Biathlon 2019 - 2020 Discussion Thread

[RobtheAggie 340]

This would be a very interesting change if it happened.  I would make the individual race even more different.  I would live to see how the classic would look going up some of the really steep hills around 18-20k for the men, or 13-14 k for the women.  

[Gianlu33 4,559]

This is a sort of April fools or what?

[heywoodu 15,141]

28 minutes ago, Gianlu33 said:

This is a sort of April fools or what?

 

Not 'a sort of', it is exactly that  

[Werloc 3,164]

Yeah, it seems that every time that I turn on a new video or look at a headline, I momentarily forget what day it is.

 

I remember I wanted to burn down our media every time when it was April 1st. Good thing this time they have the virus to worry about and not their bullshit headlines.

 

Then, after reading the entire day of fake news, they would hold a poll with a top 10 for everyone to vote which fake april 1st news was the most fun.

[RobtheAggie 340]

2 hours ago, heywoodu said:

 

Not 'a sort of', it is exactly that  

 

It is good to see some humor during a challenging time.  

 

By the way, this is the best April Fools Day joke ever:

 

And another one of my favorite one:

Edited April 1, 2020 by RobtheAggie

[RobtheAggie 340]

A few random news and notes:

1.  US Biathlon recently signed an agreement with Paul Smith's College a very small college near Lake Placid to allow Youth Biathletes to go to college there, and train for biathlon.  This is the first program of its kind in the US.  Most athletes who wanted to continue biathlon anywhere near full-time had to decide to not attend college and go to a year residency program in places like Ft Kent, ME or Presque Isle, ME.  There are a few others, but these were the biggest.  If they were lucky, they could have been selected to the US Buathlon X team (developmental team) housed in Lake Placid.  The other option was to leave biathlon for 4 years, focus on cross county skiing and go to college and ski cross county at one of the 40 or so schools that have a cross county team.  This agreement with Paul Smiths will provide economic assistance for those looking to continue biathlon with their studies.  It could be a game changer for the program.  But it will take about a decade to see the changes it can make.  The first biathlete, Laura Farra, daughter of a former Olympic Nordic Skier, is the first to take advantage of this.

 

2.  Russian Biathlon President Vladimir Dracheva is under serious pressure to resign.  In recent years, the team has not performed well on the tracks as well as with sponsorships.  With what is arguably the most popular sport in Russia, Dracheva has failed to secure some main sponsors for the team.  Yes, the ban on hosting races has hurt,  But there is a growing feeling that a change needs to me made.    I do not pretend to understand all of the factors going on here, but on the surface it seems that people are upset at the lack of results, lack of sponsorship money and are looking to blame Dracheva.

 

 

[RobtheAggie 340]

More news out of Sweden, the biathlon national team manager Anders Byström has left and has joined the Swedish National Cross Country team in the same role.  

[RobtheAggie 340]

On 02/04/2020 at 06:19, RobtheAggie said:

2.  Russian Biathlon President Vladimir Dracheva is under serious pressure to resign.  In recent years, the team has not performed well on the tracks as well as with sponsorships.  With what is arguably the most popular sport in Russia, Dracheva has failed to secure some main sponsors for the team.  Yes, the ban on hosting races has hurt,  But there is a growing feeling that a change needs to me made.    I do not pretend to understand all of the factors going on here, but on the surface it seems that people are upset at the lack of results, lack of sponsorship money and are looking to blame Dracheva.

 

OK, so more is coming out about this.  Dracheva is accused of using funds to help his wife.  Allegedly, his wife had a personal driver paid for by by the Russian Biathlon Union.

 

Also, it looks like that the Russian Biathlon Union is going to run out of money by Fall 2020.  

 

 

[heywoodu 15,141]

1 hour ago, RobtheAggie said:

 

OK, so more is coming out about this.  Dracheva is accused of using funds to help his wife.  Allegedly, his wife had a personal driver paid for by by the Russian Biathlon Union.

 

Also, it looks like that the Russian Biathlon Union is going to run out of money by Fall 2020.  

 

 

 

Wow, important federation people using federation money for personal advantages, I've never seen that before in biathlon!

[Monzanator 4,502]

Zbigniew Waskiewicz is back as the Head of Polish Biathlon Union. He was the boss from 2006-2014 before.

 

The outgoing boss Dagmara Gerasimuk has been named as IBU Development Director in December so it was obvious she will leave her PZB post.