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Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

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Apr 22, 2012
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Iversen face color is pretty red. Looks like on of those guys with high hemoglobin, but I don't think he is. Probably just type of blood vessels in face.
 
Re: Re:

BullsFan22 said:
Libertine Seguros said:
Petter's basically here because Tønseth dropped out, right?


Yes. Toenseth was sick. Should be safe for Lahti though. The Norwegian coaches said that Northug will race the sprint and 50km as he is the defending champion in both of those, and the Norwegians will get an extra spot because of that (so instead of 4, they'll have 5), but the other events they are not sure of. I am interested to see who they will take and who will race what. It's a tight schedule. Will Krogh be put in the sprint? Northug, Krogh, Skar, Iversen (won today, finished second in the sprint) and the last spot will probably be decided at Norwegian nationals next week. The distance racers are Sundby, Dyrhaug, Toenseth, Iversen, Northug (hasn't looked very convincing at any point, though he says he is getting in shape).
No Røthe in the distance? For shame.
 
Re:

python said:
the sick man of the peloton with the well documented lung, heart and immune problems was ....only second :rolleyes: wtf is going on with him ?

i was right on the money about richardsson. he's too big a guy physically to keep up on the steep falun uphills.
good fight from ustiougov. i dont find his final gap to sundby alarming.


At least he isn't winning, but that was a big effort from Iversen, after racing four times yesterday. Rickardsson is an excellent classic skier that can handle big hills. Ustiugov will be fine. He made some tactical errors yesterday and his skis weren't running as well as the others in his heat. He skied well today until the last few km's when Rickardsson upped the pace. Again, his skis weren't great, though it wasn't a catastrophe. He lost almost 40 seconds, but this was always going to happen after he had such great shape in the Tour. Can't be in form all year. His coach said that the second peak is planned for Lahti. It's no guarantee that he'll be in the sort of shape he was at the TDS, but for the sake of someone crashing the Norwegian podium party, I hope he and the other non-Norwegian contenders are in good shape in four weeks.

Sad for Olsson that he is sick (again). I am still convinced that he'll ski and ski fast in Lahti.
 
Apr 22, 2012
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Bessmertnykh lead the bunch a lot, maybe he lost there powers needed for finale. Same for Sundby to the lesser extent, could be reason why Iversen (who hide more) had the upper hand at the end. On the other hand Halfvarsson raced passively/cleverly. I was surpprised to see him third at the finish after he looked almost unable to catch the leading group just few km's before. At last feeding zone his wan the only one who took drink and maybe that payed of. Nice to see him coming into shape after great start of season and following unfortunate ilness. I've noticed Rickardsson in some parts double poled where other were running; maybe he took it from laufs.

Overall Norwegian dominance as we were used to see last couple of years (but not this one).
 
Sep 25, 2009
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...the lady's 15 k has turned into a freak show. i am not interested to waste my time watching it and will rather do the weekend's errands. before i go, i want to ask the better informed, can someone break down for me the total russian dominance at the euro championship ? 6 out of 8 golds. it's not like they had the #1 team there or that the
others didn't have some strong #1 team members.

and dont even try to convince me that volkov was NOT shooting an AK-47 :) :D
 
Re: Re:

Libertine Seguros said:
BullsFan22 said:
Libertine Seguros said:
Petter's basically here because Tønseth dropped out, right?


Yes. Toenseth was sick. Should be safe for Lahti though. The Norwegian coaches said that Northug will race the sprint and 50km as he is the defending champion in both of those, and the Norwegians will get an extra spot because of that (so instead of 4, they'll have 5), but the other events they are not sure of. I am interested to see who they will take and who will race what. It's a tight schedule. Will Krogh be put in the sprint? Northug, Krogh, Skar, Iversen (won today, finished second in the sprint) and the last spot will probably be decided at Norwegian nationals next week. The distance racers are Sundby, Dyrhaug, Toenseth, Iversen, Northug (hasn't looked very convincing at any point, though he says he is getting in shape).
No Røthe in the distance? For shame.


Yes, forgot about him. The 50km skate for sure. Maybe even the skiathlon. Who will they pick for the relay? They are all capable, even Klaebo. Gloersen as well. Lot's of choices.
 
