Cross-Country Skiing 2021 - 2022 Discussion Thread

[heywoodu 15,135]

Maria Cecilia Dominguez of Argentina got an amazing 110 points in Turkey today. Argentina has one female ticket and the deciding criteria was easy: the one with the best FIS points - all races count, including rollerskiing and 'obscure' races - goes to the Olympics. Alright, clear enough and with a second or so to spare in the last rollerskiing race in Brazil, Dominguez moved up to first:

 

 

So today's 110 improved her points to 124 or so. Hooooooowever.....now all of a sudden, criteria have changed: Dominguez has been told she will need to get the A criteria (under 100 points, near-impossible) in order to be sent by the Argentinian federation (FASA). If she doesn't, whoever is in second place will be sent to the Olympics (A criteria or not).

 

It's basically like saying "runner A, you need to run the marathon in 2:10 to qualify, but runner B, you can go as long as runner A doesn't get that time and you have a time of 3:00 or so". It's...insane.

[brunamoura 251]

45 minutes ago, heywoodu said:

Maria Cecilia Dominguez of Argentina got an amazing 110 points in Turkey today. Argentina has one female ticket and the deciding criteria was easy: the one with the best FIS points - all races count, including rollerskiing and 'obscure' races - goes to the Olympics. Alright, clear enough and with a second or so to spare in the last rollerskiing race in Brazil, Dominguez moved up to first:

 

 

So today's 110 improved her points to 124 or so. Hooooooowever.....now all of a sudden, criteria have changed: Dominguez has been told she will need to get the A criteria (under 100 points, near-impossible) in order to be sent by the Argentinian federation (FASA). If she doesn't, whoever is in second place will be sent to the Olympics (A criteria or not).

 

It's basically like saying "runner A, you need to run the marathon in 2:10 to qualify, but runner B, you can go as long as runner A doesn't get that time and you have a time of 3:00 or so". It's...insane.

I've seen plenty unfair situations with federations. But this one is on top of a ridiculous ranking. She is the only Argentinian paying full costs in the fight for the ticket. Zero support (and it's not like a season is cheap ☝🏻). THAT without mentioning that she was the only Argentinian trying to get an Olympic quota for her country in the previous World Championship. No one else wanted to go to Oberstdorf. She did it! Only Argentinian, without any support, and still good enough to stay under 300 points by 2 seconds or so and get a quota to have someone representing her country at the Olympics. And now, this bulshit from FASA all because this federation wants to send someone younger at any costs. If the youngest girls were better than her, fine! BUT THEY ARE NOT!

[NearPup 3,045]

5 hours ago, heywoodu said:

Maria Cecilia Dominguez of Argentina got an amazing 110 points in Turkey today. Argentina has one female ticket and the deciding criteria was easy: the one with the best FIS points - all races count, including rollerskiing and 'obscure' races - goes to the Olympics. Alright, clear enough and with a second or so to spare in the last rollerskiing race in Brazil, Dominguez moved up to first:

 

 

So today's 110 improved her points to 124 or so. Hooooooowever.....now all of a sudden, criteria have changed: Dominguez has been told she will need to get the A criteria (under 100 points, near-impossible) in order to be sent by the Argentinian federation (FASA). If she doesn't, whoever is in second place will be sent to the Olympics (A criteria or not).

 

It's basically like saying "runner A, you need to run the marathon in 2:10 to qualify, but runner B, you can go as long as runner A doesn't get that time and you have a time of 3:00 or so". It's...insane.

This is a real farce...

[heywoodu 15,135]

14 minutes ago, NearPup said:

This is a real farce...

Yeah, she needs to contact FIS, the Argentinian NOC (and their ethics or athletes commission or whatever they have, since the one in FASA will surely be controlled by the people who want her out no matter what) and possibly the IOC asap. This is not even moving the goalposts during the game, it's simply cutting them down and removing them altogether.

[dcro 10,210]

Mind you, this sort of strategy has already been applied by other nations in the past.

 

Swedish NOC famously declined to send Majorov in the men's single skating for Pyeongchang, because he already competed in Sochi and was not top-8 material in 2018. They literally chose to have nobody instead of someone who could place 15th or so.

 

Meanwhile, they did send a weaker female skater because and only because it was to be her Olympic debut.

[brunamoura 251]

1 hour ago, dcro said:

Mind you, this sort of strategy has already been applied by other nations in the past.

 

Swedish NOC famously declined to send Majorov in the men's single skating for Pyeongchang, because he already competed in Sochi and was not top-8 material in 2018. They literally chose to have nobody instead of someone who could place 15th or so.

 

Meanwhile, they did send a weaker female skater because and only because it was to be her Olympic debut.

One strong point that really does not help Ceci is that the coach of the young girls has a huge involvement with FASA and one of her athletes going to the Olympics means that she can finally make her debut in the Olympics too (as a coach), which won't happen if Ceci goes. I like this coach, but seeing this happening for personal benefits, this is so unfair with Ceci that makes me 🤢

[heywoodu 15,135]

Seriously, they are as inseparable as it's going to get.

 

https://www.fis-ski.com/DB/general/results.html?sectorcode=CC&raceid=40607

[heywoodu 15,135]

Mika had an excellent sprint result in Finnish Imatra today, 339 FIS points. That improves her points position on the national ranking, although it doesn't help her get her sprint average under 300 and so, as of now, she is still out of the fight. She's got sprints in Minsk, Zlatibor and Ravna Gora (and possibly St Ulrich between Minsk and Zlatibor) to fix that or else it's done as far as her chances go. Zlatibor and Ravna Gora will definitely be her biggest chances.  Her result of today slightly changes the ranking, which now looks like this:

 

 

Tomorrow is a 5k classic, where I suspect she'll replace that 290 distance result with a 220 or so. Which, again, only matters if she manages to get her sprint average under 300 in the next two weeks.

[dcro 10,210]

Sunny 13 degrees in Ravna Gora today. There is no snow on the ground.

 

However, some snow is currently being forecast for Thu/Fri/Sat.

[heywoodu 15,135]

36 minutes ago, dcro said:

Sunny 13 degrees in Ravna Gora today. There is no snow on the ground.

 

However, some snow is currently being forecast for Thu/Fri/Sat.

Yeah, St Ulrich ain't looking fantastic neither. It does seem to be getting a bit colder in a few days and maybe some snow falling in the second half of the week can save the races...

 

At least for now cancelled races would not at all be a disadvantage for Bruna, especially if the cancelled races are those where Mika would basically have her only chances of getting her sprint average under 300 points  

 

And there is a bit of a backup for Ravna Gora for them: Bad Mitterndorf on 15 January, a 5k classic. No sprint.