Nordic Skiing/Biathlon Thread

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May 29, 2011
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What do you not like about Kerttu?
I just dislike the traditionalist (competitive) skiing culture that continues to prevail in Fin. You know the drill: the elevation of classic, individual start races as something otherworldly, and the derived hyperbole about who really is the best. Demotion of speed, skills and skate.

The siblings, and particularly their media representations, are the latest batch of inputs for the reproduction of this culture. Cultural frames and ideas matter, and to me not challenging this is nostalgic and self-defeating as a competitive strategy.

I know the majority opinion in this thread would be in support of such a distance/classic emphasis, and that's understandable given how the sport is being managed by FIS and commented on in other national contexts. Our wintertons are different, put it that way.
 
Feb 20, 2010
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Diggins getting dropped on the uphills and gliding back on, she would probably never have a better chance in 50k classic in her life even if she wasn't retiring with so many withdrawals and so many tired legs out there, but the gap seems to be really big this time.
 
Jul 19, 2009
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How are the rules on ski prep for the second pair of skis? One of the Norwegian commentators said they had to turn in the skis for testing before the start, but is it possible to adjust them in the later rounds? If not, that means you can't recover if you make a mistake and don't realize it before you start racing.
 
Sep 11, 2018
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This is worse than men's race yesterday, 5km of racing and 45km of nothing happening. I understand why FIS wants shorter races.