RobtheAggie

It should be up on Youtube now.

There is hope for the Slovak future!!!

All - WOW! I was able to be at the Pursuits yesterday. The only way to relate the atmosphere in Le Grand Bornand is a football/soccer match. I was on the course, and when Julia Simon and Eric Perrot shot yesterday, it was like a rocket taking off it was so loud. Lots of fun to watch, even those near the end. I am not sure if you could tell, or if it even made it on the broadcast, but the last downhill, followed by the sharp left hand turn into the steep uphill right before the range was really icy. Lots of concentrated faces at that spot. I was there for the women. The men I was where the long climb makes the turn around. That is a really long climb, and for the Mass start even longer. Fun experience.

Both the men and women struggled on the skis yesterday. There had to have been something up with the wax. The women shot well and some of the men did.

But, Congrats Cloetens for getting a podium for Belgium!

9 shot clean in the women's race, but one was over 8 min behind, while shooting clean. I actually missed a nation, Chile is there, but she struggled. 9 missed shots and +32 min back. If you look at the winning time of about 24 min. Figure that each lap was 7:30 for her. Everyone from spot 70th on back would have been lapped at least once by her, and some multiple times. I guess this speaks to the lack of depth. But on the positive side of things, this also speaks to the initial success of the more focused efforts of the IBU to invest in Regional Development.

Actually the lack of those teams, plus Belarus and the US as well make me even more encouraged. I have no issues at all when people "play up" a level if they are ready. It is often best for their long term development. I am just excited to see lots of nations making an effort to be there.

Wow! The Junior event has tons of nations. Austria, Australia, Belgium, Bosnia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Spain, Estonia, Great Britain, Greece, Greenland, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, Switzerland, Slovakia, Turkey and Ukraine. Plus many smaller nations have more than one athlete!

I did not know about the requirement to join the military. That might be an issue. I was just thinking back to the interwar years when there were lots of Germans spread around the former Austria-Hungarian empire. I know most were closer to the German border, but maybe some in present day Slovakia ... Sorry.

Are they actually looking for reinforcements? There has to be someone from Germany that has a tie to Slovakia.

Looks like snow will be on the way. I am 95% sure I will be there on Saturday for the Pursuits!

Funny bio's:

I am actually optimistic about US biathlon. Their 2nd best man is injured and will be out for the 1st trimester. Three of the women are essentially brand new. Lots of work in youth and junior development. Yes the losses of Burke, Bailey, Nordgren, Dunklee and Egan hurt. But I still have hope for this cycle.

One of the things with summer biathlon is that the technological advantage is much less. All rollerskis are simply handed out 30 min prior to the race. This cuts way back on that side of things. You are right, ski waxing is something that is a science and an art, and can make a massive difference. One other thought that has been thrown around is teams instead of nations. That would really change things up. The problem with new venues is that the WC stops have become such large events, the logistics become very challenging for smaller venues. Hotels, volunteers, etc. Now I love to see new venues, and that is one of the reason why I like that the IBU Cup races will be streamed.

I think there are a few things going on here. Without Belarus and Russia, there are two teams with multiple individuals who would be near the top of the races. That would have made the women's relay more interesting. I think that a few things can be done to change some things. Here are a few thoughts, some are rather radical. 1. One the mixed relay, have a random draft. People talk about the biathlon family, lets really see it in action. 1st leg by a Ukranian, 2nd by a Canadian, 3rd a Italian and 4th by a Kazakh. That could be really interesting to watch. It would be a unknown that is sure. 2. Instead of a pursuit race, make it a reverse pursuit. Take the top 30 and have #30 leave first, #29 5 sec later, etc. Imagine the chaos on the tracks and in the range. I know these things would need to be done on the IBU Cup first, but they could help.

US men did pretty well without Schommer. Not that most care, but there is a good battle for 10th place in the women's race.

Not a bad day for the US at all. Levins was clean through the first three stages and only missed 2. Dickinson did well and Irwin and Reid were solid as normal. Tara still needs to work on shooting, but I am super excited they have 5 starts.

Belgium could have a decent single-mixed relay.

Not a surprise but Norway men go 1-4 in the Pursuit today.

Biased here, Irwin missed one in the first shooting while on camera, then nothing ... but she finished with 1 miss. Great first race.

How does Gasparin not get any time on the stream???

Yes she was, but still odd to see her there. Timothy Lapshin is also at the IBU Cup this week. Odd to see him as well.

Odd to see Valentyna Semerenko and Vanessa Hinz on the IBU Cup.