Re:

python said:
...the lady's 15 k has turned into a freak show. i am not interested to waste my time watching it and will rather do the weekend's errands. before i go, i want to ask the better informed, can someone break down for me the total russian dominance at the euro championship ? 6 out of 8 golds. it's not like they had the #1 team there or that the
others didn't have some strong #1 team members.

and dont even try to convince me that volkov was NOT shooting an AK-47 :) :D


The Russians didn't have their top, top guys. The only guy there that has done more than one or two world cups this year is Garanichev. I didn't see other top nations like Germany, Norway, and France bringing any contenders. It was mostly the smaller countries that brought their A skiers. Rastorgujevs, Iliev and Anev were the other solid WC skiers that raced and were at or near the top.

The women's division, as you know, is not very strong, add to the fact that this is mostly reserves-B and C team skiers, the results are what they are. Of course, the Russian dominance won't stop the murmurs, but that's the way it is. Can't please everybody.

The Norwegians certainly came to Falun for some revenge. Yes they won last weeks relays, but I think what both the men and obviously the women did today was to break everyone apart. The conditions didn't seem like they were too difficult, but I think a lot of the top guys are in the transition period to Lahti, and the Norwegians HAVE to be in shape now to qualify for Lahti.
 
Sep 25, 2009
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Re: Re:

BullsFan22 said:
python said:
...the lady's 15 k has turned into a freak show. i am not interested to waste my time watching it and will rather do the weekend's errands. before i go, i want to ask the better informed, can someone break down for me the total russian dominance at the euro championship ? 6 out of 8 golds. it's not like they had the #1 team there or that the
others didn't have some strong #1 team members.

and dont even try to convince me that volkov was NOT shooting an AK-47 :) :D


The Russians didn't have their top, top guys. The only guy there that has done more than one or two world cups this year is Garanichev. I didn't see other top nations like Germany, Norway, and France bringing any contenders. It was mostly the smaller countries that brought their A skiers. Rastorgujevs, Iliev and Anev were the other solid WC skiers that raced and were at or near the top.

The women's division, as you know, is not very strong, add to the fact that this is mostly reserves-B and C team skiers, the results are what they are. Of course, the Russian dominance won't stop the murmurs, but that's the way it is. Can't please everybody.
thnks. it may also mean they have a really deep selection. i also noted the exceptional shooting...not really followed the stats, just an impression i got watching.

The Norwegians certainly came to Falun for some revenge. Yes they won last weeks relays, but I think what both the men and obviously the women did today was to break everyone apart. The conditions didn't seem like they were too difficult, but I think a lot of the top guys are in the transition period to Lahti, and the Norwegians HAVE to be in shape now to qualify for Lahti.
i think i figured why sundby was only 2nd...
perhaps, he developed another, 4th to be exact, health issue - i recall him mentioning his very sick gut. you know, it's not easy to always win when you have been certified for treating with strong meds the lungs, heart and the immune system :surprised: ;)

regarding ustiougov, i am not alarmed b/c: 1)the classisk style has never been his preferred, though he seems more upright and efficient this year. 2)based on what we saw, his performance would have been just fine had the distance been limited to 15-20k. either his present conditioning or the lack of sundby efficiency or both can't have him last yet.
 
The Russian biathlon men really do have a deep selection, the issue they've had is that this year some of the guys on the outside - Babikov, Eliseev - really stepped up early season, so a lot of guys with loads of top level experience like Malyshko, Volkov and Garanichev have been splitting time between the World Cup and IBU Cup or taking breaks from racing, because Tsvetkov has been metronomically getting results and they aren't going to drop Shipulin. As there's only 4 starters per nation at the World Championships, there's therefore a lot of competition for places, so a lot of guys - in addition to the ones mentioned you've got Pashchenko and Shopin who've split time between the two levels, and of course Loginov who's been kept off the World Cup for the sake of practicality in the wake of the McLaren report, and all of these are vying for places. Most of the other big countries - Germany, France, Norway in particular - already have the core of their World Championships team set, or have a much clearer divide between their A and B teams.

