heywoodu

Probably. I found it interesting/funny though, Iran of all countries having the absolute maximum number of athletes entered Good for them though, always good to see countries like Iran coming with a full team!

Argentina x2 Armenia x3 Australia Belgium x2 Bosnia & Herzegovina x2 Bolivia Brazil x4 Bulgaria x4 Chile x4 Colombia x2 Croatia x2 Denmark x4 Ecuador Greece x4 Hungary x4 Iran x6 Ireland Iceland x3 Israel Kazakhstan Kenya Latvia x4 Lebanon x4 Lithuania x3 Luxembourg Malaysia Mexico x4 Mongolia x4 Macedonia x5 Montenegro Nigeria New Zealand Peru Portugal x3 Serbia x3 Tanzania Thailand Trinidad & Tobago Venezuela Making a grand total of 93 male athletes. Seriously, what's up with Iran having six women and six men whereas no other nation has more than four of any gender

I got a PDF titled "Athletes allowed to enter for the qualification race", and apparently it's not possible for anyone not on this list to still be added to the start list later today. We'll see if that's indeed the case, but if so, there is a maximum of 45 women competing tomorrow - from the nations mentioned in my earlier post. I'll make a similar one for the men (the PDF is a file, not a link, so I can't link it ).

The paddock has been hit hard, long-time team manager Fausto Gresini has passed away aged 60

Crnkovic is not on the list though (for the qualifying race, that is), he might be automatically qualified?

List of countries in the women's qualifying race (or at least with women on the list that says "Athletes allowed to enter for the qualification race"): Argentina Armenia x2 Bosnia & Herzegovina Brazil x3 Bulgaria Chile Colombia Croatia Greece x3 Hungary Iran x6 (!) Iceland Latvia x4 Lebanon x3 Lithuania x4 Mexico Mongolia x3 Macedonia x3 Montenegro Portugal Serbia x2 Thailand

Weather forecast: temperatures dropping to below zero again and even towards -10 and under during the night.....from Monday 8 March, the day after

I was sort of surprised about Togo, but now I see they weren't in 2019 neither and Petitjean has basically not competed anymore since early 2018. Too bad.

Not having those suddenly appearing fast Moldovans is not an unwelcome surprise But who knows, this was the roll call for last night, maybe tonight is different since people are still arriving.

Roll call during yesterday's team captain's meeting (courtesy of TTO's Instagram) Tanzania represent https://www.fis-ski.com/DB/general/results.html?sectorcode=CC&competitorid=253856&raceid=37690 And New Zealand is there with (at least) young and promising biathlete Campbell Wright, which is cool. Bolivia probably with the Finnish guy, and Venezuela probably not with Solano

No wait, I understand the whole thing was a set-up to qualify athletes through that event. What I meant was, who'd have though some roller skiing in Colombia would have so much of an effect that even in bobsleigh rules are different now

Who'd have though some roller skiing in Colombia would have such an effect?

Why do nations and people come up with these things so incredibly last-minute? I mean, replace '2022 Beijing' with '2026 Cortina' and it'd have been a perfectly valid idea other than trying to use a free continental quota (is that still a thing?).

They definitely have groomers, but after a day with everyone training there, it ain't gonna look good...I hope at least for the races it will be a tiny bit better, but considering it'll stay warm, it might be hard.

Or because of fast athletes deciding to compete, who don't have a lot of FIS races/good FIS points and so need to start in the qualifying race...

Jesus

Training update: falls and near-falls left and right on the impossible downhills today, both from 'small nation' athletes and from - among others - Finnish and Norwegian skiers. They're so unlucky, two or three weeks earlier and it would have been great, now it's still two days until the first race even starts and the track is just....impossible. It's more a matter of choosing between breaststroke, backstroke or butterfly instead of skating vs classic.

Especially now I'm significantly more interested in names than athletes, since tomorrow evening when the start list is out I've got to figure out the chances for a good result The Lebanese shouldn't be much of a problem, although I do hope they've improved since two years ago.

Lebanon will once again be present as well https://www.instagram.com/p/CLlkUsehPZk/ And Trinidad & Tobago https://www.instagram.com/p/CLls2TgBHT_/

Jaque Mourão, Mika Picin and of course our @brunamoura are the women's representatives. I'd highly suggest taking a look at Mourão's Instagram for a video of the course, where she shows how deep and soft the snow is (and that's not even close to the worst part)! I'm hoping for all of them to have good results, it's the only chance to possibly get Brazil two tickets for the women or at least have a shot at it. They might not at all be the favourite for it, but if they all fight hard and maybe have a bit of luck, it might be possible. Didn't hear much about it for a little bit now, but a few weeks ago the plan was definitely for Brazil to enter a men's relay, yes! It'd be a rather international one, with the four members all being based in different countries: Victor Santos (Brazil), Matheus Vasconcellos (Austria), Steve Hiestand (Switzerland) and Manex Silva (Spain), with the latter being by far the leader of the team in terms of results, especially this season he's breaking Brazilian records left and right (although the federation sadly didn't really mention that). As far as I know the women are scheduled to be in the team sprint as well, which would normally be Jaque and Bruna together. I forgot who are supposed to be in the men's team sprint, but I remember saying I'd go for Steve and Manex and hearing that was probably not going to be the team. I guess Victor and Matheus?

