Congratulations to Therese Johaug, Norway. Today she won the gold medal in 15 km ski duatlon at the Nordic Ski World Championships Seefeld 2019. She won by impressing 57 seconds ahead of the second place in the race.

Therese Johaug is for sure the world's most impressing cross country skier athlete at present. Today she proved to everyone how unique she is in the sports.

During the Stones tour in Europe the year before the last year I spoke to an American Stones fan, who I normally respect. He compared Therese Johaug to Lance Armstrong. On behalf of 5 million Norwegians I was of course insulted by such a statement. Today Therese Johaug proved for the world at what level she has been at, and still are.

I do know that most of the world don't really care about cross country skiing. Even if California got some microscopic amounts of snow last night, and the US have a great skiiing athlete in Jessica Diggins, I do understand that cross country skiing is boring unless you live in places where you can ski, or where you have a lot of skiing competitions. Still, for these eleven world championship days, Norway is at a standstill while we all follow the competitions.

Seefeld 2019 Medal Table



Bjornulf



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-02-23 13:45 by bv.

As a swede i must say that fifth place by junior Frida Karlsson is more impressive than Johaug, everyone knew she would win in advance.

As a fellow Swede I don't agree with you, Jeppe. A fifth place is not more impressive than a first.

Quote
Stoneage
As a fellow Swede I don't agree with you, Jeppe. A fifth place is not more impressive than a first.

Then you don't know much about cross country skiing. Johaug is a superb athlete but her gold today was expected and she will most likely also win what's left during these world champs and the rest of the world cup this season. Frida Karlsson is born 1999 and made her first race today among senior athletes, she is still a junior and got fifth place in a world championship race. That's way more impressive than somebody who have won 11/11 world cup races this year with a huge margin in every race.

Winning a world championship is always great. Winning by 57 seconds is outstanding, knowing the time between the 1st and the 2nd position during the past 20 or so years championships duatlon has been usually 1 sec to 10 sec or so. You do rarely see the winner almost a minute in front. As a comparison, the male winner on the duatlon today won by an inch or so, 0.1 second.

Frida Karlsson, Sweden at age 19, taking the 5th place was also impressing. Hopefully she will winn gold medals very soon.

Bjornulf

I do know about cross country skiing, believe me. Still a first place is a first place and a fifth a fifth. It's really simple mathematics. You do not compete in backgrounds.

Some short point here:

1) Therese Johaug will probably win every discipline she takes part of in this WC. She is superior to all her competitors. By a margin. Except in sprint (which she doesn't take part in).

2) Therese Johaug was suspended 18 months for doping.

3) As a Swede I kind of already lost interest in this WC. We had our chances in the ladies sprint but they fell into each other. Really sad. And then our best skier, Ebba Andersson, is sick. On the mens's side we're very weak this year I'm afraid.

4) Norway will win half of the medals available in this WC.

5) BV shut off my hockey thread (Junior WC, Canada) and denied us to talk about our IORR competition (no money involved) in the football WC this summer. Quite arbitrary and even mean. So now it's okey with sports threads? Has that anything to do with the fact that Norway will win almost every medal here?

5) The bizarre "rap video" NRK made, including Carl Halfvarsson, was an all-time low. Is that called satire in Norway? And why do TV2 contract a former fellon, Petter Northug, as a commentator?

Quote
Stoneage
I do know about cross country skiing, believe me. Still a first place is a first place and a fifth a fifth. It's really simple mathematics. You do not compete in backgrounds.

Background and experience is very important when it comes to racing at this level.

Okey, sure JJF. But in the end it's the numbers that counts. I'm sure Frida will win something, on a senior level, very soon though. So her fifth place is very hopeful for us.

Quote
bv

I do understand that cross country skiing is boring unless you live in places where you can ski, or where you have a lot of skiing competitions.

And even in places where you can ski, cross country skiing as a world level competition is boring, because of the Norwegian dominance... The dominance will just get stronger and stronger every year and easier it gets for Norway to win, since the rest of the world have started to loose interest and even the once strong country skiing countries, such as Finland, don't invest very much any longer in it in professional sense. But in fifty years this is not a problem anymore for anybody, thanks to climate change.

