Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

[BigCoward]

He can never be the goat. You cant be the greatest if you only win cause you and your criminal gang robbed your biggest rival of his career.

He had won more than bolshuvov when Russia was banned.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Apparently they once again used excessive amounts of salt, so the rain actually helps to make the conditions and the downhills more reasonable.
But apparently Norwegians even salt Alpine Skiing slopes on their glaciers in the summer, which is absurd...
I guess Karlsson and mainly Johaug will go hard from the start to get rid of Diggins in the classic leg.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

3 Norskies, 3 Swedes right from the off. Sundling is the threat because of the crappy skate course, she'll be hard to drop once they're on to that. Commentators blaming US skis for Diggins not being up there but I think it's the suit, hot damn is that an ugly outfit compared to the usual one. The stars and stripes don't really give much scope for an understated design but the normal one is actually quite nice, this one is gross.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Commentators blaming US skis for Diggins not being up there

On the first lap lost quite a few places in the downhill, so it seems like she might have put too much klister on or the glide is just bad. Looking at the other Americans they ain’t doing well either.

Karlsson seems to be a weak version of her self, but maybe she needs this race to find her form again after a longer period without racing. Swedes are traditionally also not the best with altitude preparations, so it is possible that they messed up in the lead up to this Worlds.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

On the first lap lost quite a few places in the downhill, so it seems like she might have put too much klister on or the glide is just bad. Looking at the other Americans they ain’t doing well either.

Karlsson seems to be a weak version of her self, but maybe she needs this race to find her form again after a longer period without racing. Swedes are traditionally also not the best with altitude preparations, so it is possible that they messed up in the lead up to this Worlds.

Certainly don't think the glide is optimal, you'd usually expect Diggins to gain a bit of time on the long downhill, and she gained absolutely nothing. However, with the conditions, hanging on in the Classic part of the race to be close enough to still be in touch come the start of the skate was always going to be best-case-scenario for her, and Patrick and Mike have a decade-long history of blaming the skis any time she has any poor form or struggles in any way shape or form. To the point where they even blamed the skis when she struggled on Alpe Cermis at the same time as Laukli and McCabe (still relative unknowns at the time) were both overperforming - it's like they can't comprehend that, while she has immense powers of recovery and ability to hold form, she's not completely immune to fatigue and the fact she does so much of the calendar so consistently will have an impact at some point, you know?

It's not unreasonable also for her to realise a medal is gone here and phone it in with the aim of preserving energy for other disciplines.

Appalling change from Slind, that was like the Ferrari pit crew back in the late 2000s.

 

[KZD]

Sundling just f.... her and Weng's race. No need to try to overtake there.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Oh wow, a pileup involving a blonde Swede crashing in dramatic and unnecessary fashion and taking out the competition and it isn't Frida "Johnny Knoxville" Karlsson?!

 

[No Excuses]

Sundling looked pretty good. Don't think they would have dropped her

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Damn close battle at the end, like a sprint between Basso and Sastre but Andersson coming out on top to quieten the crowd and make them think, "damn, we should have made a tougher course" is the right outcome.

But I have to wonder how many black cats Heidi Weng has crossed, mirrors she's broken and ladders she's walked under, in her lifetime.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Sundling just f.... her and Weng's race. No need to try to overtake there.

She looked a bit fatigued on the sprint climb before but yeah, stupid mistake.
Karlsson had by far the worst skis of the front 6 in classic skiing.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Oh wow, a pileup involving a blonde Swede crashing in dramatic and unnecessary fashion and taking out the competition and it isn't Frida "Johnny Knoxville" Karlsson?!

You also could have added attractive to the description.😉
Has Heidi already cried on national TV? She looked like she was gonna kill Sundling after the finish line...

 

[DonAragona]

The curse of winning the Tour and not winning Gold at distance for the girls continues...

 

[Libertine Seguros]

You also could have added attractive to the description.😉
Has Heidi already cried on national TV? She looked like she was gonna kill Sundling after the finish line...

Heidi Weng? Cry? Surely you must be mistaken!

 

[Mayomaniac]

Heidi Weng? Cry? Surely you must be mistaken!

She said she cried when she heared that Svahn was going to miss the sprint

 

[Libertine Seguros]

She said she cried when she heared that Svahn was going to miss the sprint

Maybe the organisers didn't salt the tracks at all, Heidi just went for a recce.

 

[DonAragona]

I've never seen so many girls crying after the race, even Fosnaes is crying.

 

[search]

Kaelin was happy. Wherever that came from.

Pretty good showing from the Swiss so far, probably also due to equipment. Bodes well for their chances in the teamsprint.

 

[DonAragona]

Mike Dixon "look at Sundling she is laughing at them OH NO!"

The difference in entertainment of the two skiathlons is similar to that of night and day. Today's race, what a thriller

 

[BullsFan22]

The FIS police are out in full force. The streaming of the sprint races was on YouTube (no, wasn’t the FIS channel) and as it normally was. It was taken down less than 24 hrs later. The men’s skiathlon was only streamed 10, minutes before being taken down. And it appears that the women’s race wasn’t streamed at all.

Anyone have a decent feed link? I am not into getting vpn’s to watch the NRK, SVT, SRF coverage….

 

[Mayomaniac]

Maybe the organisers didn't salt the tracks at all, Heidi just went for a recce.

You're brutal today, did the team Disneyland fail inspire you that much?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

You're brutal today, did the team Disneyland fail inspire you that much?

Here's the thing... I like Heidi Weng...

 

[BigCoward]

At least the womens relay should be pretty competitive.
Norway should go Johaug/Weng/Slind/Another. They can't have someone sprinting against Sundling, they have to break them early.

 

[BullsFan22]

Watched today’s race. Good stuff. They went right from the start. Fast conditions don’t benefit Johaug, especially when there’s such a strong group of skied that are in shape and are motivated. I expect all the women’s races to be competitive. I don’t think (or I certainly hope not) that Johaug will have it all her own way in the 10 and 50km. We’ll see how well the German and Finnish women get on. The relay could be really good.

 

[DonAragona]

Watched today’s race. Good stuff. They went right from the start. Fast conditions don’t benefit Johaug, especially when there’s such a strong group of skied that are in shape and are motivated. I expect all the women’s races to be competitive. I don’t think (or I certainly hope not) that Johaug will have it all her own way in the 10 and 50km. We’ll see how well the German and Finnish women get on. The relay could be really good.

Apparently the 10k and 50k courses are tougher with a further hill at the top of the classic hill yesterday otherwise I'd agree

 

[DonAragona]

Reading through all the hard luck stories on the various forums i'm surprised nobody has mentioned how poor Karlsson was at ski exchange, she was only 1 second behind Ebba entering her bay where she nearly fell, was slow putting on the skis and strapping the poles...lost at least 5 seconds, the slipstream and ultimately the Gold