Biathlon 2020 - 2021 Discussion Thread

[Federer91 2,797]

11 hours ago, Olympian1010 said:

However, we can’t be stuck in the Beijing, Baku, Doha, and maybe London/LA cycle forever. That isn’t good for the long-term health of the Olympics. 

 

For 2032 there is a candidacy from Istanbul, so you can add that to the list. 

[Olympian1010 7,976]

13 minutes ago, Federer91 said:

For 2032 there is a candidacy from Istanbul, so you can add that to the list. 

Not officially. I’ll hold off putting them on the list until more than a “national sports official” says they should bid.

[RobtheAggie 340]

So a few articles about the IBU World Championship bids.

 

Swiss-Ski announce plans to turn Lenzerheide into "biathlon hot-spot" - Although this article does not mention it, I wonder how the rise of the Swiss Women's team has helped create this decision.  It is also interesting to see if Lenzerheide gets World Cup hosting chances.  

 

Raubichi has excellent chance of hosting World Biathlon Championship in 2025 - Belarus feels pretty good about the 2025 coming to them.  

 

Nove Mesto na Morave ready to get 2024 - I love how they want to not say that it is theirs yet, but as the only bidder, it is theirs.

 

 

 

 

[Monzanator 4,503]

Selina Gasparin is 36 years old, she will probably retire after Beijing OG. The "rise" of the Swiss women's team has an expiration date and Lena Haecki has been extremely frustrating to watch the past couple of years. When she had a bad day then it's really bad.

 

I talked about Raubichi making the most of the Russian venues blacklisting and Nove Mesto has a chance to be carried by Marketa Davidova even with Koukalova and Vitkova gone.

[RobtheAggie 340]

16 hours ago, Monzanator said:

Selina Gasparin is 36 years old, she will probably retire after Beijing OG. The "rise" of the Swiss women's team has an expiration date and Lena Haecki has been extremely frustrating to watch the past couple of years. When she had a bad day then it's really bad.

 

I talked about Raubichi making the most of the Russian venues blacklisting and Nove Mesto has a chance to be carried by Marketa Davidova even with Koukalova and Vitkova gone.

I agree that Haecki can be very frustrating to watch, and that Selina Gasparin is nearing the end, but they do seem to have the youth and junior structure figured out for the time being.

 

Amy Baserga will be 20 in September and she won the Junior Cup total by almost 100 points.   Lea Meier was 28th in the Cup standings and is only 19.   The men also had Niklas Hartweg win the Junior Cup by 80 points over Cisar.  Now we have seen that over the years not all can make the jump to the WC stage.  But If Baserga can continue her improvement, and Haecki and have the lows not so low, they could still have a decent team.

[Monzanator 4,503]

I was expecting Haecki to make the jump by year 3-4 on World Cup and I feel like her first two seasons were actually better. Maybe it's the expectations but she's had a number of very bad days. Kamila Zuk is the perfect example where junior success can't quite make the difference in seniors, I mean Marketa Davidova was her main rival back in junior and she's doing a lot better overall in World Cup. And there is pressure on Davidova with Koukalova and Vitkova gone. Haecki should be having Davidova-like results but she doesn't.

[RobtheAggie 340]

On 11/06/2020 at 08:03, RobtheAggie said:

Swiss-Ski announce plans to turn Lenzerheide into "biathlon hot-spot" - Although this article does not mention it, I wonder how the rise of the Swiss Women's team has helped create this decision.  It is also interesting to see if Lenzerheide gets World Cup hosting chances.  

It looks like Lenzeheide has submitted bids for World Cup stops in 2022/2023 and 2025/2026.

 

The articles from Swiss Ski is found here.

 

Anyone want to be an Assistant Professor of Biathlon?

[RobtheAggie 340]

So if any of you are interested in statistics, the mathematical discipline, here is a very interesting analysis of the Women's Pursuit Competitions from last season.  I will be honest, but Math was never my strong point, but this is a pretty interesting read.  

[Federer91 2,797]

Krasimir Anev announced today that he is done with the sport. This is his X time of threatening to retire, but maybe this time he is serious. Anev has a 7 year rivalry with our federations president Ekaterina Dafovska and by his words he can't take it anymore. It has been evident for years that both don't like each other. By my account he is 90% retired and 10% possibly competing for another country. Can't see him returning to the team this time around.   

[Olympian1010 7,976]

5 minutes ago, Federer91 said:

Krasimir Anev announced today that he is done with the sport. This is his X time of threatening to retire, but maybe this time he is serious. Anev has a 7 year rivalry with our federations president Ekaterina Dafovska and by his words he can't take it anymore. It has been evident for years that both don't like each other. By my account he is 90% retired and 10% possibly competing for another country. Can't see him returning to the team this time around.   

That’s a shame Anev was one of my favorite “middle of the pack” competitors. He always seemed like someone who could put together a top 10 finish on a good day, but he just never quite got there.