Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[frenchfry]

Yeah I forgot about the Norwegian team. I hadn't been able to watch biathlon for a long time so I was happy to accidentally come across it on TV last night, luckily I was able to start watching right at the beginning of the race. The relay races are the ones I like best, too.

I realized that almost all advertisements along the tracks were from German companies, like DKB or Bauhaus. This is not counting BMW and Audi who are international brands. But it made me wonder whether the biggest TV audiences for biathlon are in Germany. For example I never saw it on French TV (although I must say I did not receive Eurosport at the time)

In France the L'Equipe channel (21) has been broadcasting biathlon since the beginning of the season, and I believe they have committed to at least one more year. As I don't have Eurosport this is good news, I only wish they would broadcast X-country as well. Apparently biathlon has pretty good audiences so far.

 

[Singer01]

I'm pretty new to Nordic combinded, but has anyone been as good as Riiber at that age? He could ruin it for the next 15 years if he keeps developing in both disciplines.

 

[Norbea]

Re:

I'm pretty new to Nordic combinded, but has anyone been as good as Riiber at that age? He could ruin it for the next 15 years if he keeps developing in both disciplines.

Trond Einar Elden became World Champion at that age. But Riiber is a much more complete talent. Elden never dominated the way one would think when he first came through the junior ranks, but he mostly won because he was a great xc skier, he needed to have some luck in the jump hill. Riiber.... well I just can´t see what´s going to stop him.

 

[Kokoso]

Re: Re:

[quote="Norbea

Trond Einar Elden became World Champion at that age. But Riiber is a much more complete talent. Elden never dominated the way one would think when he first came through the junior ranks, but he mostly won because he was a great xc skier, he needed to have some luck in the jump hill. Riiber.... well I just can´t see what´s going to stop him.[/quote]
Portyk could, if nordic combined ever gets some money here in future.

 

[python]

dont forget to watch the stockholm classic sprints...as far as i can recall, all the sprinting grands, imean men, will be there - pellergrino, petter, kriukov, ustiugov etc. men quals (not tv-ed) will start 6:50 cet (the ladies 1/2 h earlier) and the finals (tv-ed) will start at 8:30 cet.

both the svt and nrk networks will show it as well as eurosport...

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re:

dont forget to watch the stockholm classic sprints...as far as i can recall, all the sprinting grands, imean men, will be there - pellergrino, petter, kriukov, ustiugov etc. men quals (not tv-ed) will start 6:50 cet (the ladies 1/2 h earlier) and the finals (tv-ed) will start at 8:30 cet.

both the svt and nrk networks will show it as well as eurosport...

Looking forward to see Kriukov not falling this time. Also I'm very excited to see Even Northug perform again, given that he makes it in the prologue.

Also. Don't forget to tune in for the men's sprint in Biathlon at 16.30 (CET). Boe brothers are back to challenge Fourcade, and Johannes is very motivated, since he "don't want to travel all the way over here to do *** races" (quote).

 

[python]

Re: Re:

dont forget to watch the stockholm classic sprints...as far as i can recall, all the sprinting grands, imean men, will be there - pellergrino, petter, kriukov, ustiugov etc. men quals (not tv-ed) will start 6:50 cet (the ladies 1/2 h earlier) and the finals (tv-ed) will start at 8:30 cet.

both the svt and nrk networks will show it as well as eurosport...

Looking forward to see Kriukov not falling this time. Also I'm very excited to see Even Northug perform again, given that he makes it in the prologue.

Also. Don't forget to tune in for the men's sprint in Biathlon at 16.30 (CET). Boe brothers are back to challenge Fourcade, and Johannes is very motivated, since he "don't want to travel all the way over here to do **** races" (quote).

the qual just ended. both of the underlined are in. even northug comfortably and kriukov - just (the 26th), which is a slight surprise. however his compatriots seem are doing well (the 1st and 3d). strong results from petter and pelle, which bodes well for their podiums statistically speaking. ustiugov (the 3d) would typically win a qual if he was to win the finals. another relatively poor (barely qualified in 30th) from hattestad.

...and only one swede in the queen home event in front of the royal house
it is tough to call the winner now b/c the conditions seem soft and its not clear which technique will prevail...

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

dont forget to watch the stockholm classic sprints...as far as i can recall, all the sprinting grands, imean men, will be there - pellergrino, petter, kriukov, ustiugov etc. men quals (not tv-ed) will start 6:50 cet (the ladies 1/2 h earlier) and the finals (tv-ed) will start at 8:30 cet.

both the svt and nrk networks will show it as well as eurosport...

Looking forward to see Kriukov not falling this time. Also I'm very excited to see Even Northug perform again, given that he makes it in the prologue.

