Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

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I basically stopped watching ski jumping a couple of years ago, but even back then Norway had a history of multiple dsq per season, and the media/fan response always was like "oh no, the poor dude got so unlucky again", or blaming the staff for being "not careful enough".

Obviously others are cheating as well, but good to see that it's finally called out as what it is.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

One has to question Riiber's jumps as well now. Basically all the Championships are disgraced now. Lindvik already took 2 gold medals here. NC team also with plenty of golds.

Riiber was asked about this and said the NC guys have their own people working with the suit and that they do things within the rules, but you never know and they should definitively be checked.

IOC needs to conduct a serious investigation into this. Huge scandal. This is worse than doping.

Totally a huge scandal and definitively the same level of cheating as doping, but I struggle to see how it necessarily is worse than doping. It’s hard to separate two ways of cheating like this from each other.

A huge scandal anyway, and it should get big consequences. I’m have not watched much ski jumping the last 10 years, but many jumpers and staff in the Norwegian team have been very unlikeable for a long time.

 

[DenisMenchov]

Riiber was asked about this and said the NC guys have their own people working with the suit and that they do things within the rules, but you never know and they should definitively be checked.

Totally a huge scandal and definitively the same level of cheating as doping, but I struggle to see how it necessarily is worse than doping. It’s hard to separate two ways of cheating like this from each other.

A huge scandal anyway, and it should get big consequences. I’m have not watched much ski jumping the last 10 years, but many jumpers and staff in the Norwegian team have been very unlikeable for a long time.

I on the contrary have always fancied Norwegian jumpers after Ljokelsoy, whom I didn't like. Guys like Hilde, Johan Remen Evensen, Robert Johansson or Anders Jacobsen were very passionate about their jumps.

Also Daniel Andre Tande and Forfang lately, I was never a fan of theirs, but they had that same passion, it was hard not to appreciate their good results.

Well for me at the end of the day, when you dope, it's your body that produces that result, and it's a very gray area. Imagine you have a test, and you drink something to help you memorize all the answers. It is unfair, but you did it.

But using illegal equipment is straight-up cheating. Like googling the questions you don't know at the exam. Ofc, it's just my opinion that it's worse, and I can understand that some may find it the same.

Also I'm very sad to hear this story, maybe it's not noticeable from my writing here, but I really admire Norway's commitment to winter sports and their results. I feel betrayed by them once again after the asthma scandal.

 

[BullsFan22]

Any word on the xc team?

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Any word on the xc team?

Their suits have not been illegal

 

[BullsFan22]

Their suits have not been illegal

What a pity

 

[Gigs_98]

And worst of all, all of this might lead to Andreas Wellinger winning a gold medal. How could the Norwegians do that to us???

 

[QueenStagiaire]

And worst of all, all of this might lead to Andreas Wellinger winning a gold medal. How could the Norwegians do that to us???

While it is very likely that Lindvik‘s suit in that competition was also against the rules, it would take a confession from someone on the Norwegian team to change that now.
Also, clearly Wellinger with his Red Bull sponsorship would mean half a world title for Austria.

 

[BullsFan22]

And of you only consider the French open then Nadal is better than Djoko. Just as well most sensible people appreciate xc is more than one race.
One of them is much closer to the other in their 'speciality'.
Way to prove that bolshunov fans were not, in fact , buthurt though.

Only? Bolshunov has beaten Klaebo in every distance race at a major championship they've gone up against each other. It's one thing if he kept beating him in the 50km, he's beaten him in skiathlon and 15km races as well. Let's call a spade a spade here.

You don't have to be a Bolshunov fan to acknowledge that. I am not really a Bolshunov fan myself. He keeps showing how sore of a loser he is. Latest example is at the Russian nationals a few days ago, where Ustiugov (a much more likeable skier and person) won, and Bolshunov cut him off in the semifinal and obstructed him. Ustiugov came over to him at the finish line and said 'why do you keep doing that?' Also, after the last race of the championships, he started making strange and disrespectful remarks.

In many respects, he's very similar to wonderboy, when things don't go his way.

 

[BigCoward]

Only? Bolshunov has beaten Klaebo in every distance race at a major championship they've gone up against each other. It's one thing if he kept beating him in the 50km, he's beaten him in skiathlon and 15km races as well. Let's call a spade a spade here.

Well I don't just think it can be judged on major championships, being good for specific week is not necessary better than sustained dominance . Not for nothing but Klaebo has more distance wins than Bolshunov has total.
And I don't only think distance races should count. Being world class at sprinting and distance is far more impressive to me than just being world class at distance.
Also, while i dont like Klaebo, he's many levels of d1ck below Bolshunov who has repeatedly been shown to be truly petulant (which doesnt matter in this discussion but you brought it up).
And finally he didn't beat him at one 50k at a major champs, Klaebo was dq'd' but was definitely better that day.

