RobtheAggie

US Team for IBU Cup Chloe Levins (Rutland, Vt.) Hallie Grossman (Craftsbury, Vt.) Kelsey Dickinson (Winthrop, Wash.) Lucy Hochschartner (Lake Placid, N.Y.) Jackie Garso (Lake Clear, N.Y.) Helen Wilson (Eagle River, Alaska) serving as alternate. Vasek Cervenka (Grand Rapids, Minn.) Raleigh Goessling (Duluth, Minn.) Lars Hammernes Leopold (Truckee, Calif.) Garrett Beckrich (Grand Rapids, Minn.) Vincent Bonacci (Salt Lake City, Utah) Luke Brown (Saint Paul, Minn.) will serve as alternate.

In case you missed the press conference, Eckoff has a real honest answer to the question of what are you going to do during the Christmas break? We want honest answers to questions, well here it is!

A little more about the Swedish race. It was in Ostetsund, and was won by a 17 year old! Some good info in the article.

Good article from the NYT with reaction to the reduced ban for Russia by from CAS.

Slight change to Biathlon 5 in Obersdorf. The sprints were going to be on two separate days. 08 Jan 2021 11:30 Women 7.5km Sprint 14:15 Men 10km Sprint 09 Jan 2021 12:45 Women 10km Pursuit 14:45 Men 12.5km Pursuit 10 Jan 2021 11:30 4x6km Mixed Relay (W+M) 14:40 Single Mixed Relay (W+M)

That attack on the hill was amazing. I wonder whose was better, Jacquelin or Landentinger in the 2017 World Championship Relay. Both were amazing. I would love to see the split from the bottom of the climb to the top of both races. He was amazing!

With her second top 12 result in two weeks, Clair Egan became the first US biathlete to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

What I like about that is that those are real achievable goals. Her parents have done a good job instilling the correct timeline for improvement. I would love to see her in a Pursuit by the end of the season. Did she happen to say if she will stay on the WC after the new year, or move to the IBU Cup?

Correct! Who would have thought that a few years ago.

He is second. 94 of 100 as of today. This person has 95 out of 100.

Good guess, but not correct.

Polkjuka will have spectators for the World Champs.

Quick Quiz, no peaking - Who has the highest shooting percentage as of right now on the men's side. He is a well known biathlete.

Great result for Egan, and she could have been higher. Swiss get all 4 in the Pursuit, albeit with poor shooting. Lots of missed shots today, only 9 shot clean, with 9 nations represented. That is kind of neat. But the majority were over a min behind. Charvatova missed 5 again. It must be more than just her rifle that is off. Alimbekava with her first real poor day this year. It will be very interesting to see how she responds to this.

I was good to see Arnd Peiffer back. I hope his wife is doing better.

Bad stand for the US. Only two in the pursuit. The French were fast, but could not hit 10, the Norwegians were amazing. With 40 biathletes from 1:30 to 2:30 back, that is going to be a very busy range on the first shoot. On the women's side of things Slettlemark starts 89th. Chloe Chevallier (100th), Elisa Gaspain (94th) Deedra Irwin starts (104th). So there are some racers that will be interesting for the majority of people (Irwin the exception) will be interested in.

So where does this leave biathlon? The result from today's CAS appeal reduced Russia's ban from 4 to 2 years. But can they compete in the World Championships? Can they have a biathlon team in the Olympics? Quota's are done by nation, and if Russia is not allowed, how do the people qualify? What about the relay?

I am striving to avoid relegation to the IBU Cup Manager's Game.

USA have same 4 as previous round. Swiss go with Weger, Finello, Stalder and Hartweg. Samuelsson and Ponsiluoma all start late, so this will be another longer sprint. I like it better when it is more spread out. Just me though.

I saw the numerous ones in Sweden and was hopeful. Lets hope the IBU Cup brings some more out.

@Grassmarket Do you have any idea if anyone besides Amanda Lightfoot will race at all this season?

I hope that is the reason. We sometimes see that on the IBU Cup, but 11 misses on the WC!

I understood the US Relay move. Dunklee and Egan in 2nd and 4th provide stronger later in the race. Irwin had done well, but two penalties put the team in a hole they could not recover from. No more penalties and Egan went clear, while Dunklee used 3 spares and Reid 2. Not a bad day honestly. I think that this is a good idea moving forward, if Irwin can get used to shooting with lots of other people around. She gets another chance tomorrow as all 4 US women will be in the Pursuit. The men, Paul Schommer did well, Dougherty, not so much. I know I am not incharge, but I would have rested both Boe Brothers for the relay tomorrow. Switzerland keeps the same order that they used last week. For the US, Schommer replaced Max Durtschi.

US women changing up the relay order. Susan Dunklee has started for as long as I can remember. Tomorrow, Deedra Irwin will lead off. She did well in Finland in the 3rd position. Dunklee is now 2nd, Reid 3rd and Egan in 4th. I look forward to seeing this in action tomorrow. Great day for US Women, Egan 10th, Reid 27th, Dunklee 53rd, Irwin 54th. I can not remember when 4 US women made a pursuit. US men ... not so much. It was good to see Paul Schommer do well with a 42nd place. I'm not sure if Carrara is the answer yet for the Italians, she finished in 101st with 5 misses. Slettemark in 96th, but beat Chloe Chevallier! Well known biathletes who will miss the pursuit: Vanessa Hinz Vita Semerenko - only missed 2, but skied really slow Elisa Gasparin (4 misses) and Aita Gasparin (4 misses). Paulina Fialkova Chloe Chevalier I wonder if Sweden should rest the two Ogberg's tomorrow? I kind of feel the same way about the two Boe brothers. Rest them in the relay.

Bulgarian coach Alexandr Kasperovič has been banned from events pending an appeal, until January.