Croatia National Thread

[dcro 10,210]

For 2018 Winter Olympics it looks like we will have 7 (11) - 15 athletes.

 

Alpine skiing - Five quotas are the minimum probably (3 M + 2 W). We are currently 23rd and 41st on the additional quotas wait list, but that's not too bad actually. Almost all big teams won't use all of their ~20 quotas, and most of the wait list quotas are from the big teams anyway. Plus we can pretty much eliminate NED, BEL, CAY, Danish woman and probably few more (maybe NZL / JPN (except Yuasa) etc). My guess that we will have 6 or 7 athletes at the end (4 or 5 men and 2 women).

Cross-country skiing - Currently it's 1 M + 1 W, with Dadić being just outside of top 300... He really needs to improve those points somewhere. These Christmas time races in Turkey were probably a missed opportunity, as I'm sure he could have actually won all of them (Turkey for example most likely secured two quotas thanks to those races). He competed in Villach yesterday, which was apparently his last race of the year (meaning that he'll miss another set of Turkish races). I think sprint competition scheduled for Ravna Gora in January may as well be the decider. He can really improve his sprint average, as his 5th best (last counting) sprint points are actually quite a way behind his other counting points.

Bobsleigh - Good news is that our team will finish off their qualifications in Lake Placid. I'd say four-man qualification is a near lock, even though we are quite prone to bad luck in winter sports. However we'll have the upper hand no matter which races (WC/EC/NAC) our opponents choose, so basically everything would have to go against us to fail. Actualy I'd say two-men qualification is very much in the cards too. They'll need a couple of strong results in Lake Placid, but it's doable (primarily they'll need to keep Jamaica behind, what would even allow one of GBR / ITA to potentially overtake us).

Luge - Obratov did a good job to be the first reserve (excluding Norway). Qualification system is pretty unfair for the small nations (especially since the introduction of team relay...). Maybe she'll get something after Russia's sanction and Ivanova's ban in particular, or with reallocation of unused team relay quotas.

Biathlon - Not sure what Crnković has to do for qualification (except improve his shooting...). Probably repeat his points scoring WC performance in Oberhof? Anyhow, he has a chance to compete in cross-country skiing too, depending on Dadić.

[dcro 10,210]

Looks like there is still a good hope for Obratov. I completely overlooked Natalie Maag.

 

Swiss apparently have 3 groups of athletes.

Group 1: Top 8 result.

Group 2: Potential for future, 2xTop 18 results

Group 3: 2xTop 14 resuls (though it even says that meeting this does not guarantee anything)

 

Maag's best result of the season is 22nd place... I guess they won't accept it, but their selection criteria does have some subjectivity, so I'm not completely positive about that.

 

http://www.swissolympicteam.ch/dam/jcr:bca4eded-b30f-4fc6-b866-6e93ba3aa296/Selektionskonzept_PyeongChang2018_Rodeln_DE.pdf

[dcro 10,210]

And Maag fails to qualify for Konigssee WC, which means she no longer has a mathematical chance to reach any of the requirements.

[Rafoo 218]

No chances in speed skating?

[dcro 10,210]

1 hour ago, Raff said:

No chances in speed skating?

 

Nope. Long track is non-existent, while short track team never had a chance.

[dcro 10,210]

Our four-man bobsleigh team has effectively insured their qualification, even counting that 18th place in La Plagne (which they'll improve in Lake Placid).  They can't realistically drop below 31st place in the allocation list (which in reality means 30th, since the Dutch team has already given up on their qualification).

 

Also, going into the last week of qualifications, they are holding the last spot in the two-men event, with a decent enough gap ahead of those behind though. Even counting 23rd from La Plagne as the 7th best result can see them qualify, but probably unlikely. Qualification seems pretty realistic if they finish 14th-15th in Lake Placid, while it's probably more or less guaranteed if they get a couple 11th or 12th finishes.

 

It's a redemption for our sliding sports! After the bad luck of Sochi 2014.

[Rafoo 218]

So 5 in alpine skiing,2 in cross country,4 man bobsleigh,2 man bobsleigh and 1 in luge...this is it,no more chances for some quatas?

[dcro 10,210]

11 minutes ago, Rafoo said:

So 5 in alpine skiing,2 in cross country,4 man bobsleigh,2 man bobsleigh and 1 in luge...this is it,no more chances for some quatas?

 

There will be at least 3 in XC skiing in fact (1 M + 2 W), plus an outside chance for the second men's spot. Alpine skiing team will also most likely get 1-2 additional quotas.

 

Even in biathlon it's not over, as Crnković will have one last effort this week (currently he is just outside of qualification).

 

So it's going to be 14-17 athletes, which makes an unexpectedly big delegation.

[Rafoo 218]

E to..to je super...no chances for lana in figure skating?

[Rafoo 218]

There will be a croatia team in alpine skiing on team event