2018 Pyeongchang Olympics | CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING | Feb 10th - 25th

[Eisen]

I think it's down to the lack of top notch German skiers. When biathlon can become huge in Germany (due to good Germans) the cross country can gain a following too.

Here in Norway of course, any event involving skis is huge...

We did have great skiers not that long ago. They got a little more airtime. Two worldcup races are in Germany, it`s not that the attendance is horrible. I just mean I don`t know a single person who goes home to watch a race. But I`m sure there are these people. Just not very many.

 

[Name Nameless]

Cross Country one of the more underrated spectators events at the Olympics. On the surface sounds boring as ****. But that was a great finish.

Obviously never been in Norway, where this is counted as the most important sport in the world.

[edited typo.]

 

[SirKillalot]

Obiously never been in Norway, where this is counted as the most important sport in the world.

To be fair. Sweden too. The last five years their two biggest papers have basically switched names to Northug update and Northug news. Which is pretty insane that a Norwegian managed to create that much havoc in Swedish media and among the people.

Funnily enough, the papers most of the time hate him, and the people like him.

 

[Huff3r]

But I`m sure there are these people. Just not very many

We just don't know the numbers but i'm sure there are quite a few

 

[varsaku]

That finish for the men’s 15 KM mass start was crazy good. That must suck for Schempp to lose by a foot to Fourcade.

 

[Eisen]

That finish for the men’s 15 KM mass start was crazy good. That must suck for Schempp to lose by a foot to Fourcade.

Yeah. That`s how you make fans of the sport. Great race. But the wrong thread. It was Biathlon,not cross country.

 

[varsaku]

Yeah. That`s how you make fans of the sport. Great race. But the wrong thread. It was Biathlon,not cross country.

Haha, I had too many tabs open and forgot to double check the thread I was posting in.

I used to never watch cross-country skiing and Biathlon but these Olympics have me hooked.

 

[SirKillalot]

Haha, I had too many tabs open and forgot to double check the thread I was posting in.

I used to never watch cross-country skiing and Biathlon but these Olympics have me hooked.

Then Wednesday is a good day, because then it's team sprints.

 

[Prntscrn]

Then Wednesday is a good day, because then it's team sprints.

Hard to see any team challenging Kalla/Nilsson and Björgen/Falla. However that could be a sick matchup.

As for the mens.. having Kläbo is like playing with cheat codes.. Felt bad for Spitsov and the french guy earlier. He was ju playing with them until he thought he had enough lol

 

[IslesNorway]

Obviously never been in Norway, where this is counted as the most important sport in the world.

[edited typo.]

It is to us what hockey is to Canadians...and more!

 

[Captain Bowie]

It's time the rest of the world to catch up and realise what us Nordics has done for a while. Maybe it's quite popular in contries like Germany, Switzerland and the other alps countries?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not itchy to grab some skis and trek for hours and hours in the back woods. But to watch during the Olympics, especially when you can switch back and fourth between that and another sport like Curling as I did last night, it can be fairly exciting.

 

[Prntscrn]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not itchy to grab some skis and trek for hours and hours in the back woods. But to watch during the Olympics, especially when you can switch back and fourth between that and another sport like Curling as I did last night, it can be fairly exciting.

I'll watch the full 50 km aswell as the sprints no doubt. Olympic, World Cup or World Championship it doesn't matter. However I can see the statement someone made above about it not being as fun if you don't really have any athlete to cheer for. I'll watch the men's but I prefer and enjoy the ladies far more because it feels like we always have a chance

We don't really have the climate to ski where I'm from. Don't think it would be quite as enjoyable as watching but if I hade to chose between running and skiing the choice is clear

 

[Albatros]

It`s not as big as biathlon (by far), but it`s shown on telly. Except for myself, I don`t know a single person who is interested, though. Then again, I live in the west, not the south.

I would say it's more of an eastern thing actually, Erzgebirge and so. Of course there are some cross country skiers coming from the south too, but the German success of yesteryears was relying heavily on the last products of the old GDR system and kind of collapsed after they retired.

 

[Eisen]

I would say it's more of an eastern thing actually, Erzgebirge and so. Of course there are some cross country skiers coming from the south too, but the German success of yesteryears was relying heavily on the last products of the old GDR system and kind of collapsed after they retired.