The women are slightly different, in that their World Cup women aren't all that successful. Akimova aside, they've struggled to make an impact this year. They seem to suffer from too many Indians not enough Chiefs, because they've got a lot of people who are great at this level but struggle to be as good in the glare of the World Cup. Sleptsova is the perfect example, she's done nothing at the World Cup in five years but keeps on doing great in the IBU Cup. Starykh is persona non grata on the World Cup for the same reason Loginov is, but there's also people like Virolaynen who have plenty of World Cup experience doing the IBU Cup too. I've also noticed that most of the bigger nations tend to use the IBU Cup and so on for development, whereas in Russia it's almost an overspill from the World Cup - most of the French and Norwegian women's teams at the European Championships are under 25 - Erdal who led off the Norwegian relay today is only 18, for example. By contrast, of the Russian women selected for these championships, the most successful have been Starykh (29) and Sleptsova (30) and only one of their selection is under 25. In fairness, the German team is similarly lacking in youth, although despite being 28 Herrmann is a prospect in terms of experience, being a first-year biathlete of course, and two others are under 25.

And also, even among those established World Cup names on other teams, guys like Iliev, Anev, Rastorgujevs, Guzik, Hojnisz, Dzhima... they're peaking for Hochfilzen, because they're certain of their selection, whereas somebody like Loginov probably knew in advance the World Championships were unlikely for political reasons so is peaking here to try to force them to give him an opportunity at the Worlds.
 
Sep 25, 2009
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...was looking to see if it was possible to follow the junior worlds live currently being held in Utah. the sight of the 2002 olympics. to my surprise, the typical winter sports biggies like the nrk and svt dont cover it.

i looked further and learned that it's possible but one has to pay. $5 per event. since i am a xc ski fanatic, it's almost an automatic decision to fork out the chump change. just finished watching the u23 classic sprint quals...i thought to myself, if the coverage was ok, i may buy the skiathlon and the relay event as well.

and you know what, it was ok if one takes into consideration the us xc coverage standards. yeah, it's not scandinavia or finland standards, but the dudes that ran the live commentary were ok. much less irritating imo than the idiots at the british eurosport.

among the other minuses was No live timing on the screen and only 2 viewing angles (start and finish). i hope that the finals (in 30 min) are going to be shown as they go in full.

among the great things: terrific scenery, great wide tracks, plenty of snow...and a bunch of relatives and kids of the skiing's greats: weng sisters, veerpalu kids, phiney (the cycling sprinter's who know who), caldwell, pellegrin ....

check this link if if you are ready to fork out $5

http://nationalnordicfoundation.org/tv/
 
Re:

python said:
...was looking to see if it was possible to follow the junior worlds live currently being held in Utah. the sight of the 2002 olympics. to my surprise, the typical winter sports biggies like the nrk and svt dont cover it.

i looked further and learned that it's possible but one has to pay. $5 per event. since i am a xc ski fanatic, it's almost an automatic decision to fork out the chump change. just finished watching the u23 classic sprint quals...i thought to myself, if the coverage was ok, i may buy the skiathlon and the relay event as well.

and you know what, it was ok if one takes into consideration the us xc coverage standards. yeah, it's not scandinavia or finland standards, but the dudes that ran the live commentary were ok. much less irritating imo than the idiots at the british eurosport.

among the other minuses was No live timing on the screen and only 2 viewing angles (start and finish). i hope that the finals (in 30 min) are going to be shown as they go in full.

among the great things: terrific scenery, great wide tracks, plenty of snow...and a bunch of relatives and kids of the skiing's greats: weng sisters, veerpalu kids, phiney (the cycling sprinter's who know who), caldwell, pellegrin ....

check this link if if you are ready to fork out $5

http://nationalnordicfoundation.org/tv/


Really? You don't find Peter Graves to be annoying?
 
Sep 25, 2009
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i don't care for their (commentators) names and thus dont know their names...that's why i don't reallllly know why i should know much who or why irritates you...as i said, these dudes are AMERICAN - the country that has not much xc skiing culture compared to where i grew up. not much fuss b/c not much expected.

but when the dudes from an important European country - GB - broadcasting nonsense to the rest of the non-scandinavian xc ski community, i have to take a note.

for instance, the american commentators made a number of serious mistakes today. as an example, at one point they repeated that one of the north americans was probably using the double polling skate skis. he wasn't b/c anyone watching the action attentively could see his striding on on the 2nd uphill.

i did not get mad b/c these commentators were primarily tasked to promote the sport of xc skiing in america by making all sorts of notes (including nonsensical) about the classic race. including the various style options. they also slaughtered many non-English last names. again, i dont care b/c these dudes probably don't speak much except english. the british eurosport idiots do speak many languages, but they are into a listening to themselves.

my opinion.
 