What goes for Therese Johaug, I am sure she is a Goddess in Norway, but for the rest of the world she is nothing but the face of Norwegian double-standards in doping. Pretty face, for sure.

That's my two cents about these 'World' championships.

- Doxa



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2019-02-23 18:17 by Doxa.

Quote
Stoneage
Some short point here:

5) BV shut off my hockey thread (Junior WC, Canada) and denied us to talk about our IORR competition (no money involved) in the football WC this summer. Quite arbitrary and even mean. So now it's okey with sports threads? Has that anything to do with the fact that Norway will win almost every medal here?

If you work full time for 24 years running a web site with no payment then one of your privieleges might be to start a thread about what you like in life on that web site. As for betting, with or without payment, I will always delete it, because I have the power to do it here on this site. I don't like betting.

Bjornulf

Finland and Sweden has got their hockey players. Norway has got their skiers. It is all about what is the main sports for the kids as well as the grown ups in the country.

Bjornulf

Okey, thanks for the reply BV. That is your every right. As, I presume, it's my right to not always comply with (what I sometimes perceive as...) capriciousness.
I think you're a good guy anyway, BV. Do not downgrade Swedish, or Finnish, skiing though. We have a long and proud tradition in that sport.
Even though Norway has surpassed us in the latter decades.

Ps. If there is no money involved it's not betting.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2019-02-23 19:16 by Stoneage.

Well, all I know from growing up in MN and having a Father who took us outside a lot,
Cross country skiing is hard work! Man, you need some good lungs.
We had frozen ice skating rinks everywhere besides the 10,000 lakes frozen over,
so I can ice skate. And cross country ski, which was pretty fun.
P.S. you can still wipe out on skis even on flat ground. My Dad has pics

About looks. Of course they are all good looking. But I think Ebba Andersson is the cutest one. Those green eyes, those freckles!
I hope she will recover and do well in this WC. Luckily this is an international website so, maybe, I will get away with saying this.
In Sweden I would have been whacked by an army of gender pilots...

Quote
Stoneage

Do not downgrade Swedish, or Finnish, skiing though. We have a long and proud tradition in that sport.
Even though Norway has surpassed us in the latter decades.

Finland and Sweden do have a lot of great skiers for sure. I am not downgrading them at all. They give us Norway great competition all the time.

The reason why we are so good at skiing is because we love to beat big brother Sweden in skiing competitions. Just like Finland love to beat Sweden in ice hockey games, or may be it is the other way around.

It's all a game. It is sports. Many take sports very seriously. I just love to watch it. It is great to see the joy and the tears, both when they get medals and when they get at number five or fifty.

Bjornulf

Nordic skiing is the greatest sport on earth. Thanks for this most welcome interlude! Just yesterday I was skiing in Rumford, Maine and witnessed an NCAA (college) men’s 10k freestyle (skate) race. Skiers from Harvard, Dartmouth, UVT, UNH, Bowdoin, Colby, Bates, Williams, and other colleges competed on a stunning, sunny 0 degree (C) day in the western Maine mtns, where there are heaps of beautiful snow (as opposed to the coast, where I live, where rain mixes into every winter storm and leaves us with far less snow)and gorgeous, world class groomed trails. It was just a brilliant day. Congrats to Therese!

Congratulations to Slovenia for winning the silver medal just now on the female team sprint. Knowing the tough competition from the Nordic countries, it is great to see Slovenia on the podium.

Also, and most of all, congratulations to Sweden, of course, for winning the gold medal in this competition.



Bjornulf



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2019-02-24 13:12 by bv.

i vote for Austria

Quote
Micawber
Boring and strange: always the same win over ages. How come?

Maybe it has something to do with climate, the presence of snow and tradition. Have you thought of that? Boring? Every sport where you don't have someone to cheer on tend to be boring.
Skiing is huge in Norway, big in Sweden and Finland and popular in parts of Russia (and border states), The Baltic states and Alpine Europe. And there are good skiers from other parts of the world also.
Take Jessica Diggins (USA) for example.