Also. Don't forget to tune in for the men's sprint in Biathlon at 16.30 (CET). Boe brothers are back to challenge Fourcade, and Johannes is very motivated, since he "don't want to travel all the way over here to do **** races" (quote).

the qual just ended. both of the underlined are in. even northug comfortably and kriukov - just (the 26th), which is a slight surprise. however his compatriots seem are doing well (the 1st and 3d). strong results from petter and pelle, which bodes well for their podiums statistically speaking. ustiugov (the 3d) would typically win a qual if he was to win the finals. another relatively poor (barely qualified in 30th) from hattestad.

...and only one swede in the queen home event in front of the royal house
it is tough to call the winner now b/c the conditions seem soft and its not clear which technique will prevail...

The last hill to the finish is flat'ish and fast enough for double pole technique, the way it looks.
Pellegrino out in quarterfinals

 

[python]

i am speechless...qualified in 27th, an ok in the quarterfinal, a last lucky loser in the semis and boom - in his renown fearsome double poling kriukov just went like a bullet by all including an amazed, helpless petter. something tells me that if his olympic-gold medal teammate Panzhinsky ?...(can't really type nor pronounce the name) did not break the pole, it would be 1-2..

pelle is probably riding his forms downward slope after peaking.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

I wouldn't underestimate the effects of the 50k still being in Northug's body. A podium is quite good in that respect. No matter what, Kriukov was unbeatable, when he launched that "2nd sprint" as it flattened to the finish. Amazing sight!

 

[Singer01]

JTB just smashed the *** out of that one, would have won even if fourcade shot clean.

 

[BullsFan22]

No surprise to see Kriukov winning. His form is rising. He qualified 4th last week in Drammen, and had he not been taken out in his quarterfinal heat, I think he would have had a real strong chance to move to the final where he would have been one of the big favorites to win. Not sure what happened to him in the qualification today, he was quite far back, in 27th, which is not that good by his standards for a classic sprint. Perhaps the skis, perhaps didn't want to overdo it...He was a LL in his semi, but he looked good there, just made his charge a little to late, but still managed to make the final where he absolutely schooled the Norwegians. Hattestad and Northug were going all out at the end, but Kriukov, when he is this strong, he is untouchable in the finishing straight. Not many guys can come from behind to, not only pass Northug and Hattestad, but actually ski away from them. This wasn't even close in the end. Not sure if he'll take part in Lahti, but I hope the Russians take him for that skate sprint and also to Canada. He is in the best form he's had all year. They'd be foolish not to take him.

 

[frenchfry]

Re:

JTB just smashed the *** out of that one, would have won even if fourcade shot clean.

JTB was impressive.

Fourcade is only human after all!

French men had bad skis, not that this is an excuse but Martin's performance wasn't bad considering.

 

[python]

after re-watching the stockholm classic sprints i made the following mental notes to myself.

1.double poling vs a kick wax.
despite the organizers adding and extra hill to discourage the skating gear, the results unequivocally suggest that double poling was still the way to go...that said, the choice of style was far from the obvious. in fact, by my count, of the 30 finalists 13 opted for striding. in the final only fossli was striding and he was left for dead on the finish straight. the difference was most obvious on steeper uphill with the striders usually surging forward.
it is interesting to analyze and apply the style difference to the finishing 180 meters. from the course profile we can see that the finish stretch starts with steep 80 m up to then continue with a shallow (2-3%) 100 m all the way to the finish line. i'd argue that if the race ended with the 80 m steep uphill, the striding could have been preferred. perhaps that was the part explanation that kriukov was able to outpole everyone - the shallow finish allowed a better expression of his vintage strength that even northug can(and does per his own comments) envy.

2. speaking of the kriukov's incredible finishing speed...
as was already noted, he was showing an improved form last week. but his qualifying time yesterday would place him outside the top 30 had he lost another .4 seconds. what happened there ? i found no explanation neither by him nor his coach. i am left speculating he was using a kick wax (like in drammen) for the prologue to switch the style later (he said it was his plan last week). that all his successive heats were considerably faster than his qualifying time, indirectly confirm my hypothesis. regardless, what makes his ultimate win even more remarkable is that he had barely snatched by in his quarterfinal and being the slowest 'lucky loser' from the semis. in one word, he was NOT the dominant figure (like ustiugov or hattestad or pellegrino often are). he was though the smartest tactically in terms of husbanding his effort and exploiting his strengths.

the explosion we saw was effected by spent/expired rivals up even a shallow hill in the face of kriukov engaging his vintage kick in exactly the right place at the right time.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

JTB just smashed the *** out of that one, would have won even if fourcade shot clean.

JTB was impressive.

Fourcade is only human after all!

French men had bad skis, not that this is an excuse but Martin's performance wasn't bad considering.

So did the russians, not that this is an excuse but Anton's performance wasn't bad considering

Anyway, let's hope the pursuits will be as good as the sprints.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Gabi doubles up with 2 wins !