Sep 25, 2009
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^emil has proven himself at many distance races particularly in the classic... in the absence of halfvarsson, olsson, and hellner the race was somewhat open. emil lead at all the splits (except the last one), but was able to claw 2.5 sec in the last 3.5 km due to the supreme effort. another factor could have been the richardsson fatigue from the last week's 30K, which incidentally was the reason calle claimed for his absence...

i was also following the swedish ladies. if ebba andersson was at home (i just watched her winning gold at the junior words in utah) she would more than likely podium next to kalla.
 
Re:

python said:
^emil has proven himself at many distance races particularly in the classic... in the absence of halfvarsson, olsson, and hellner the race was somewhat open. emil lead at all the splits (except the last one), but was able to claw 2.5 sec in the last 3.5 km due to the supreme effort. another factor could have been the richardsson fatigue from the last week's 30K, which incidentally was the reason calle claimed for his absence...

i was also following the swedish ladies. if ebba andersson was at home (i just watched her winning gold at the junior words in utah) she would more than likely podium next to kalla.


I've been following Swedish skiing, and they are expecting BIG things from Andersson in the future. Their U23 women have already showed good results (Dyvik and Sundling especially) and Burman is not in Utah, but he's had solid results at the WC this season. The future looks good for Swedish XC. Not that the current crop of skiers is disappointing or have shown decline in their results, it just means that they will have contenders in the future.

The junior men's 10km skate just concluded and the Russians swept the podium almost got 4th as well. Impressive skiing from them. Chervotkin is there racing the U23, surprisingly. I would have thought they'd keep him in Europe to prepare for Lahti, but maybe they thought do it the U23's this year but not next, because it's the Olympics. Anyway, I think he is the big favorite for the 15km skate and also the skiathlon. Another skier to watch is Bolshunov. Finished 2nd in the classic sprint yesterday. He won a 30km classic in Krasnogorsk around Christmas time. A first year senior. Barely (almost born in 97) and beating some experienced WC racers in a 30km. He is another one to watch.
 
Sep 25, 2009
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Re: Re:

BullsFan22 said:
python said:
^emil has proven himself at many distance races particularly in the classic... in the absence of halfvarsson, olsson, and hellner the race was somewhat open. emil lead at all the splits (except the last one), but was able to claw 2.5 sec in the last 3.5 km due to the supreme effort. another factor could have been the richardsson fatigue from the last week's 30K, which incidentally was the reason calle claimed for his absence...

i was also following the swedish ladies. if ebba andersson was at home (i just watched her winning gold at the junior words in utah) she would more than likely podium next to kalla.


I've been following Swedish skiing, and they are expecting BIG things from Andersson in the future. Their U23 women have already showed good results (Dyvik and Sundling especially) and Burman is not in Utah, but he's had solid results at the WC this season. The future looks good for Swedish XC. Not that the current crop of skiers is disappointing or have shown decline in their results, it just means that they will have contenders in the future.

The junior men's 10km skate just concluded and the Russians swept the podium almost got 4th as well. Impressive skiing from them. Chervotkin is there racing the U23, surprisingly. I would have thought they'd keep him in Europe to prepare for Lahti, but maybe they thought do it the U23's this year but not next, because it's the Olympics. Anyway, I think he is the big favorite for the 15km skate and also the skiathlon. Another skier to watch is Bolshunov. Finished 2nd in the classic sprint yesterday. He won a 30km classic in Krasnogorsk around Christmas time. A first year senior. Barely (almost born in 97) and beating some experienced WC racers in a 30km. He is another one to watch.
ebba has the potential to develop into 'stina'. too early to tell b/c besides the talent, which is obviously there, one needs the mind set and the attitude of a lasting star.

