Olympics: 2022 Beijing Olympics

[Bure80]

But even without the easterners you had athletes like Angerer, Fritz Fischer, Greis, Disl, Behle, Glagow, Neuner, Dahlmeier etc who were competitive or stars. I don't see that quality now.

Well which nation could afford to loose a athlete like Dahlmeier in her prime? Even Neureuther (Gössner) or Neuner are in a age there they still could compete on the highest level. A top 4 of Dahlmeier, Preuss, Hermann, Voigt/Hinz/Hildebrand isnt that bad.
The future doesnt look that bright. Dont see many great athletes in the next generation. Think that has different reasons. Loosing many stars who was developed in the GDR sport system is one of them. Others are lack of snow, in many of the last years in the mid mountains. Even on 800m - 1000m we had some years with a lack of snow. In my childhood and youth 1m snow and more was no rarity. Another reason is that kids and adolescents have so many opportunities that skiing is not a high priority for them.
The Spartakiade was a good way to find talanted athletes and later develop them. Nowdays all is more or less coincidence. We are far behind the college sport system of the US for example. In the summer sports with more competition it looks even weaker.

 

[Eisen]

Well which nation could afford to loose a athlete like Dahlmeier in her prime? Even Neureuther (Gössner) or Neuner are in a age there they still could compete on the highest level. A top 4 of Dahlmeier, Preuss, Hermann, Voigt/Hinz/Hildebrand isnt that bad.
The future doesnt look that bright. Dont see many great athletes in the next generation. Think that has different reasons. Loosing many stars who was developed in the GDR sport system is one of them. Others are lack of snow, in many of the last years in the mid mountains. Even on 800m - 1000m we had some years with a lack of snow. In my childhood and youth 1m snow and more was no rarity. Another reason is that kids and adolescents have so many opportunities that skiing is not a high priority for them.
The Spartakiade was a good way to find talanted athletes and later develop them. Nowdays all is more or less coincidence. We are far behind the college sport system of the US for example. In the summer sports with more competition it looks even weaker.

I agree.
I'm still mad at Neuner and Dahlmeier. I cheered for them and they just stop in their prime. And both were exceptional. Yeah, I know, they owe nobody anything but I love biathlon and it hurt a bit.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Morris trying to drag Homan into the semis but she wants no part of that. Really rough curling by her.

 

[Bures Elbow]

Homan is a calamity out there. Easy win for Canada and she choked a simple shot. Night and day difference from Lawes.

 

[Hattrick Kane]

Homan is a national disgrace. She should never sniff the olympics again.

 

[GQS]

Homan is a calamity out there. Easy win for Canada and she choked a simple shot. Night and day difference from Lawes.

Damn that was heartbreaking. Just a couple of millimeteres from winning. I thought they would go for trying to tap that left Italian rock out abit and win that way instead of straight going for the button which as it turned out it was just ever so slightly heavy. Or maybe she just missed the shot altogether? Not sure.

Homan has really been up and down compared to Lawes last time around when she was so consistently good. If she didn't miss her shot back in the 8th end Canada probably wins without having to play an extra one. Oh well. Lets hope the men's and women's teams can do better.

 

[Canada4Gold]

As much as we might want to rag on Homan it's Morris' responsibility to judge the weight on the shot and it was heavy, why the hell was he sweeping it? The shot might not have been made regardless but if he didn't oversweep it it might have had a chance.

Rachel just outright missed the shot in the 8th that might have locked up the win but the extra end fault is just as much or more on Morris.

 

[kingsholygrail]

The sheer amount of people falling on this hill is impressive.

 

[Mr Rogers]

Feuz is an interesting one. kind of a late bloomer

 

[GQS]

Gold for Parrot and bronze for McMorris is slopestyle!

 

[Hattrick Kane]

Parrot wins first gold for Canada!

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Max beats cancer between Olympics and grabs a Gold for good measure.

 

[Bures Elbow]

Damn that was heartbreaking. Just a couple of millimeteres from winning. I thought they would go for trying to tap that left Italian rock out abit and win that way instead of straight going for the button which as it turned out it was just ever so slightly heavy. Or maybe she just missed the shot altogether? Not sure.

