heywoodu

Hmm, sounds like it might be a stretch for local organizers to have enough artificial snow for both some Slavic Cup XC races and the way more important ski jumping World Cup... It's on 11 and 12 January, so there is some time left, but that doesn't sound very hopeful for those races.

@Monzanator Do you happen to have any idea about the situation in Zakopane in terms of snow and such? I've sent an email to the organizers of the Slavic Cup races there as well, but maybe you've heard something Some webcams seem to show some snow on the ski jump hill only and nothing else, but it's hard to say about the cross-country tracks.

A big question in that case is: will it still be part of the Balkan Cup (same for Serbia)? If not, it won't count for the Brazilians anymore and there is no use in going there. If it does, it would be excellent to go there. Please do keep us updated if you hear any kind of news or see any kind of weather stuff or something from that area...

I have a table with all these races and a predicted point value for all athletes in those races, so I will run some calculation on what the points standings are in case of scenario X, Y and Z

That's the plan, for now: going to Serbia alone. If the races are actually happening. The 'will they/won't they?' situation about the races being held is one of the main issues as well.

These points show the situation fairly clearly. Bruna needs a distance race to improve her points, Duda needs one or two sprints to really make a change. And you're really not going to get a 'team coach' favouring one athlete over the other any more obviously than the Brazilian one at this very moment. Take these two events: Slavic Cup Zakopane, 11 and 12 January (sprint and distance) Balkan Cup Zlatibor, 12 and 13 January (distance and sprint) They are now actually planning to go to both of these events.....and only do the sprints! "But I need a distance race" is literally being answered with "but she needs sprints, so we're doing sprints" It really can't get any more blatantly obvious. Both Zakopane and Zlatibor aren't entirely sure of actually happening yet neither, so deciding where to go on your own is a hard dilemma to say the least....(since you simply can't trust going with the team, they/the 'coach' are not above actively sabotaging you) Working your ass off for four years and in the end it's going to come down to incredibly dirty games being played by someone who is supposed to be there for the entire team. It is truly beyond infuriating.

For what it's worth: everyone travelling to the Games (specifically athletes and staff, of course) will have to depart from a pre-accepted 'hub'. So far, those are only Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore, and entry into China can only be via Beijing. Meaning every single athlete and coach will have a direct Paris - Beijing, Hong Kong - Beijing, Singapore - Beijing or Tokyo - Beijing flight, any other departure location is not possible so far. Two negative tests are needed, one 96 hours before departure and one max 72 hours before departure, it must be done in a laboratory 'accredited by China'.

Profiting from the wave of colder temperatures that seems to be sweeping across Central Europe from tonight or something?

Still watching the women's second run, but surely this must be one of the more laughable competitions in recent alpine skiing World Cup memory? I mean, hats off to the organizers, being able to even hold the competition in conditions like this is impressive to say the least

Go wash your mouth with soap Tour de Ski is already killed for a large part now that it's basically just a couple of regular stages (+ Alpe Cermis) strung together, with barely ever an A-to-B race or something, don't they dare take away the epic finale.

Snow has been falling and is being forecast for the next few days as well. Like in larger parts of central Europe, temperatures seem to be going down a bit now, including snowfall.

This is like a late Christmas present

Although there one must add that Hochfilzen and Antholz don't seem to be problematic venues, or am I forgetting things? It feels like it's usually an excellent combination of nice sunny weather with excellent snow conditions, which is sort of perfect

No: mass start, 5k and team pursuit.

That would explain a bit of a decline, but it's like someone pushed the entire team straight off a cliff this season... But yeah, massive technique issues is what I've heard both Dutch and German commentators say as well..

Too bad, but it's shaping up to be a nice Four Competitions on Three Hills Tournament finale in Bischofshofen!

Ah yeah, completely forgot this was in the stupid mass start format That makes the whole stage so much more boring and, in case of a tight fight for the overall, hard to follow. Bring back the pursuit

And Obertilliach (where they are staying) to Vienna is another 6-7 hours, hence the total time Too bad the team is probably not going to Zakopane anyway (it looks as though the team's coach/manager gave up on his athlete), that would have been easier. We'll see what the 'transfer' options give tomorrow, after a last-ditch call to the St Ulrich organizers

And a fantastic final part brought Wright his second world title. This was truly a good final

And since I have no clue and only just started searching, is Zakopane a bit easy to get to? Like, the ski area? Main option seems to be a 'Gettransfer' ride (sort of like a taxi), which isn't cheap, but better than a 17 hour train trip...

And now Smith is the one giving it away.

Wright gave away the set at 4-4 by going for a 170 finish at a moment where it just wasn't necessary at all and he could have easily just left a better double. Hit some random number, failed with the next 5 (?) darts for a double and Smith took it

More puzzles for Brazil: Zlatibor and Ravna Gora are said to be likely to be cancelled, this week's races in St Ulrich aren't happening for them as the coach and manager had completely missed the big red letters in the invitation saying "This event is for OPA nations only" If Zlatibor and Ravna Gora are indeed cancelled, the 11 and 12 January races in Zakopane (Poland) will be very important, for Bruna at least. With the different restrictions everywhere, let's see how getting to Zakopane will work (and back to Austria after that)...

Shut up and dance with me Go Bully Boy!

I love Dutch speed skating. Now Roest is pissed because they put Bosker in the 1500m instead of him (since Bosker had to do an individual event in order to be eligible for the team pursuit....which could and arguably should have been the mass start, but they gave that spot to Kramer to 'scare' the competition ) Roest, Bosker and Kramer are all actual teammates, mind you. And Bergsma's coach is also pissed because the second mass start spot wasn't automatically given to one of his riders a year before the Olympics (Arjan Stroetinga).