...all the fun should begin tomorrow at the norge championship skate sprints. though i cant find the start lists on the fis page yet, it is confirmed that ustiougov will square off with the best norges including possibly petter. and only a day later he plans to run the norge 30 k skiathlon. this is very ambitious imo especially if he skates into the finals... i dont exclude that cramer is having in mind some psychological moves.

regarding the junior and u23 worlds in utah, i will continue to pay per view it, but i am disappointed with the very amateurish organization. really mind bugging :rolleyes: a 3d world country like kazakhstan 2 y o could afford the the on the screen timing system, moving cameras, live timing updates etc etc while the worlds only superpower neglected the elementary modern means. even the live internet updates via the transponders is 5-6 min behind the real time events...very disappointing.
 
Sep 25, 2009
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great finals in norway ! i enjoyed it.

it's just over. klaebo pinched the gold but everything is fine with ustiugov. he qualified only in 5th. then -strangely - chose only the 3d QF heat which he won easily. in his SF he was the strongest up the very long hill, unusually long for a sprint, but made a tactical error at the finish passing into the final as a LL. btw, petter made into the final too, but barely and he was lucky...in the final ustiougov lead from start to finish and was edged by klaebo...

3 different heats, 3 different tactics and unquestionably the best fitness up the last hill where everyone maxed out.

this sprint was much more fun than the one in S. korea...
 
Re:

Singer01 said:
Nice to see JK winning again, i know she didn't really beat anybody, but still.


That was the easiest win anyone would wish for on the world cup. Far easier than the couple she's had in Rybinsk 6-7 years ago. Liz Stephen who's had an up and down last couple seasons, Masako Ishida who is past her prime at 36 and mainly racing the marathon circuit were the other two podium finishers. The top ranked skier in the field was actually Silje Slind, and she was only 20th in the standings. Pretty much everyone that started and finished the race got WC points.

N. American, E. European and Asian stops on the WC calendar always get low turnouts and FIS needs to do something about this. Some say that Korea should have been placed at the end of the season, but the Olympics start the same time these past races took place, early February. It's a nice way to find out what the conditions might be like same time next season, plus having it earlier would mean way too much travel for those that took part in the TDS. It's also a dilemma because Lahti starts in less than three weeks and as per usual, the Scandinavians hold their national championships during late Jan/early Feb.
 
Finnish xc nationals this weekend, a couple points:

- in women, pärmäkoski is in excellent form still. The other ladies are a bit of a question mark really, but on a good day many of the, can top 10 in distance events.

- in men, heikkinen and niskanen (who skipped) have had recovery issues; heikkinen found out losing a minute to jauhojärvi in 15k classic. Jauhojärvi though is on a rising form curve clearly.
 
Sep 25, 2009
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Re:

Singer01 said:
Nice to see JK winning again, i know she didn't really beat anybody, but still.
i was watching live both skiathlons in s. korea. while i too feel good for kowas winning, i must say her relentless hammering and bulldog-like heaviness aren't pretty to watch, though, if i saw it right, her skating seemed more balanced and efficient than what i am used to seeing.

i contrasted that with the elegant, light, very upright and almost effortless skating of sedov. perhaps i did not pay much attention to him earlier, but his skating was indeed a candy to watch. hope they select this guy for their lahti team.
 
Jun 30, 2014
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Yes, Sedov look great and he seems to be back on track after a few rather difficult years, a few years ago he really dominated the junior ranks.
I liked the loop, but a race with almost no fans is kinda strange.
 
Re:

Mayomaniac said:
Yes, Sedov look great and he seems to be back on track after a few rather difficult years, a few years ago he really dominated the junior ranks.
I liked the loop, but a race with almost no fans is kinda strange.

Sedov had great junior and u23 results, as you said, much like Ustiugov (though Sedov's sprinting is nowhere near Ustiugov's) but after the 2012 season he almost disappeared. He's had heart issues but that seems to have been taken care of and he is training with the Ustiugov group. He actually would have had more noticeable results earlier this season had it not been for his sickness. Anyway, it is nice to see him back. Always a shame when these super talented skiers disappear because of overtraining or burn out or other things. He did look effortless and to me it seems he improved his technique. He was always smooth, but I've noticed differences. It'll be interesting to see if the Russians take him to Lahti. If Legkov, Belov and Vylegzhanin aren't there, and Sedov is in good race shape, he would be a great option for them, particularly for the third leg. Chervotkin is another option. Looking at this season's results, Bessmertnyth and Ustiugov have to be lock ins for the relay in Lahti. The other two spots will be interesting, particularly if the temporarily suspended guys don't return.
 

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