Biathlon IBU World Championships 2020

[Olympian1010 8,230]

25 minutes ago, Monzanator said:

 

Only if they remove the individual alltogether. Again, it's down to the leverage by the big nations. If single mixed relay becomes a Germany/Norway/France/Italy/Russia/Sweden playground then it doesn't make any sense other than rich getting richer. Poland once won a WC medal in the defunct team event and it hasn't translated to any success for our relay over the long run either.

I don’t think they’ll remove anything, I just think they’ll add the single mixed to the games

[Monzanator 4,768]

4 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

I don’t think they’ll remove anything, I just think they’ll add the single mixed to the games

 

IOC runs the show though. Biathlon already has 11 events spread across 14 days. They doubled teamed individuals and pursuit on the same day already. Unlike cross country or alpine skiing the best athletes do not skip some events on purpose here. And who's gonna field a B line-up for an Olympic event now to hope for a better shot in the individual races?

[Federer91 3,023]

We don't need 3 different relays for biathlon. The single one is useless and frankly shouldn't be even on the regular schedule let alone the Olympics. 

[Monzanator 4,768]

Just now, Federer91 said:

We don't need 3 different relays for biathlon. The single one is useless and frankly shouldn't be even on the regular schedule let alone the Olympics. 

 

Yeah, the classic relay at least forces nations to have some depth on the team. Single mixed relay means shit. It's male & female alpha where one penalty loop kills your chances. In classic relays teams have won it with multiple penalty loops before.

[Olympian1010 8,230]

18 minutes ago, Federer91 said:

We don't need 3 different relays for biathlon. The single one is useless and frankly shouldn't be even on the regular schedule let alone the Olympics. 

No, I don’t want 3 relays either. I also don’t want the individual. We should just lose the useless gender relays.

[Olympian1010 8,230]

16 minutes ago, Monzanator said:

 

Yeah, the classic relay at least forces nations to have some depth on the team. Single mixed relay means shit. It's male & female alpha where one penalty loop kills your chances. In classic relays teams have won it with multiple penalty loops before.

At least shooting actually matters in the single mixed though. That is a difference to the traditional relays.

[Monzanator 4,768]

6 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

At least shooting actually matters in the single mixed though. That is a difference to the traditional relays.

 

Shooting also matters in the individual - even more so than single mixed relay - and you're not a fan of that format so I don't get your logic at all  

[phelps 8,282]

4 hours ago, dcro said:

And don't even get me started on the name. Both "mixed relay" and "single mixed relay" on the Olympic program? Hilarious.

 

What's next? "Triple mixed relay"? "Single double mixed relay"?

 

yeah, if we get more Semenya-alike cases, the "triple mixed" relays are the future...

[Olympian1010 8,230]

2 hours ago, Monzanator said:

 

Shooting also matters in the individual - even more so than single mixed relay - and you're not a fan of that format so I don't get your logic at all  

I love the individual, I was just pointing out that it might not be the most captivating event, and I understand the logic behind that opinion.

[dcro 10,210]

3 hours ago, Monzanator said:

Germany/Norway/France/Italy/Russia/Sweden playground then it doesn't make any sense other than rich getting richer.

 

This would inevitably happen if it gets added to the program.

 

Anyone remembers the curling mixed doubles fiasco? It was all "sexy" and "exotic" with nations like Hungary taking world titles. Then it was added to the program under the pretense of giving a medal chance to smaller nations. But in the end the usual rich suspects took all the spoils, while Hungary and company didn't even qualify.