Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[BigCoward]

If he is going to win, he's doing it the hard way.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

If he is going to win, he's doing it the hard way.

Men's mass starts were like this a few years ago, always slow speed at first and then building back up. If you're gonna miss, miss in prone because rarely do you see pacing risks. You saw how easy they made it for him to return on lap 2. Soukalová used to do this all the time, miss in prone and then run her own race, then when everybody else started missing in the standing, she would re-emerge at the front.

It's just that his skiing superiority is such that he isn't catching back up to the leaders in the range when they miss, he's already catching them so shooting himself back into the lead.

...and there you go, just like that, Bø shows us exactly that.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Just lol, what are you supposed to do when you're facing off against that thing?

 

[BigCoward]

At least it's interesting. I'm guessing he smashes them on the climb though.

 

[Salvarani]

Swedes rule!

 

[titan31]

Bloody Swedes. JTB looks tired here. Not sure he even gets silver

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The extra 450m might have told in the end. Samuelsson went 20/20, Ponsiluoma missed two but pushed it really hard on lap 4, and Bø of course has also done every race and the extra distance.

 

[Salvarani]

We going 1-2!

Yes, Samuelsson first WC gold-medal for him.

And Pounsilouma great today as well.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Well call me surprised, he's actually paying for it. When he raced the penultimate lap not faster than the Swedes I was thinking that he was just playing it safe before the final shooting.

 

[titan31]

Wonder how much the tracks played into it too. I'd imagine it's a lot tougher to be trying to make up time there in that slush.

Kind of pity the women having to race on this later.

 

[Salvarani]

Well call me surprised, he's actually paying for it. When he raced the penultimate lap not faster than the Swedes I was thinking that he was just playing it safe before the final shooting.

They went full gas uphill in the beginning of the last lap, I think it broke him a bit that they were that strong. He couldnt respond.

 

[jsem94]

I really didn't think Samuelsson had that in him. Makes sense with all the accumulated fatigue that JTB couldn't keep up. Sebastian did shoot 0, didn't have to empty himself on each lap to get back into contact. Mass start races are really quite something.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Finally Scott corrects Patrick's long-standing conviction that Samuelsson and Hanna Öberg are dating. Swedish biathlon might be a soap opera but they were never a couple, and he's clung to that misconception almost as long as his insistence that Lukas Hofer and Dorothea Wierer were together.

 

[Salvarani]

Finally Scott corrects Patrick's long-standing conviction that Samuelsson and Hanna Öberg are dating. Swedish biathlon might be a soap opera but they were never a couple, and he's clung to that misconception almost as long as his insistence that Lukas Hofer and Dorothea Wierer were together.

Hanna Öberg dated Jesper Nelin for a longtime.

They broke up and she started dating Martin Ponsilouma, they are still together.

But yes it is a soap opera, because Jesper Nelin started dating Martins former ex-girlfriend Fanny Johansson. I think they are together as well.

So they basically just switched partners with each other.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

To be fair, it's not always easy to keep track of who's dating who in the sporting world.

The Swedes have had a pretty good championship, and they may not even be done yet. They could even get multiple medals in the women's MS later if they're lucky.

 

[Mayomaniac]

They went full gas uphill in the beginning of the last lap, I think it broke him a bit that they were that strong. He couldnt respond.

Yeah, but after Jtb did that perfect 3rd shooting after catching the group againb and even tried to surpass everyone on the final climb for no reason it looked like a done deal to me.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Finally Scott corrects Patrick's long-standing conviction that Samuelsson and Hanna Öberg are dating. Swedish biathlon might be a soap opera but they were never a couple, and he's clung to that misconception almost as long as his insistence that Lukas Hofer and Dorothea Wierer were together.

The Austrian's still think the same about the 2 Swedes, so it's not just Eurosport bs.

 

[KZD]

Great race from Samuelsson and Ponsiluoma. Samuelsson may not be the best skier or the most consistent shooter but he is a killer in these mass-start or pursuit races. Some of the Norwegians really seem to be past their peak and today even JTB paid a bit for his efforts.

Italy with an awesome relay yesterday,
after their win in the cross-country World Cup, they really seem to be gearing up well for Milano Cortina 2026.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Great race from Samuelsson and Ponsiluoma. Samuelsson may not be the best skier or the most consistent shooter but he is a killer in these mass-start or pursuit races. Some of the Norwegians really seem to be past their peak and today even JTB paid a bit for his efforts.

Italy with an awesome relay yesterday,
after their win in the cross-country World Cup, they really seem to be gearing up well for Milano Cortina 2026.

In Biathlon they have a really strong base of top junior talents that they are developing nice.

In xc skiing they finally need to do something with the guys that they usually loose after their great results in the junior ranks. Because in 2026 they won't have De Fa, Pellegrino and Nöckler to carry the team in the relay...
That said, Cramer is improving things as a headcoach and the selection for the WC looks good. All the women that did well at the junior/u23 wc and Elia Barp have been selected, for them it's a great learning experience.

 

[BigCoward]

20/30 shot clean, that seems high.

 

[titan31]

Simon will surely blow up at some point. Skiing way too fast too early.

Roseland doesn't look great as well. Doesn't look comfortable at all.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Lots of very tired legs out there. Herrmann-Wick looks leaden, and has given up two penalty loops in time in two laps to Simon and Öberg despite equal shooting. All the Germans except Kebinger look like they emptied the tank in the relay. Which obviously is hardly normal for her. Just like Braisaz' Olympic win after a terrible time in the other events and even DNSing the pursuit after a bad sprint, it may well be that simply it comes down to who has some energy left.

Simon is doing her utmost to replicate JTB's race earlier though.

Tandrevold deserves something to make up for Beijing here. Let's see if she can mess up the last shoot for the 850th time this season though.

 

[titan31]

Looks good for Chevalier Bouchet atm. I know Simon and Oeberg are faster but they've done 2 penalty loops each at this stage.

 

[titan31]

Ooh we've got a race

 

[Salvarani]

Go Hanna!