Grassmarket

They may take part, but cannot win medals. So Muzzy won the race, but Ola Vigen Hattestad in second got the gold medal.

Full ruling here
 
https://www.ibsf.org/en/news/detail/interim-integrity-unit-renders-decision-on-incident-at-skeleton-north-american-cup-competition

Great article here about Eugenio Monti, the Italian bobsleigh legend after whom the Cortina track is named
 
IBSF | International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation: Eugenio Monti Olympic Sliding Centre - legacy meets history
 
And congratulations to  for getting the track ready so early, the first time since the Emperor Diocletian (284-305 AD) that any Italian major building project has come in ahead of schedule.  

Yeah, think Skjelbreid was the first in the line.  When I first started watching the Norwegian women were well behind the men.  Forsberg, Disl & Zubrilova were the stars.

Those are the national junior championships, national championships are in Steinkjer, starting tomorrow:
FIS | Steinkjer (NOR) - Event Details - Cross-Country

One worrying rumour to start your year off is that the organisation that controls the big Italian races - Giro, Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo etc - is currently out of contract with Discovery/Eurosport etc and is looking to make a deal with a completely different provider so that is certain to be more expense for fans.  

OK, the way I see it is this.  Lets say you come 20th in race against Germany, USA, GB.....and then you come 20th in race against the Virgin Islands, Thailand and South Africa.   Which race gets more points?  Obviously, the more difficult race.  So by withdrawing some high value athletes from the race, the Canadians made sure that the other athletes could never get enough points to overcome the Canadian's existing advantage.  

And that's three in a row for Giaco....

Head to head battle of the Slovs,  v  the race all Slavonic philologists have always dreamed of.

Ooops damn.....
 

I don't know, clear shoots were a lot rarer 30 years ago.
 
 

Ooops damn.....
 

And that's three in a row for Giaco....

Ooops damn.....
 

Just found out that here in Scotland it is a tradition to give all the winter road gritting / snowplough lorries individual names.  Many are very funny.  It's a tradition dating back to 2006, and the names are all created and chosen by schoolchildren.   You can track them live!
 

 
Gritter tracker | Traffic Scotland

Australian break dancers no longer the worst top-level sportspeople on the planet!
 
The organisers of a professional women's tournament which has gone viral on social media because of a wildcard player's dire performance have acknowledged she should not have been allowed to play.
 
Egyptian Hajar Abdelkader, 21, lost 6-0 6-0 and served 20 double faults during the first-round match in Nairobi on Wednesday, with the footage leaving many viewers wondering if she had ever played tennis before.
 
Hajar Abdelkader: Wildcard serves 20 doubles faults and loses match in 37 minutes - BBC Sport

No, not really.   90% of all sports journalists in every country are all just football reporters who don't understand how winter sports work now.

No, not really.   90% of all sports journalists in every country are all just football reporters who don't understand how winter sports work now.

First ever World Cup points in Alpine for  off a start number of 70!

And the women's World Cup order
 
WENG Heidi NOR 52:12.8
DIGGINS Jessie USA 52:14.8 
ANDERSSON Ebba SWE 52:23.7 
DRIVENES Julie Bjervig 52:28.0
MATINTALO Johanna FIN 52:28.3 +15.5 5.94
 

There is a separate ranking based on gun-to-tape rankings in that particular race, who are awarded the FIS World Cup points, whereas Klaebo gets the Tour de Ski points.  
 
ANGER Edvin SWE 45:39.5
KRUEGER Simen Hegstad NOR 45:44.0 
REE Andreas Fjorden NOR 45:44.1 
PELLEGRINO Federico ITA 45:45.5 
STENSHAGEN Mattis NOR 45:51.8

Seems back to normal for me this morning.

Seems back to normal for me this morning.

Missed this story from before Christmas - German Junior World Champion Johanna Puff has also been diagnosed with myocarditis following a collapse in an IBU Cup race at Obertilliach.  
 
 
 
Bing Videos

They are a rarity in the World Cup but there is another circuit called Ski Classics which specialises in long distance racing.  Most distance specialists switch between the two.And
 
 
https://skiclassics.com/