[hide] Event & Date Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Cross-Country Skiing, Women's Sprint Classical Day 1 February 25th, 2021 Any Finnish Athlete Lucia Scardoni Maiken Caspersen Falla Anne Appelkvist Stenseth Lotta Udnes Weng Tiril Udnes Weng Natalia Nepryaeva x Anamarija Lampic x Linn Svahn x Jonna Sundling Any Other Swedish Athlete Rosie Brennan Sophie Caldwell Hamilton Jessie Diggins Any Other Athlete Cross-Country Skiing, Men's Sprint Classical Day 1 February 25th, 2021 Any Finnish Athlete Lucas Chanavat Federico Pellegrino x Emil Iversen Johannes Klaebo Hoesflot x Haavard Solaas Taugboel Erik Valnes Alexander Bolshunov x Gleb Retivykh Sergey Ustiugov Oskar Svensson Any Other Swedish Athlete Any Other Athlete Ski jumping, Women's Individual, Normal Hill - HS106 Day 1 February 25th, 2021 Daniela Iraschko-Stolz Marita Kramer x Any French Athlete Katharina Althaus Yuki Ito Sara Takanashi x Eirin Maria Kvandal Maren Lundby Silje Opseth Irina Avvakumova Ursa Bogataj Ema Klinec Nika Kriznar x Any Other Athlete Nordic Combined, Men's 10km Gundersen, Normal Hill - HS106 Day 2 February 26th, 2021 Lukas Greiderer Johannes Lamparter x Eero Hirvonen Ilkka Herola Eric Frenzel Vinzenz Geiger x Fabian Riessle Johannes Rydzek Akito Watabe Joergen Graabak Jens Luraas Oftebro Jarl Magnus Riiber x Any Other Athlete Ski jumping, Women's Team, Normal Hill - HS106 Day 2 February 26th, 2021 Austria x Czech Republic Finland France Germany Italy Japan Norway x Poland Russian Ski Federation Slovenia x Any Other Nation Nordic Combined, Women's 5km Gundersen, Normal Hill - HS106 Day 3 February 27th, 2021 Lisa Hirner Sigrun Kleinrath Jenny Nowak Daniela Dejori Veronica Gianmoena Annika Sieff Anju Nakamura Mari Leinan Lund Marte Leinan Lund Hanna Midtsundstad Gyda Westvold Hansen x Anastasia Goncharova x Tara Geraghty-Moats x Any Other Athlete Cross-Country Skiing, Women's Skiathlon Day 3 February 27th, 2021 Teresa Stadlober Krista Parmakoski Katharina Hennig Helene Marie Fossesholm x Therese Johaug x Heidi Weng Any Other Norwegian Athlete Natalia Nepryaeva Ebba Andersson x Charlotte Kalla Any Other Swedish Athlete Rosie Brennan Jessie Diggins Any Other Athlete Cross-Country Skiing, Men's Skiathlon Day 3 February 27th, 2021 Iivo Niskanen Any German Athlete Andrew Musgrave Emil Iversen Johannes Klaebo Hoesflot Sjur Roethe Any Other Norwegian Athlete x Alexander Bolshunov x Denis Spitsov Sergey Ustiugov x Any Other Athlete From Russian Ski Federation Jens Burman Dario Cologna Any Other Athlete Ski jumping, Men's Individual, Normal Hill - HS106 Day 3 February 27th, 2021 Michael Hayboeck Daniel Huber Stefan Kraft Markus Eisenbichler Karl Geiger Ryoyu Kobayashi x Halvor Egner Granerud x Robert Johansson Marius Lindvik Daniel Andre Tande Dawid Kubacki Kamil Stoch x Piotr Zyla Anze Lanisek Any Other Athlete Nordic Combined, Men's Team Event, Normal Hill - HS106 Day 4 February 28th, 2021 Austria x Czech Republic Estonia Finland France Germany x Italy Japan Norway x Poland United States Any Other Nation Cross-Country Skiing, Women's Team Sprint Freestyle Day 4 February 28th, 2021 Finland Germany Italy Norway x Russian Ski Federation Slovenia x Sweden x Switzerland United States Any Other Nation Cross-Country Skiing, Men's Team Sprint Freestyle Day 4 February 28th, 2021 Finland France Germany Great Britain Italy x Norway x Russian Ski Federation x Sweden x Switzerland United States Any Other Nation Ski jumping, Mixed Team Event, Normal Hill - HS106 Day 4 February 28th, 2021 Austria x Czech Republic Finland Germany Italy Japan x Norway x Poland Russian Ski Federation Slovenia Any Other Nation Cross-Country Skiing, Women's 10km Freestyle Day 5 March 2nd, 2021 Krista Parmakoski Any German Athlete Helene Marie Fossesholm Ragnhild Haga Therese Johaug x Heidi Weng Natalia Nepryaeva Yulia Stupak x Ebba Andersson Charlotte Kalla Frida Karlsson Rosie Brennan Jessie Diggins x Any Other Athlete Cross-Country Skiing, Men's 15km Freestyle Day 6 March 3rd, 2021 Andrew Musgrave Hans Christer Holund Johannes Klaebo Hoesflot x Simen Hegstad Krueger Sjur Roethe x Alexander Bolshunov x Denis Spitsov Ivan Yakimushkin Any Other Athlete From Russian Ski Federation Any Swedish Athlete Dario Cologna Gus Schumacher Any Other Athlete Ski jumping, Women's Individual, Large Hill - HS137 Day 6 March 3rd, 2021 Daniela Iraschko-Stolz Marita Kramer x Any French Athlete Katharina Althaus Yuki Ito Sara Takanashi x Eirin Maria Kvandal Maren Lundby Silje Opseth Irina Avvakumova Ursa Bogataj Ema Klinec x Nika Kriznar Any Other Athlete Nordic Combined, Men's 10km Gundersen, Large Hill - HS137 Day 7 March 4th, 2021 Lukas Greiderer Johannes Lamparter x Any Other Austrian Athlete Ilkka Herola Eric Frenzel Vinzenz Geiger x Fabian Riessle Johannes Rydzek Any Other German Athlete Akito Watabe Joergen Graabak Jens Luraas Oftebro Jarl Magnus Riiber x Any Other Athlete Cross-Country Skiing, Women's 4x5km Relay Day 7 March 4th, 2021 Czech Republic Finland Germany Italy Norway x Russian Ski Federation x Slovenia Sweden x Switzerland United States Any Other Nation Cross-Country Skiing, Men's 4x10km Relay Day 8 March 5th, 2021 Czech Republic Finland x France Germany Italy Norway x Russian Ski Federation x Sweden Switzerland United States Any Other Nation Ski jumping, Men's Individual, Large Hill - HS137 Day 8 March 5th, 2021 Michael Hayboeck Daniel Huber Stefan Kraft Markus Eisenbichler Karl Geiger Ryoyu Kobayashi Halvor Egner Granerud x Robert Johansson Marius Lindvik Daniel Andre Tande Dawid Kubacki x Kamil Stoch x Piotr Zyla Anze Lanisek Any Other Athlete Nordic Combined, Men's Team Sprint, Large Hill - HS137 Day 9 March 6th, 2021 Austria x Czech Republic Estonia Finland France Germany x Italy Japan Norway x Poland United States Any Other Nation Cross-Country Skiing, Women's 30km Classical Day 9 March 6th, 2021 Teresa Stadlober Kerttu Niskanen Krista Parmakoski Katharina Hennig x Helene Marie Fossesholm Therese Johaug x Heidi Weng Any Other Norwegian Athlete Natalia Nepryaeva x Yulia Stupak Ebba Andersson Frida Karlsson Sadie Maubet Bjornsen Jessie Diggins Any Other Athlete Ski jumping, Men's Team Event, Large Hill - HS137 Day 9 March 6th, 2021 Austria Czech Republic Finland Italy Japan Norway x Poland x Russian Ski Federation Slovenia Switzerland United States Any Other Nation x Cross-Country Skiing, Men's 50km Classical Day 10 March 7th, 2021 Iivo Niskanen x Francesco De Fabiani Emil Iversen Johannes Klaebo Hoesflot Sjur Roethe x Any Other Norwegian Athlete Alexander Bolshunov x Sergey Ustiugov Ivan Yakimushkin Any Other Athlete From Russian Ski Federation Jens Burman Oskar Svensson Dario Cologna Any Other Athlete [/hide]

