Biathlon IBU World Cup 2020 - 2021

[SalamAkhi 330]

45 minutes ago, Werloc said:

I don't know if I'd classify them as interesting changes, moreso I'd say logical changes.

 

Persson was never that behind in skill from Brorsson, so it is cool that she got the chance and we can only assume that Swedish coaching staff valued Skottheim's starting leg so they didn't replace her even if Brorsson ran a better sprint today.

 

For France, Julia Simon was very strong last season and after today's sprint it seems that she is yet again capable to put in a strong performance. It's just that the French team is such a wildcard everytime, you never know what's going to happen with the shooting.

 

Lastly for Germany, this is probably the saddest year for German women biathlon. The fact that Schneider hasn't landed in a top 80 this season, Hinz is absolutely irrelevant so far too, yet they're not replaced by German B team, because there's really no strong, suitable replacements, it's not that surprising that Hettich gets put in the relay after a good sprint. The depth of athletes is really screwed for Germany right now and I have no idea what happened. Early retirements on the women's field hit Germany so hard.

Herrmann is below her par and Hammerschmidt has not recovered the form she got before her injury.

We will probably see either Weidel or Juliane Frühwirth soon I guess, but what to expect from them in the short term ?

[Werloc 3,191]

1 minute ago, SalamAkhi said:

Herrmann is below her par and Hammerschmidt has not recovered the form she got before her injury.

We will probably see either Weidel or Juliane Frühwirth soon I guess, but what to expect from them in the short term ?

The fact that Hammerschmidt that hasn't recovered after an injury is easily the third best German must be really alarming 

[JonPhi 250]

Vanessa Hinz has decided to leave Hochfilzen. So I think she will miss the races next week.

[Werloc 3,191]

I was thinking that it would be interesting to see how many World Cup winners are actually still racing to this day, so let's go:

 

Women: 20 Name / Amount of wins / Last win

 

Tiril Eckhoff (14) 2020/21

Dorothea Wierer (12) 2020/21

Denise Herrmann (7) 2019/20

Marte Olsbu Roeiseland (6) 2019/20

Hanna Oeberg (6) 2020/21

Selina Gasparin (2) 2013/14

Valj Semerenko (2) 2014/15

Olena Pidhrushna (2) 2015/16

Mari Eder (2) 2016/17

Justine Braisaz-Bouchet (2) 2019/20

Lisa Vittozzi (2) 2018/19

Anna Frolina (1) 2008/09

Katharina Innerhofer (1) 2013/14

Anais Bescond (1) 2013/14

Anais Chevalier-Bouchet (1) 2016/17

Vanessa Hinz (1) 2017/18

Marketa Davidova (1) 2018/19

Franziska Preuss (1) 2018/19

Yuliia Dzhima (1) 2018/19

Julia Simon (1) 2019/20

Dzinara Alimbekava (1) 2020/21

 

For half of them, it would only be a second win and we're probably going to see more new winners as the season goes on

 

Men:

 

Johannes Thingnes Boe (48) 2020/21

Tarjei Boe (10) 2020/21

Arnd Peiffer (10) 2018/19

Jakov Fak (8) 2014/15

Julian Eberhard (4) 2016/17

Simon Eder (3) 2015/16

Quentin Fillon Maillet (3) 2019/20

Erik Lesser (2) 2015/16

Benedikt Doll (2) 2019/20

Domink Windisch (2) 2018/19

Alexander Loginov (2) 2019/20

Evgeniy Garanichev (1) 2011/12

Ondrej Moravec (1) 2012/13

Lukas Hofer (1) 2013/14

Anton Babikov (1) 2016/17

Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen (1) 2018/19

Dmytro Pidruchnyi (1) 2018/19

Emilien Jacquelin (1) 2019/20

Sturla Holm Laegreid (1) 2020/21

Sebastian Samuelsson (1) 2020/21

Johannes Dale (1) 2020/21

 

 

Simon Schempp (12) 2016/17 (not certain if we'll see him in the World Cup)

 

There's 21 men, but if Fourcade didn't quit and Johannes was on his peak form, we would probably still be at 18. Still, it's very crazy to think how much biathlon changed over the years. We were so used to having legends that have won everything there is, but nowadays with earlier retirements and much more difficult competition, athletes don't even get to 20 wins. Johannes right now the only active biathlete that is close to the numbers that Bjoerndalen or Martin had.

 

 

I think this is going to be a season where we'll see a lot of new breakthroughs and new names trying to get their second, third, fourth wins and more.

 

If I'd guess who would be the first lady to get to 20 wins, I'd probably bet on Hannah Oeberg, she seems to enjoy biathlon so much that I believe she might stay for a long time. As for the next great amongst men, I honestly have no clue on whom I'd bet, Maillet is strong, but already 28, so he won't build high numbers. 

[Werloc 3,191]

Also, I just randomly thought of a theory why the French women's relay were successful in Kontiolahti and why they won't repeat their successful performance with Simon.

 

Back in Kontiolahti, Anais Chevalier-Bouchet was unstoppable, because she absolutely absorbed all of her teammates' power.

 

Anais Bescond

Chloe Chevalier

Justine Braisaz-Bouchet

 

Coincidence? I think not!

 

Look how seamlessly it's spelt out above

[Grassmarket 4,029]

11 minutes ago, Werloc said:

Also, I just randomly thought of a theory why the French women's relay were successful in Kontiolahti and why they won't repeat their successful performance with Simon.

 

Back in Kontiolahti, Anais Chevalier-Bouchet was unstoppable, because she absolutely absorbed all of her teammates' power.

 

Anais Bescond

Chloe Chevalier

Justine Braisaz-Bouchet

 

Coincidence? I think not!

 

Look how seamlessly it's spelt out above

Yeah, but if you add up all the numerical values of their names, what is the result?  666, my friend, 666!  

[rybak 3,303]

@Werloc You can added Magdalena Gwizdoń to this statistic, she will start in next weekend.

 

It will be her 25th season! 

[Werloc 3,191]

1 minute ago, rybak said:

@Werloc You can added Magdalena Gwizdoń to this statistic, she will start in next weekend.

 

It will be her 25th season! 

I'll edit her in when I see it  

[Monzanator 4,768]

1 hour ago, Werloc said:

I'll edit her in when I see it  

Don't count her out yet! Two days ago we "celebrated" 25 years since Gwizdon's World Cup debut. 76th place in 1995 Ostersund sprint

 

https://www.biathlon.com.ua/en/results/id-2646-ostersund-1995-1996-sprint-7.5-km-zhenshtini

 

 

[heywoodu 16,004]

Sad for Peiffer, it's never good when an athlete has to withdraw shortly before a race due to personal reasons (which aren't the birth of a baby, otherwise we'd probably have known)