Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[Salvarani]

YES HANNA!

 

[Samu Cuenca]

That was some final lap!

 

[titan31]

Damn was really hoping for Tandrevold there after her last few races.

Simon had a spectacular blow up there.

 

[titan31]

Could have got even closer too but Simon blocked Tandrevold a bit on that really narrow section. Probably cost Tandrevold a second or two

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Finally some justice for Zhangjiakou!

 

[Discgear]

Could have got even closer too but Simon blocked Tandrevold a bit on that really narrow section. Probably cost Tandrevold a second or two

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

It must be tough when all the medals don't end up in Norway. It's truly a nightmare with competitors.

 

[titan31]

It must be tough when all the medals don't end up in Norway. It's truly a nightmare with competitors.

Tbf, I'm not Norwegian, I'm Irish.

I just like Tandrevold as she's so prone to completely falling apart (the standing shooting and the scary physical issues she had) that she arguably doesn't get the success her talent deserves imo.

JTB is easy to root for too as he's so ridiculous you kind of have to marvel at what he does. It's not like his competitors are that likeable anyway.

 

[BullsFan22]

Tbf, I'm not Norwegian, I'm Irish.

I just like Tandrevold as she's so prone to completely falling apart (the standing shooting and the scary physical issues she had) that she arguably doesn't get the success her talent deserves imo.

JTB is easy to root for too as he's so ridiculous you kind of have to marvel at what he does. It's not like his competitors are that likeable anyway.

JTB is not that likeable.

 

[BigCoward]

JTB is not that likeable.

What other than his otherworldly talent is unlikeable?

He's not Northug/Klaebo arrogant.
He seems pretty chill when I've seen him interviewed. He's not surly, admitted when he didn't let off a shot in a wc race so seems honest. He was also the only person for about 5 years that stopped MF being just as dominant as JTB is now. You just have an irrational hatred for Norwegians.

 

[BullsFan22]

What other than his otherworldly talent is unlikeable?

He's not Northug/Klaebo arrogant.
He seems pretty chill when I've seen him interviewed. He's not surly, admitted when he didn't let off a shot in a wc race so seems honest. He was also the only person for about 5 years that stopped MF being just as dominant as JTB is now. You just have an irrational hatred for Norwegians.

Not all Norwegian athletes, just a select few. But they have a superiority complex and they like to impose their will on everyone, case in point the last 3 FIS WC seasons…

 

[BullsFan22]

What other than his otherworldly talent is unlikeable?

He's not Northug/Klaebo arrogant.
He seems pretty chill when I've seen him interviewed. He's not surly, admitted when he didn't let off a shot in a wc race so seems honest. He was also the only person for about 5 years that stopped MF being just as dominant as JTB is now. You just have an irrational hatred for Norwegians.

MF is far more likeable than JTB. I will say though, that Samuelsson is even less likeable.

 

[titan31]

MF is far more likeable than JTB. I will say though, that Samuelsson is even less likeable.

Id prefer JTB over Fourcade, QFM and Jacquelin tbh, and definitely over Samuelsson. That's pretty much the top athletes around who challenge outside of the other Norwegians (and JTB is more exciting than Laegreid). Even when the Russians were on tour and take out the politics element, it's not like someone like Loginov was easy to root for.

 

[BigCoward]

Anyone want to make any predictions for the Nordic WCs?
Clean sweep for Norway in the NC and men's cross country.
Sweden to win all Women's XC
Ski jumping i have no interest/knowledge.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Anyone want to make any predictions for the Nordic WCs?
Clean sweep for Norway in the NC and men's cross country.
Sweden to win all Women's XC
Ski jumping i have no interest/knowledge.

Nah, in Nordic Combines Lamparter is in great shape atm. People don't talk about how much of a freak athete he is. Until he was 18 he wasn't even a full time NC athlete, he did Olympic weightlifting on the side and managed 3 second places in the elite National Championship in his weight class at the age of 17. He also won the Skijumping national champinship in his age class during highschool and got 3rd in the 10km skating XC race in the same age class, while doing all 3 sports at the same time.

We could get rain and later a bit of snow towards the end of the week, but atm the coditions are really soft and slow, brutal for the heavier guys. But that's what you get when you host the WC at 900m in Central Europe at the end of February/start of March and insist on having all the XC skiing races start at noon or during the afternoon. The men's Skiathlon starting at 15:30 CET is absurd and frankly just stupid.