 

[BullsFan22]

Well I don't just think it can be judged on major championships, being good for specific week is not necessary better than sustained dominance . Not for nothing but Klaebo has more distance wins than Bolshunov has total.
And I don't only think distance races should count. Being world class at sprinting and distance is far more impressive to me than just being world class at distance.
Also, while i dont like Klaebo, he's many levels of d1ck below Bolshunov who has repeatedly been shown to be truly petulant (which doesnt matter in this discussion but you brought it up).
And finally he didn't beat him at one 50k at a major champs, Klaebo was dq'd' but was definitely better that day.

LOL. Broski, you're English. You've likely never put on a pair of cross country skis in your life.

 

[BigCoward]

LOL. Broski, you're English. You've likely never put on a pair of cross country skis in your life.

Epic comeback, what a silly way to admit defeat.
For your information though my sister lives just down the hill from Hollmenkollen.

 

[BullsFan22]

Epic comeback, what a silly way to admit defeat.
For your information though my sister lives just down the hill from Hollmenkollen.

Ok? Does that make you a skier?

 

[BigCoward]

Ok? Does that make you a skier?

Does being English make me not?
Does not being able to xc ski impact my ability to watch, enjoy or have opinions? What a silly little snob and xenophobe you are.
Someone who have never skiied at all is closer in skills to you, than you are to Klaebo/Bolshunov.

 

[BullsFan22]

Does being English make me not?
Does not being able to xc ski impact my ability to watch, enjoy or have opinions? What a silly little snob and xenophobe you are.
Someone who have never skiied at all is closer in skills to you, than you are to Klaebo/Bolshunov.

I very much doubt that. And you calling someone else a xenophobe is rich.

 

[BigCoward]

I very much doubt that. And you calling someone else a xenophobe is rich.

How? Stop making stuff up.

 

[BullsFan22]

How? Stop making stuff up.

Nope. Not making stuff up. And how arrogant and ignorant can you be, thinking you know more than someone that's raced at the Europa Cup level, when you've never put on a pair of xc skis in your life? Oh but wait, your sister lives near Holmenkollen! Typical arrogant Englishman and also a hypocrite to boot.

 

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guys, move over to the DMs please

 

[Cousin Orson]

Well I don't just think it can be judged on major championships, being good for specific week is not necessary better than sustained dominance . Not for nothing but Klaebo has more distance wins than Bolshunov has total.

Honestly mate, did you even follow the sport before 2023? You have exposed yourself as totally ignorant of the facts. At the time of the russian expulsion, Bolshunov had nearly 3 times as many WC distance wins as Kläbo. He dominated the distance WC, winning the overall 3 years in a row from 2019-2021 and came in 2nd place (ahead of Kläbo) in 2022 despite being prevented from finishing the season. Everyone who actually followed XC skiing at the time knows that Bolshunov underperformed at the WCH relative to the WC.

Being world class at sprinting and distance is far more impressive to me than just being world class at distance.

Are you suggesting that all time greats like Dählie and Svan are far less impressive than Kläbo because they weren't world class in an event that literally did not exist at the time?

 

[DonAragona]

Looks like similar weather conditions to the team sprint.

Assuming they all have equal skis(which they probably won't) i think Johaug wins easily, suspect the other medals could be decided by others trying to hang onto Johaug and paying the price at the end of the race.

Hope Stadlober has a good race

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Are you suggesting that all time greats like Dählie and Svan are far less impressive than Kläbo because they weren't world class in an event that literally did not exist at the time?

Well, this is always the problem in setting the "GOAT". Even when you have statistical outliers, they need to be colossal outliers for it to hold as received wisdom in the way somebody like Merckx or Ali or even Gretzky have done.

The sport is so different nowadays, pure numbers are harder to use when there are far more events, a bit like counting the number of race wins as a tie-breaker in F1 greatest when there's twice as many races for the championship as there was 50 years ago. The other factor is team events. Also you have the team events to factor in. There was some discussion a few years ago in biathlon as to what the greatest championship performance by a woman was: was it Marte Olsbu Røiseland in 2020 (5 gold, 2 bronze), or Laura Dahlmeier in 2017 (5 gold, 1 silver). For my money it was Dahlmeier. Yes, Røiseland had an extra medal, but the extra medal was because there was no Single Mixed Relay in 2017 so Dahlmeier only had 6 medals available to her, so the fact Røiseland got 7 shouldn't be a factor. And then you had that individually Røiseland had 2 gold and 2 bronze (with Norway winning all of the SMR, Mixed Relay and women's Relay adding to her total), whereas Dahlmeier had 3 gold and 1 silver (Germany then winning the Mixed Relay and the women's Relay), so to me, numerically Røiseland may have had the record number of medals, but Dahlmeier's was the greater achievement; winning "more medals in a single championship" isn't a fair comparison when Dahlmeier won a medal in every single race available to her.

So judging who the "GOAT" is is always fraught with difficulties. Klæbo is unquestionably the best of his era at this point, I feel we can say, but of all time, I'm more than a bit hesitant to accept.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Brutal conditions in the women’s 50k. Will be a long race.

 

[DenisMenchov]

This is ridiculous. They're literally using classic here.

 

[DonAragona]

This race is a joke, sums up the Championships.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Rain and sleet overnight, heavy slushy conditions, this is going to be brutal.