every time he'd cross the finish line. Even so I'd like to see a nice rivalry between Martin and someone else. Svendsen doesn't seem to be up for it though and it's hard to see anyone else stepping up to the plate. And c'mon it's not like he's perfect. His shooting is very slow compared to the best shooters

I think if Simon keeps shooting well he's locked for the spot in the relay. You want someone reliable for the first leg and he's the best guy for that and his skiing wouldn't be a problem. But anyhow it's a positive problem for the French team.

 

[maltiv]

Even so I'd like to see a nice rivalry between Martin and someone else. Svendsen doesn't seem to be up for it though and it's hard to see anyone else stepping up to the plate.

Johannes Tingnes Bø (Tarjei Bø's more talented little brother). 20 years old and had the 3rd fastest skiing time in the sprint. Maybe he won't step up this year, but certainly within 2 years. His shooting is still quite unstable, perhaps mostly due to him shooting absurdly fast. However, that could also be his way of beating Fourcade as that's his weak point.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I see where you are coming from, but for me it doesn't get boring. I'd love to see him win every single race and I'd be dead excited every time he'd cross the finish line. Even so I'd like to see a nice rivalry between Martin and someone else. Svendsen doesn't seem to be up for it though and it's hard to see anyone else stepping up to the plate. And c'mon it's not like he's perfect. His shooting is very slow compared to the best shooters

I think if Simon keeps shooting well he's locked for the spot in the relay. You want someone reliable for the first leg and he's the best guy for that and his skiing wouldn't be a problem. But anyhow it's a positive problem for the French team.

How is it exciting when he's two minutes ahead of everybody? I can see why you'd be happy, but not why you'd be excited. And his shooting might be slow compared to, Idunno, Simon Eder, but it's kind of irrelevant when he's a minute faster on the skis.

I don't see why Simon Fourcade is any more reliable than Alexis Bœuf for the first leg either, and if Simon Desthieux continues to perform at this level, then the elder Fourcade is the one who will be under the most pressure for his position, as Beatrix is the 2nd strongest on the team at present, and Bœuf has more results more recently than Simon, bar that one anomalous podium in Khanty-Mansiysk.

 

[maltiv]

It won't be boring for long. Next worldcup event, the king of skating technique, Lars Berger, will be back. His form is absolutely incredible

Called it.

2 misses, but seems like he'll win today nonetheless.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Berger crushing everyone today so Nice to see. I dont think Fourcade can keep Berger behind him now

 

[jsem94]

ROFL, Berger beating Fourcade despite shooting two penalites. Awesome. I don't want give an easy excuse for Martin, but a result like this makes me wonder if his skis were inferior today. Much better conditions early on too, because of all the snowfall.

 

[maltiv]

Lars Berger: "I was just lucky to hit 3 in the last shooting, I was shaking like crazy. On the last shot I accidentally hit the target next to the one I was aiming for".

Lars Berger is da man Epic stuff.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Now Fourcade is mad haha.. He cant understood that he's beaten and looks solo annoyed like always. Bjørndalen crushing his ski time also today

 

[TomasC]

It's so good to have a Lars Berger around. Fabulous win after such a long time out. But Martin F. was excellent, the conditions worsened quite a bit. Lars will still need to hit at least 9/10 to beat MF if he shoots clear.
Oh and Veronika Vitkova on the podium made my day!

 

[Cance > TheRest]

It's so good to have a Lars Berger around. Fabulous win after such a long time out. But Martin F. was excellent, the conditions worsened quite a bit. Lars will still need to hit at least 9/10 to beat MF if he shoots clear.
Oh and Veronika Vitkova on the podium made my day!

The conditions were better on Fourcades last lap. He lost 55sec approximately in pure skiing time to Berger, and I think Berger would have won no matter what. Bjørndalen was also a late starter, 47, so he'd also have to ski in those "terrible conditions" you're talking about. Yet he was only 2sec behind Fourcade with 1 penalty shot, and ran faster than Fourcade ski-wise today. It suggests that maybe Fourcade just didnt have his best day. Of course thats not what Fourcade himself is going to say. He'll probably just blame the weather like he did last time he failed to win, or he will blame the waxing guys on his team.

 

[ToreBear]

Called it.

2 misses, but seems like he'll win today nonetheless.

You sure did, except for the two misses!

 

[ToreBear]

As for the variance in conditions. Some had bad shooting conditions, and some had bad skiing conditions. Fourcade had very good shooting conditions. I think for Berger the wind was picking up when he shot the last time.