Looks like Norway will win an men's races, maybe Niskanen who is lowballing his chances atm will be able to do something in the 50km classic race. The laps are similar to the ones we had last year at the Olympics, hard with lots of climbs, but no super steep stuff. That's why the Finns and Hennig with their great diagonal stride uphill IMO have a decent chance in the 30km classic race.

Even the sprint loop is hard, there's a climb with 30m of altitude gain in it, that's a lot.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Anyone want to make any predictions for the Nordic WCs?

I'd like to predict that I will throw a tantrum at every cross country race Iivo Niskanen doesn't win. And Anne-Kjersti Kalvå will come 4th at something, probably the 10k.

 

[BullsFan22]

I'd like to predict that I will throw a tantrum at every cross country race Iivo Niskanen doesn't win. And Anne-Kjersti Kalvå will come 4th at something, probably the 10k.

Niskanen’s best shot is the 50km, but that’s a mass start, and unless he’s in his top form, he’ll have a hard time making the podium. He won’t have Bolshunov to help him push the pace as they did last year at the Olympic skiathlon or the 2018 50km.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Niskanen’s best shot is the 50km, but that’s a mass start, and unless he’s in his top form, he’ll have a hard time making the podium. He won’t have Bolshunov to help him push the pace as they did last year at the Olympic skiathlon or the 2018 50km.

The long lap in the 50km is hard with lots of climbing and climbs that are similar to those that we had at the Olympics. Steep, but still doable in diagonal stride, that helps him (and the Finnish women + Hennig) a lot. Maybe a bit controversial, but I think he could have won 2018 even without Bolshunov. Poltoranin was also there when he got the initial gap. I'm more worried about the Finnish team having once again crappy skis in really warm spring conditions, like they often have.

Speaking of him, I saw on social media that he's still training (he also owns a few skistores in his homecountry) and his ban ends on the 28th...

 

[BullsFan22]

The long lap in the 50km is hard with lots of climbing and climbs that are similar to those that we had at the Olympics. Steep, but still doable in diagonal stride, that helps him (and the Finnish women + Hennig) a lot. Maybe a bit controversial, but I think he could have won 2018 even without Bolshunov. Poltoranin was also there when he got the initial gap. I'm more worried about the Finnish team having once again crappy skis in really warm spring conditions, like they often have.

Speaking of him, I saw on social media that he's still training (he also owns a few skistores in his homecountry) and his ban ends on the 28th...

Maybe Iivo can work with some of the Swedes or Moch and push the pace, but the Norwegians will have 5 men starting every individual race except the skiathlon (Bolshunov is the defending champion) so that will make it all the more difficult. Iversen will likely only race the 50km, as he won that race (albeit in controversial fashion) in 2021, and that will be his only race. I don’t see him being a factor there. We’ll see if Golberg is still in solid shape or if his consistency this season runs out of steam. The Germans had great skis in Seefeld then not so great skis at home in Oberstdorf, in very similar conditions. Wonder how they’ll fare this time round. The conditions will be rainy/snowy for the first half of the worlds and then clearing up and warming towards the end.

 

[KZD]

Its quite certain that the Norwegians are going to dominate the men's cross-country races, Klæbo should win the sprint and maybe the 50k too, though I give an equal chance to Niskanen there, I think Krüger will win the skiathlon dropping Klæbo at the skating part and he is also the favourite for the 15k (I predict that is the only race Klæbo doesn't podium with Amundsen and Holund ahead of him). Relay and team sprint should be a Norwegian win though France and Italy might surprise in the latter.

In the women I think it will be Swedish dominance, Niskanen is the favourite for the 30k but other than that I see Andersson winning the 10k and 15k, though Diggins will be though to beat in the former, Sundling winning the sprint ahead of her teammates and the team sprint too. In the relay Sweden are the favourites too but Norway should still be able to put up a fight.

 

[Mayomaniac]

About Italy, De Fabiani is skipping both the Skiathlon and the 15km race, but doing all the other races. I guess the younger guys will get a chance to gain some experience in those races. Salvadori is probably a lock for the Skiathlon and the 50km race, Nöckler is there for the relay and the 50km race. Pellegrino probably won't do any distance races to save energy for the team sprint and the relay.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Its quite certain that the Norwegians are going to dominate the men's cross-country races, Klæbo should win the sprint and maybe the 50k too, though I give an equal chance to Niskanen there, I think Krüger will win the skiathlon dropping Klæbo at the skating part and he is also the favourite for the 15k (I predict that is the only race Klæbo doesn't podium with Amundsen and Holund ahead of him). Relay and team sprint should be a Norwegian win though France and Italy might surprise in the latter.

