heywoodu

Interesting, I wouldn't have expected there to be a total of four approved airports one day (because the information about four airports being allowed was shared only two days ago), and a huge list of others not two days later

I meant didn't they accidentally let him do his trials race in SLC while the rest skated in Milwaukee? Because this time is so impressive

Holy smokes, Stolz. The kid is utterly insane Didn't they accidentally let him skate in SLC?

Approved by whom, exactly? Because these four hubs don't seem to be Chinese government mandated or something, but specifically for the Olympics. I can imagine for example the IOC/organizers have people at those four hubs to perform certain pre-checks or something.

Beyrami of Iran has made some huge improvements during the off-season https://www.fis-ski.com/DB/general/athlete-biography.html?sectorcode=CC&competitorid=179196&type=result She was flying in Turkey lately, with competition who used to be significantly better only last season. Impressive.

Oh boy, another thread turning into a antivaxxer vs vaccinated thread

Of course he will. He is not some unknown player who basically had the bad luck of not being able to get the vaccine yet, he is Mr Superstar who can get away with everything in the end

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