Quote
Doxa

Quote
bv

I do understand that cross country skiing is boring unless you live in places where you can ski, or where you have a lot of skiing competitions.

And even in places where you can ski, cross country skiing as a world level competition is boring, because of the Norwegian dominance... The dominance will just get stronger and stronger every year and easier it gets for Norway to win, since the rest of the world have started to loose interest and even the once strong country skiing countries, such as Finland, don't invest very much any longer in it in professional sense. But in fifty years this is not a problem anymore for anybody, thanks to climate change.

What goes for Therese Johaug, I am sure she is a Goddess in Norway, but for the rest of the world she is nothing but the face of Norwegian double-standards in doping. Pretty face, for sure.

That's my two cents about these 'World' championships.

- Doxa

Penalties for doping result in two types of situations. 1) Doping has been used by deliberation to better one's achievements. 2) The athlet has, worthy of critic, but still unawares, used "something" out of other motives, in this case creme, containing illegal substances, for severely sun burnt lips. She was believed in her statement by the body that awarded her the penalty that excluded her from two season of competitions.

You may ask yourself if 1) and 2) ought to be considered to be of the same class or not. I belong to those who think not.

Quote
micawber
Boring and strange: always the same win over ages. How come?

What is boring? What is strange? If you don't care about the sport then why bother posting in this thread?

Bjornulf

Quote
micawber
I care, but I think like Doxa about that. Just the best in doping, that's all.
Same in biathlon etc.
No offense.

Every single athlete is tested both during the year, as well as after every competition. If they are cheating with doping they are out for years. I think it is a sign of bad looser to claim doping when surely it is not the case.

Bjornulf

Quote
micawber
I care, but I think like Doxa about that. Just the best in doping, that's all.
Same in biathlon etc.
No offense.

I don't think you know what you are talking about. No offense...

I am from U.K. and love most sports.

Not much coverage on freeview TV over here for winter sports ,but I love to see some of it when it is on BBC TV on line, or their Red Button service.

I like seeing (sometimes just highlights )all ski-ing events including ski-jumping, biathlon ,cross country as well as all the downhill events.

Bobsleigh, sledging events,ice hockey , skating and even curling I like to watch on TV.

Some great achievements I have seen in winter sports.

Congrats to Therese and Ingvild for gold and bronze in today's 10 km Classic cross-country skiing.
Sweden's Frida Karlsson saved the silver. She's only 19 which makes up for some hope for Sweden in the future.
I'm a bit worried about Charlotte's and Ebba's form though. We will see on thursday...

Never said that. But it's not common in Sweden and Norway who are two leading countries in the sport. That doesn't mean the sport is clean however. But which sport is?

Quote
mtaylor

Quote
Stoneage
Never said that. But it's not common in Sweden and Norway who are two leading countries in the sport. That doesn't mean the sport is clean however. But which sport is?

Norway has had its doping problems recently.

That's one skier. Due to a lip balm. It might have been a mistake. But she has served her time. The problem is countries like Russia (and rand states) and Austria.
It used to be Finland too but I guess they won't go near doping since the big scandal in 2001.

Quote
micawber
Believe me, Norway is not better than Russia, Austria, Germany, Finland, Sweden and all others, just the opposite.

I am not on this site to discuss sport. For instance, when a young football player was sold from the club, which I support quite passionately, to Real Madrid, and a thread of congratulation was started, I did not find reason to utter a word.

Now only this: I doubt that you ever will find anything like the following in winter sports in Norway or Sweden.

[www.worldstarhiphop.com]

Edit: A word fell out , "Winter"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-03-01 19:37 by Witness.

Quote
crawdaddy
I am from U.K. and love most sports.

Not much coverage on freeview TV over here for winter sports ,but I love to see some of it when it is on BBC TV on line, or their Red Button service.

I like seeing (sometimes just highlights )all ski-ing events including ski-jumping, biathlon ,cross country as well as all the downhill events.

Bobsleigh, sledging events,ice hockey , skating and even curling I like to watch on TV.

Some great achievements I have seen in winter sports.

Don't forget our superhero from the 80s, Eddie the Eagle