RobtheAggie

Should we try and get Totallympics as an official IBU fan club?

I found a list of semi-IBU sanctioned rollerski events: 31 July-3 Aug - Sandnes, Norway - Blink Skifestivalen The Rollerski Biathlon races are on 2 and 3 Aug. 11 Aug - Wiesbaden, Germany 31 Aug - 1 Sept - Annecy, France - Martin Fourcade Nordic Festival New Zealand Biathlon team getting some work in, while the snow is coming down in their home country. Pictures like this make me jealous. It will be about high 90s F/ High 30s C for me today! Also good to see the NZ team working towards the Oceanic Championships. I have not been able to find any results from the Victorian Biathlon Championships. Just that their program was a Short Individual as well as a Sprint.

A few interesting tidbits out of Russia. Loginov has not signed a contract with the Russia Federation yet. It appears that he wants more than they will pay him. Now I can not see him missing the season, and it will get done, but it will be interesting to see how this ends up. One of the first Rollerski races has been held in Barnaul, Russia. A write-up is here.

Upcoming races in Australia. Oceania Cup 14-18 August(concurrently on 17/18 August with the Australian Biathlon Championships )Australian Biathlon Championships 17/18 August

I also see the French flag and Italian? I wonder if someone from French Polynesia is skiing. I love to see Egypt there.

Do not forget Venezuela for Cross Country! OK, maybe they have more important things to focus on right now.

I did find this on the Brazilian website about how one qualifies for the team. At least I think that is what it says. There is a general criteria found here. Considering the lack of snow, Brazil's federation website is pretty good. Argentina's has not been updated since 2012. Chile does not have one, just an e-mail address.

What are the dates for this. I have been unable to find anything online. I might be simply showing my lack of tech Davy here.

Martin Fourcade Nordic Festival has its line-up confirmed and it is a good list. Also if you want to get in on the action, it is only 40 Euros to participate.

This was posted a few days ago in Biathlonworld. It is about the new disciplines that were tested over the past few seasons on the IBU Cup. Reading between the lines, I suspect that we see in a few seasons their introduction. Maybe at the opening weekend. Also, the IBU has approved a new strategic plan. Part of it deals with doping as expected, it will be discussed in October at the "IBU's Extraordinary Congress in Munich from October 18 to 20". I would love to see how them plan to grow the sport in other areas of the world.

A little insight into a hard day of training. I think that it is cool that Marie Dorin Habert has a hotel set up for Biathlon teams to come and train at. Imagine those dinner conversations.

Russian Youth athlete Artemy Khasankaev was found dead during a training run in the Crimea.

Ok a little more clarification is found here. Somehow a item of legislation was passed to prevent arms-dealing that included a provision for shooting ranges inside city limits. Since Khanty-Mansiysk is right it town, it is a problem. Three more are affected as well - Tyumen region, Izhevsk and Krasnoyarsk.

A few pieces of news Former German Team member Andreas Stitzl has been in court to regain his firearms permit. It seems that there are some linkages with him to a group of people who do not think that the modern German State has any authority. It does not appear that he will get his permit back. Khanty-Mansiysk Biathlon Center has lost its permit from the Russian government to use firearms there because it is within the city limits. They did not do something which caused permiting issues. It is a little unclear, as the article has been run through Google Translate. Bizarre to say the least. Canmore no longer meets the standards necessary to host IBU events. A 13 million dollar investment is needed to bring the facility up to current international standards. They are hosting a NorAm event this year. Here is another article that is a littler better than the first. As an aside, it says there are 45 venues that have an A license. I wonder if there is a list somewhere.

"The biathletes rated as most attractive were US Olympian Lowell Bailey and Czech Olympian Eva Puskarčíková." That is an interesting result to that study. Very interesting.

Dates and locations for the NorAm Cup Races Nov. 30 - Dec. 01, 2019 NorAm Cup 1 Canmore, Canada Dec. 14 - 15, 2019 NorAm Cup 2 - Rendezvous Trails West Yellowstone MT West Yellowstone, Montana Jan. 11 - 12, 2020 NorAm Cup 3 - EAST - Craftsbury Outdoor Center VT Craftsbury Common, Vermont Jan. 11 - 12, 2020 NorAm Cup 3 - WEST- Hinton, Alberta CAN Hinton, Canada Feb. 01 - 02, 2020 NorAm Cup 4 - Fort Kent Maine Fort Kent, Maine Feb. 08 - 09, 2020 NorAm Cup 5 - Valcartier Quebec CAN Valcartier-Village, Canada March 26 - 29, 2020 US Biathlon & NorAm Cup National Championships

Does she really like the US uniform the best? I really did not like it, I much preferred the orange one from a few years ago. The stars on the calf from the 2018-2019 one just looked odd to me.

And for a little fun, see how you do on this quiz on non-famous biathletes. I got 6 of 10.

It will be interesting to see what happens to the individual. It is the original race, and for a long time, the only race. But in terms of viewership and attendance, it is at the bottom. I could see either the M-60 or super sprint moved into its place. I do like how the IBU is using the IBU Cup as a trial place, but I really like the Individual. Other things in the news - Canada has announced the location and dates for their National Championship. It will be in Valcartier, Quebec. A site that has hosted numerous NORAM events. The funny thing, as an American, the US did not announce their location until almost December 2018 for the 2019 event in March. Hopefully a little earlier next year.

I wonder if we will see more suspensions in Biathlon from Russia - WADA has 100 "strong" Russian doping cases.

Alexander Chernyshov and Alexander Pechyonkin are banned for 4 years for doping.

Italy gets the 2026 Olympics. I was pulling for Sweden. Antholtz will host the biathlon program. I wonder where the World Cup will go in 2025 and 2026 in the traditional preview slot in 2025 and someone will get the third on the traditional slots. Oberhof, Ruhpolding, and ???.

M Davidova has announced that she plans to stop after the Beijing Olympics.https://newsbeezer.com/czechrepubliceng/david-does-not-want-to-get-caught-in-a-biathlon-bubble-what-does-koukal-say-about-leaving/

I am not surprised as well to see her retire. She has struggled with her health, and motivation. The tour will miss her without a doubt. When she was on it was amazing to watch! Thank you Laura. Good luck with your career in the German Border Patrol!