Maybe a mod could move most of the latest posts in the discussion thread here, since they were basically all about the world championships Anyhow, our Totallympic participant has survived the first incredibly tense moment of the championships: yesterday she got tested for COVID-19, the result would be in this morning, but I quickly took a look last night and suddenly a big green check mark and 'Ihr Testergebnis ist negativ!' filled my screen That doesn't give the definitive green light yet, there's another test coming up tomorrow, but it's definitely a good first step. Hopefully all the other Brazilians will follow as well and the whole big team (three women, four men!) can start as planned.

They took the local street dogs with them for company by the looks of it?

Word of today at the world championships track is that the downhills are only getting more and more dangerous and difficult. According to the veteran in the Brazilian team, the snow is now basically ankle deep in some of the curves. It's going to be an interesting challenge...(sadly not on TV, but only on the Eurosport Player apparently, due to the UAE Tour being on Eurosport 1 and - which is just unbelievable - a replay of an Australian Open semi being on Eurosport 2 Luckily I have the Player, but my family members who'd like to watch don't...).

Besides, missing 5 in one bout sucks (badly), but the other 15 were all hits...I mean, it's not that dramatic of a race in terms of shooting. Ponsiluoma finished 19th with 6 misses, JTB got 6th with as many misses as Jacquelin... Oh well, the next World Cup race will show whether or not he has gotten over it. I think and hope so.