In the women I think it will be Swedish dominance, Niskanen is the favourite for the 30k but other than that I see Andersson winning the 10k and 15k, though Diggins will be though to beat in the former, Sundling winning the sprint ahead of her teammates and the team sprint too. In the relay Sweden are the favourites too but Norway should still be able to put up a fight.

Norway winning every single men's race would be really boring. Other than that I actually don't mind the Norwegian distance specialists and if it was Bolshunov dominating every race I'd actually cheer for guys like Holund or Krüger (alongside Niskanen and other distance specialists).

If Karlsson is back on track her best shot for gold is probably the skiathlon, Andersson is probably the nr 1 favourite for the individual start skating race. I also wouldn't rule out a Claudel medal in that race, she's in great shape atm and hard tracks are great news for her.Fähndrich and the wildcard Skistad are probably the biggest danger for the Swedish Women in the sprint.

 

[BullsFan22]

Norway winning every single men's race would be really boring. Other than that I actually don't mind the Norwegian distance specialists and if it was Bolshunov dominating every race I'd actually cheer for guys like Holund or Krüger (alongside Niskanen and other distance specialists).

If Karlsson is back on track her best shot for gold is probably the skiathlon, Andersson is probably the nr 1 favourite for the individual start skating race. I also wouldn't rule out a Claudel medal in that race, she's in great shape atm and hard tracks are great news for her.Fähndrich and the wildcard Skistad are probably the biggest danger for the Swedish Women in the sprint.

In form, Ustiugov is capable of winning the skiathlon and 15km. Then you have the likes of Spitsov, Maltsev, Chervotkin, Yakimushkin, Semikov, etc that are capable of making the podium in distance races, some only in specific disciplines, but we saw what Spitsov and Yakimushkin did at the Olympics last season, getting on the podium in the distance races.

 

[BigCoward]

I'd like to predict that I will throw a tantrum at every cross country race Iivo Niskanen doesn't win. And Anne-Kjersti Kalvå will come 4th at something, probably the 10k.

Would you take Niskanen winning the 50km, if it meant Diggins winning a gold, and the commentary team losing their *** over it?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Would you take Niskanen winning the 50km, if it meant Diggins winning a gold, and the commentary team losing their *** over it?

There isn't really any choice, if Diggins wins, podiums or even does anything at all to be honest, the commentary team will lose their *** over it. They awarded her 'the athlete who made the race' at the Worlds relay a few years ago when all she did was ski alongside Pärmäkoski and whoever was anchoring the Germans (I think maybe Vicky Carl) for 5km then get outsprinted for bronze. She's got to get a medal in the 10k, the Americans always overperform their norms in the championships, and her usual level would have her competing for the win at that distance in freestyle anyway so not hitting the podium. I'm more worried about the skiathlon and people racing too conservatively on the classic leg, turning it into a straight freestyle mass start among the major contenders, as that has happened too many times in the past.

Maybe I'll trade you the gold for Come On Jess if I can have both Niskanens win the respective distance classics or maybe get some kind of fluke medal for Patricija Eiduka.

 

[Mayomaniac]

There isn't really any choice, if Diggins wins, podiums or even does anything at all to be honest, the commentary team will lose their *** over it. They awarded her 'the athlete who made the race' at the Worlds relay a few years ago when all she did was ski alongside Pärmäkoski and whoever was anchoring the Germans (I think maybe Vicky Carl) for 5km then get outsprinted for bronze. She's got to get a medal in the 10k, the Americans always overperform their norms in the championships, and her usual level would have her competing for the win at that distance in freestyle anyway so not hitting the podium. I'm more worried about the skiathlon and people racing too conservatively on the classic leg, turning it into a straight freestyle mass start among the major contenders, as that has happened too many times in the past.

Maybe I'll trade you the gold for Come On Jess if I can have both Niskanens win the respective distance classics or maybe get some kind of fluke medal for Patricija Eiduka.

I think Pärmäkoski, Niskanen and Hennig will all want to push the pace in the classic leg of the skiathlon and with Andersson and Karlsson being better than them in a skating mass start they probably have all the interest to go with them and to keep the pace high. If Karlsson is fully recovered she's my favourite for the Skiathlon, she seems to be much better in mass starts.
For the 10km I think that Andersson is probably the favourite. Yes, Diggins crashed in Toblach, but it would have been really close and Diggins is always at her best in Toblach, it's pretty much her backyard (she rents an apparment there for over 4 months every season and is based there during the season).