But the Norwegians have a lot of experience in hitting the ski preparation correctly. So that shouldn't be ignored as a factor.

 

[TomasC]

The conditions were better on Fourcades last lap. He lost 55sec approximately in pure skiing time to Berger, and I think Berger would have won no matter what. Bjørndalen was also a late starter, 47, so he'd also have to ski in those "terrible conditions" you're talking about. Yet he was only 2sec behind Fourcade with 1 penalty shot, and ran faster than Fourcade ski-wise today. It suggests that maybe Fourcade just didnt have his best day. Of course thats not what Fourcade himself is going to say. He'll probably just blame the weather like he did last time he failed to win, or he will blame the waxing guys on his team.

Oh come on, I said that conditions "worsened quite a bit" which at least from my point of view feels different than "terrible conditions" you've pulled from I don't know where.
Anyway, if Lars beats MF in every WC race from now on, that's fine with me!

 

[jsem94]

Berger probably won't have a standing chance in the pursuit though :/. I hope Ole Einar manages to stay close to Fourcade though.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Berger is still flying

Fourcarde is such a ***. His gesture in the finish was sooooo typical for him. What a moron.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I am so happy to have been wrong about Lars. I really feared Fourcade would overhaul him on the final lap. Lars is also the only one of the top competitors today not racing the relay tomorrow, I think the next one down excused from relay duty is Florian Graf in 12th.

Then again, Lars coming to standing in the lead and not converting it to victory does bring back many memories.

The women's World Cup seems extremely open, we've already had two surprise winners and nobody's really got off to a flying start like Mäkäräinen in 2010 or Berger last year.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Bjørndalen in super form !!!!

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Therese Johaug crush puny skiers.

OK, ignore that she's smaller than all of them. Heavy snow in Birkebeineren and Therese just disappearing away.

 

[python]

Therese Johaug crush puny skiers.

OK, ignore that she's smaller than all of them. Heavy snow in Birkebeineren and Therese just disappearing away.

note, that she was running a classic leg !
in my opinion (and from personal experience even thought she's literally half my size and weight) the course condition (being well packed or not) would be more critical and more of an impediment if she was on her skating skis. moreover, being light she does not 'sink' in the snow as much as heavier girls do during the compression phase of a classic style. her high cadence style also seemed to have benefited with regard to not 'sinking' as would be required if she was striving for a longer glide. note that ivanova who is similar to johaug in size but a bit stockier also did very well in the snow fall..

Regardless, therese is awesomely fit and was very impressive.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

After quite an entertaining women's race, we do need to say that men's biathlon is becoming borderline unwatchable for the neutral. It's like Formula 1 or Scottish football.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

After quite an entertaining women's race, we do need to say that men's biathlon is becoming borderline unwatchable for the neutral. It's like Formula 1 or Scottish football.

As long as Fourcade shoots as good as he does at the moment. Bjørndalen was very promising this weekend, the same for Boe and perhaps Svendsen. If only they would start shooting better, the norwegians would definitely be able to beat Fourcade. They have shown that they're a tiny bit faster than Fourcade on the skis afterall. What really bugs me though, is the fact that Fourcade gets a podium in 8/10 competitions he enters... That is worrying

Womens race was more exciting. Little dissapointed in Soukalova, Domracheva and especially Berger this weekend. Good that Soukalova still leads the World cup afterall. It's nice to have the czechs in the top battle for once...

 

[Libertine Seguros]

8/10? Last individual race he didn't podium was the Mass Start at the World Championships last year. That's five World Cup meets (Oslo, Sochi and Khanty-Mansiysk last season, Östersund and Hochfilzen this season) where he hasn't left the podium once. He's won 8 of the 13 races since then. It is Bjørgen-level at this point.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

8/10? Last individual race he didn't podium was the Mass Start at the World Championships last year. That's five World Cup meets (Oslo, Sochi and Khanty-Mansiysk last season, Östersund and Hochfilzen this season) where he hasn't left the podium once. He's won 8 of the 13 races since then. It is Bjørgen-level at this point.

Last season he made the podium 19/26 times possible. The seven times he didn't reach top 3, were almost all top 10's... And only on 2 occasions he didnt reach top 10 (Oberhof sprint#16 and pursuit#14). I see what you mean, but his skiing isn't the problem. He can be fast, but will be outmatched by Svendsen if they shoot similarly. His shooting on the other hand... 90% avg last season is just ridiculous.

 

[jens_attacks]

russia beating norway at their home, joy to my heart.

can't wait for sochi!