Biathlon 2019 Off Season Discussion

[heywoodu 16,142]

Just now, RobtheAggie said:

That is too bad.  To they really have a better shot with cross country over biathlon?  

Very much, yes. At least if you mean in terms of qualifying for the Olympics. In biathlon that was hard until 2014 and near-impossible after that if you're from a nation like Brazil, especially now that quota reallocation seems to be non-existent. In XC, the three main Brazilian women will all no doubt reach the qualifying standard if nothing weird happens, there it's a matter of fighting amongst each other (with some rather mediocre twists and turns) for the one quota.

[RobtheAggie 340]

Ukrainian biathlete Maria Kruchova has retired from the team.  She married Alexander Loginov

[RobtheAggie 340]

Ole is back in the news after an interview with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

[RobtheAggie 340]

Interesting quote from IBU President - 

 

 "We are the International Biathlon Union, so we have to look at how we can become a worldwide sport," he said.  "We are currently very Europe-focused.  The Olympics are in China and we need to look at how we can take advantage of this.  We are already discussing with the Chinese biathlon federation how to have long-term development in China.

We need to look at development across Asia and North America. We need to take this a step further and develop a strategy on this."

 

I would love to see a dedicated IBU CUP series in Asia and North America.  Not to replace the IBU CUP, but on the next level down. I know in NA there is already a series, like in Russia and Norway.  Elevate the NORAM series into a formal IBU series.  Give it more visibility.  Start something in Asia with a race in the following venues:

 

Korea - Pyongchang

Japan - Nagano

China - Zhangjiakou

Kazahkistan - 

 

NZ and Australia could host as well, just in the opposite season.

 

Give it visibility on the IBU website.  Visibility is the key.  I would love if the IBU Calendar would show much more than simply the World Cup, IBU Cup, and Youth/Junior and the Euro Championship.  I would love to at least see a small write up/results about the 3rd tier of the sport.  But I have always been a sucker for the little guy.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 14, 2019 by RobtheAggie

[heywoodu 16,142]

Pretty good idea. Much better than starting with World Cups out of the blue there...Pyeongchang's world championships still frighten me in terms of how few people were there. An Asia IBU Cup starting in Mount Hotham and then going to Japan/China/Korea/Kazakhstan, excellent   Possibly even something in Mongolia, since they have a significant presence in the IBU Cup.

Edited May 14, 2019 by heywoodu

[EselTheDonkey 837]

Laura Dahlmeier has retired: https://www.sportschau.de/wintersport/biathlon/laura-dahlmeier-verkuendet-karriereende-100.html

 

She says, that she didn't feel the passion anymore that is necessary for this sport. 

[heywoodu 16,142]

I have lost 5 liters of tears in the past hour  

[dcro 10,210]

Another Efrurt case getting public tomorrow?

 

Just kidding... Or am I?

[heywoodu 16,142]

5 minutes ago, dcro said:

Another Efrurt case getting public tomorrow?

 

Just kidding... Or am I?

 

 

[OlympicsFan 860]

1 hour ago, dcro said:

Another Efrurt case getting public tomorrow?

 

Just kidding... Or am I?

Would be too good to be true to finally see Kuzmina getting caught.