It`s both, moreso from the Eastern regions (I fell for an old clichée). But a product of the GDR is overdoing it. Teichmann was born in 79 and Nystad in 78 Filbrich in 79 Sachenbacher in 80 Angerer in 77( I give you Sommerfeldt and Schlütter and Manu Henkel). But it is surprising how many of these guys were born around Suhl.
here's a link that shows all the loipes in Germany. It`s probably where all the fans are.

BERGFEX: Langlaufen Deutschland - Langlauf Deutschland

 

[Albatros]

Unfortunately in 1990 the DSV largely just adopted the old system without ever really putting a definite end to it and letting it decline on its own, even still today the Thuringian Ski Federation is managed by one of the key culprits of the GDR doping program.

 

[Eisen]

Unfortunately in 1990 the DSV largely just adopted the old system without ever really putting a definite end to it and letting it decline on its own, even still today the Thuringian Ski Federation is managed by one of the key culprits of the GDR doping program.

Wehling looks bad in that position (it`s weird they even took him, because he was already kicked out of the DSV (and then promptly taken by the FIS)). But does that mean that the doping continues or continued? Germany has turned many blind eyes on former dopind offenders which I'm not a big fan of after 90 as part of the burden of unification.

 

[Havre]

Hard to see any team challenging Kalla/Nilsson and Björgen/Falla. However that could be a sick matchup.

As for the mens.. having Kläbo is like playing with cheat codes.. Felt bad for Spitsov and the french guy earlier. He was ju playing with them until he thought he had enough lol

Not sure. Seems like it will be Sundby/Klæbo. Sundby is a huge question mark in a team sprint. Like in the relay he tends to struggle when it goes too fast or the race is too tough in "mass starts". As for Klæbo he is not nearly as dominant in freestyle. He had ridiculously good skis in the relay. Wouldn't expect him to have such an advantage in the team sprint.

Why they didn't go Krüger/Klæbo I will never know.

I could see the Russians going all out. It doesn't look like the Italians are strong enough to follow. The Swedes might with good skis. So even if I don't think the Norwegian team is in any way unbeatable they might just win because there is no clear alternative. Russia with Ustiugov would have been huge favorites in my opinion.

For the women it is for Sweden to lose. Team sprints tend to be a bit more unpredictable then one first might think though. Sweden got the best skier (Kalla) and the best finisher on a sprint track (Nilsson). I don't think Bjørgen will be able to follow Kalla and I think Nilsson is both a better finisher and a better overall skier than Falla (at least in freestyle). Falla sometimes has these crazy strong days though - so it isn't 100% certain Sweden will take it, but fairly close to 90% I would say. Would be cool if the USA could do something. Could see them beating Norway.

 

[Albatros]

Wehling looks bad in that position (it`s weird they even took him, because he was already kicked out of the DSV (and then promptly taken by the FIS)). But does that mean that the doping continues or continued? Germany has turned many blind eyes on former dopind offenders which I'm not a big fan of after 90 as part of the burden of unification.

Yeah, I don't want to accuse the names you mentioned of anything like that, but the optics have remained bad. Denise Herrmann is the only noteworthy name to have been caught I think, and she's much younger.

 

[Eisen]

Yeah, I don't want to accuse the names you mentioned of anything like that, but the optics have remained bad. Denise Herrmann is the only noteworthy name to have been caught I think, and she's much younger.

And Sachenbacher, but she didn't train there (her home club was Reit Im Winkl.).

 

[Bure80]

I would say it's more of an eastern thing actually, Erzgebirge and so. Of course there are some cross country skiers coming from the south too, but the German success of yesteryears was relying heavily on the last products of the old GDR system and kind of collapsed after they retired.

I come from the Erzgebirge Region. You are right even Teichmann had to do with the GDR advancement. The sport System didnt collapse over night. Even I (because was good at 1000m) , one year younger as Teichmann had the invitation for a local sports event. The big + of the system was the sighting of talents. Everyone who was under the best 3 in his class in different sports was invited to regional Championships (called Spartakiade). The best of these Events could go to the next Level and so on. So no talent was lost. I still think it was a mistake they didnt adopt this system without doping ofcourse. Germany would be more succesful especially in summer olympics.

One problem for cross country here is the climate change. Only above 800m there is snow the most time of the winter.

Unfortunately in 1990 the DSV largely just adopted the old system without ever really putting a definite end to it and letting it decline on its own, even still today the Thuringian Ski Federation is managed by one of the key culprits of the GDR doping program.