That 3rd shooting was just chaotic, with both Doro and Gabi missing 3, but everyone behind missing aswell.
Men's competition was nice aswell, although the podium was never really up for grabs

 

[frenchfry]

For the rare Martin Fourcade fans that hang out here, a photo tribute to his 44 world cup victories that put him ahead of Raphaël Poirée.

http://www.ski-nordique.net/les-44-victoires-de-martin-fourcade-en-photos.5835058-72348.html

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re:

For the rare Martin Fourcade fans that hang out here, a photo tribute to his 44 world cup victories that put him ahead of Raphaël Poirée.

http://www.ski-nordique.net/les-44-victoires-de-martin-fourcade-en-photos.5835058-72348.html

On par with Poiree, you mean?
Never liked Poiree anyways, but his battles with Bjørndalen were epic. Two completely different biathletes: where Poiree was a great shooter and decent skier, Bjørndalen's skiing was magnificient and his shooting very inconsistent. The sort of rivalry that "Svendsen vs. Fourcade" never quite became.

 

[BullsFan22]

Another good race from Dunklee. However, will someone please, please, work with her to improve that horrible technique. She would already have world cup wins under her belt if her technique was better. Reminds me of Sergei Tchepikov.

 

[BullsFan22]

Re: Re:

For the rare Martin Fourcade fans that hang out here, a photo tribute to his 44 world cup victories that put him ahead of Raphaël Poirée.

http://www.ski-nordique.net/les-44-victoires-de-martin-fourcade-en-photos.5835058-72348.html

On par with Poiree, you mean?
Never liked Poiree anyways, but his battles with Bjørndalen were epic. Two completely different biathletes: where Poiree was a great shooter and decent skier, Bjørndalen's skiing was magnificient and his shooting very inconsistent. The sort of rivalry that "Svendsen vs. Fourcade" never quite became.

Fourcade and Svendsen are better skiers at their peak than Bjoerndalen and Poiree were at theirs. Shooting wise, they are all close. Poiree probably edges ahead on shooting, but Fourcade is the best skier. Svendsen has just quietly regressed since the Sochi relay.

 

[John de Savage]

I'm disgusted that the jury ignored Soukalova's blatant false start. Should've been a 30s time penalty. Cowards.

 

[Nastyy]

Celia Aymonier could be a force to be reckoned with in the near future if she keeps developing at this rate. Only switched over from XC for this season and is shooting quite decently already, just needs some consistency and maybe needs to be a bit quicker on the range as well. She was the faster skier on yesterday's sprint so her XC background shows, even though she wasn't near the elite in XC.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

For the rare Martin Fourcade fans that hang out here, a photo tribute to his 44 world cup victories that put him ahead of Raphaël Poirée.

http://www.ski-nordique.net/les-44-victoires-de-martin-fourcade-en-photos.5835058-72348.html

On par with Poiree, you mean?
Never liked Poiree anyways, but his battles with Bjørndalen were epic. Two completely different biathletes: where Poiree was a great shooter and decent skier, Bjørndalen's skiing was magnificient and his shooting very inconsistent. The sort of rivalry that "Svendsen vs. Fourcade" never quite became.

Fourcade and Svendsen are better skiers at their peak than Bjoerndalen and Poiree were at theirs. Shooting wise, they are all close. Poiree probably edges ahead on shooting, but Fourcade is the best skier. Svendsen has just quietly regressed since the Sochi relay.

The average speed in skiing has gone up, so obviously they are faster. But it's incomparable due to different equipment, training, improved technique etc etc. Bjørndalen is, in fact, the most important biathlete in bringing those changes.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I cannot fathom why anybody would actually cheer for Martin Fourcade. It must be really boring when any race you don't podium is a let-down, and they hardly ever happen anyway.

I mean, I still like him more than Soukalová, and sure he's an incredible athlete whose achievements are amazing, but to want to cheer for him? Unless you're French, there's no excuse. It's like cheering for Marit Bjørgen.

 

[Kokoso]

Re:

I cannot fathom why anybody would actually cheer for Martin Fourcade. It must be really boring when any race you don't podium is a let-down, and they hardly ever happen anyway.

I mean, I still like him more than Soukalová, and sure he's an incredible athlete whose achievements are amazing, but to want to cheer for him? Unless you're French, there's no excuse. It's like cheering for Marit Bjørgen.

Because we cheer for him since ever berfore? Nice how you didn't forget to get Soukalova even here But I understand, she's making you suffer lately. I must say I'm probably guilty a bit for making you hate Soukalova (which you'd deny of course Anyway I made me like Soukalova more with you're hate sometimes fueled with made up stories like that with Khanty-Manssijsk press conference and I must rather thank you for that.