Homan has really been up and down compared to Lawes last time around when she was so consistently good. If she didn't miss her shot back in the 8th end Canada probably wins without having to play an extra one. Oh well. Lets hope the men's and women's teams can do better.

Jennifer Jones and Gushue are the class of their fields.

 

[Shawn Heins 44]

Feuz is an interesting one. kind of a late bloomer

Depends how you look at it. He was immensely talented form a young age. He was always talked about as the next big one from Switzerland but then his knee was injured again and again to the point where it looked like he was never going to race again (2013).

But since his knee is remotely ok he is basically dominating downhill and has for a while now. Alos at downhill you rarely see guys dominating constantly that are below 30 years old.

 

[AB13]

How many golds does your country have? Not as many as Sweden.

 

[Eisen]

Conditions for the women's biathlon look good right now. I somehow have a feeling we get an underdog winner today.

 

[Eisen]

Feuz is an interesting one. kind of a late bloomer

He won titles late but he has top results in the worldcup for a decade now. So, I donno.

 

[Eisen]

Herrmann again. She could be so good if she gets out with 0. But she's no Neuner that can outski those mistakes.

 

[Eisen]

Perhaps I was disappointed too early. Herrmann with a good chance ow. Incredible.

 

[Havre]

Not unusual for alpine skiers to have some up and downs. Many of them will during a long career get injured. And many also end up in a bit of a rut at some point with equipment issues (Kristoffersen now. I also believe Kilde had issues some years ago changing). I believe Feuz has been through both.

What surprises me is that Downhill is so dominated by old athletes. I know that since you are going down the same hills year after year experience helps in a different way than for slalom and GS, but even on a hill that is unfamiliar the old men still dominate. I would have expected younger riders with less "fear" to do better, but they didn't - except Crawford at 4th.

 

[Eisen]

Davidova misses the last. This race has pepper.

 

[Eisen]

Not unusual for alpine skiers to have some up and downs. Many of them will during a long career get injured. And many also end up in a bit of a rut at some point with equipment issues (Kristoffersen now. I also believe Kilde had issues some years ago changing). I believe Feuz has been through both.

What surprises me is that Downhill is so dominated by old athletes. I know that since you are going down the same hills year after year experience helps in a different way than for slalom and GS, but even on a hill that is unfamiliar the old men still dominate. I would have expected younger riders with less "fear" to do better, but they didn't - except Crawford at 4th.

I just chalked it up to different primes. Some sports simply have older primes. Perhaps it's the feel for the ski or the hill, perhaps it's the work with your team, perhaps you feel less pressure as you age. I don't know. Fitness barely plays a factor for skiers. It's short, so endurance is not really a factor, strength only helps in a limited way (of course they still need both but to an extent that a 30something can achieve it just as well). None of them is afraid, so that shouldn't be a factor either.

 

[Eisen]

Alimbekava misses one as well. Looking better and better for Herrmann. I wouldn't have bet a dime on that.

 

[Havre]

She has won one 15km in her whole life.

But well deserved. She has been among the best for some years now. And very impressive how she made the transition from cross country.

Unfortunately for Norway Eckhoff just can't shoot standing. Crazy how fast she skis again (finally), but obviously you need to know how to shoot as well. Huge issue for the coming relay - Norway has no chance unless Eckhoff can get away with 1-2 extra shots in the last shooting.

 

[Eisen]

She has won one 15km in her whole life.

But well deserved. She has been among the best for some years now. And very impressive how she made the transition from cross country.

Unfortunately for Norway Eckhoff just can't shoot standing. Crazy how fast she skis again (finally), but obviously you need to know how to shoot as well. Huge issue for the coming relay - Norway has no chance unless Eckhoff can get away with 1-2 extra shots in the last shooting.

It's not over yet, but who else is still coming? Not a whole lot. I need a time from Alimbekava.
Edit: 15 seconds behind.
There are not many who can make up shooting mistakes with skiing. Young Björndalen could, or Neuner. Those guys are few.