Its not just the case in sports . In every other sector (economy politics...) party officials adopted fast.
Even Merkel had a role in the pioneer organization. Maybe she would be general secretary of central committee now.

 

[Eisen]

I come from the Erzgebirge Region. You are right even Teichmann had to do with the GDR advancement. The sport System didnt collapse over night. Even I (because was good at 1000m) , one year younger as Teichmann had the invitation for a local sports event. The big + of the system was the sighting of talents. Everyone who was under the best 3 in his class in different sports was invited to regional Championships (called Spartakiade). The best of these Events could go to the next Level and so on. So no talent was lost. I still think it was a mistake they didnt adopt this system without doping ofcourse. Germany would be more succesful especially in summer olympics.

One problem for cross country here is the climate change. Only above 800m there is snow the most time of the winter.

Agreed, you appeal to Breitensport (sports for the masses) you automatically get some top athletes. Spartakiade certainly wasn't a horrible idea.

 

[joe89]

Two reasons.

1. Apparently Uhrenholdt Jacobsen has been doing better in training and "test race".

2. Weng probably said the same thing to the coaches as in the interview with TV. She felt she was in shape, technically doing fine, but she just couldn't find the "pop" and never managed to go into that extra gear in either of the two first races. She's probably extremely unhappy with being taken off the team, but the management probably saw the gamble with Uhrenholdt Jacobsen as a better decision than risking another difficult race for Weng against Kalla. In the end it ended in the same way for Jacobsen, but didn't expect her to completely fall off even though she had been sick.

I'm thinking a third reason played a big part too. Weng has shown a pretty terrible attitude towards her teammates this season. Refusing to take handshakes, not congratulating good races and whatnot. I mean cross country is an individual sport but I wouldn't say team spirit doesn't account for anything at all when it comes to the relay. Weng definitely comes up short in that department, judging from the outside.

I´m sure it is quite popular in France this morning. Main story right now in Le Monde.

Cross Country is quite fun when you are competitive. Not really super exciting to watch if your best athletes are lucky to be top 30.

Exactly that. Same with Sweden and biathlon. People are totally indifferent because of poor results, and then you get a medal and people are already hyped for the next race. X-crountry has a big challenge when it comes to involving more countries again, without changing the sport so that they lose their Nordic viewers.

 

[Eisen]

I'm thinking a third reason played a big part too. Weng has shown a pretty terrible attitude towards her teammates this season. Refusing to take handshakes, not congratulating good races and whatnot. I mean cross country is an individual sport but I wouldn't say team spirit doesn't account for anything at all when it comes to the relay. Weng definitely comes up short in that department, judging from the outside.



Exactly that. Same with Sweden and biathlon. People are totally indifferent because of poor results, and then you get a medal and people are already hyped for the next race. X-crountry has a big challenge when it comes to involving more countries again, without changing the sport so that they lose their Nordic viewers.

Whoa. Magdalena Forsberg wasn't that long ago. It should inspire people to watch.

 

[joe89]

Whoa. Magdalena Forsberg wasn't that long ago. It should inspire people to watch.

National television dropping the broadcasting rights. No wins and barely a podium finish since 2013(after the Ferry, Bergman, Ekholm and Zidek era). Things go south fast if you don't do well.

Now with the Olympic medals and National TV(I'm talking the non-commercial stuff here) broadcasting again starting next season, it will be super popular again. Maybe even more popular than the cross country broadcasts.

 

[SirKillalot]

I'm thinking a third reason played a big part too. Weng has shown a pretty terrible attitude towards her teammates this season. Refusing to take handshakes, not congratulating good races and whatnot. I mean cross country is an individual sport but I wouldn't say team spirit doesn't account for anything at all when it comes to the relay. Weng definitely comes up short in that department, judging from the outside.

Well, there is some correct in this and some "wrong". Weng is an incredible competitive person, and when things go south she needs some time after races to just get things out in a way. The other teammates know this, they have been on her team long enough to know it, and they joke about it. Northug is the same, and it can rub people the wrong way sometimes, but most of the time they know it's one of his quirks and they for the most part accept it.

Weng praise her teammates a lot in Norwegian media, and even at Tour De Ski she finished and stood there yelling support to the others. So it's a bit true sometimes and most times not. It's more of her being in that bubble from a certain time to a certain time and then it's okay. It's a team you know, they all know that each person have their quirks, and that's Weng's.

She's by far the most emotional person in interviews after races, both good and bad.