A Little Clarity to the Situation
Who is Better?
This year saw the Kowalczyk/Bjørgen rivalry reach an all-time high; not necessarily between the two athletes, but between their respective fans. The constant trolling and flaming of each other has climaxed on message boards; in particular, the FIS comments section where, as I type this, there are 82 comments, 95% of which are Kowalczyk fans calling Bjørgen a doper, while the Bjørgen fans are calling Kowalczyk fans sore losers.
What I’m trying to get here, is that each side thinks their skier is the best in the world. While Kowalczyk won the Overall World Cup this year, Bjørgen cleaned up at the World Champs. Some will argue Kowalczyk is the best overall, since she won the Overall World Cup, while Bjørgen supporters with ignore that fact and focus on the individual races and the World Champs to cite. So who is truly the better athlete?
Currently, the FIS doesn’t have a clear-cut way to propose who is the best athlete in the world. Sure they have the Crystal Globe for the athletes that accumulated the most World Cup points, but does that really tell the whole story?
This blurriness of the lines makes me think that the FIS should implement a new award for the athlete that has the highest average placing in World Cup races throughout the season. Pardon for the hockey reference, but just because a goalie stops the most shots in the league in one season, it doesn’t necessarily make them the best goalie in the league. Currently, the FIS is set up like this.
To differentiate from total shots stopped/World Cup points to shots stopped per game, World Cup points per race there’s different statistical categories. The NHL has the .GAA – Goals Against Average, how many goals let in during 60 minutes which is equal to a whole game (ie. 2.29 GAA) – and the SV% – Save Percentage, how many shots the goalie stops (ie. 0.919 SV%)- to determine who is the best goalie on an individual basis.
Obviously, there are certain criteria a goalie must meet, such as playing a certain number of games. It would be fair for a goalie to play one game, get a shutout (letting zero goals in), and not playing again for the rest of the season. Same would apply for the new trophy for the FIS. Usually there is about 30-32 races in a season including those clumped into mini-tours, so if the FIS limited the award to skiers that skied at least 40% (12-13 races) a season, that wouldn’t be entirely unreasonable as it allows for pure sprinters too. I apologize if this is getting a little to Statistical Skier for you, but hold on.
So how would this award play out if it was here this season. Well, simply take the athletes who raced at least 12 races this year (not including World Champs) and divide their points by how many races they entered. Here’s how the Overall World Cup looks with the current format:
Overall
| Men | Points | Women | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Dario Cologna | 1566 | Justyna Kowalczyk | 2073 |
| 2. | Petter Northug | 1236 | Marit Bjørgen | 1578 |
| 3. | Daniel Rickardsson | 981 | Arianna Follis | 1310 |
| 4. | Lukas Bauer | 923 | Therese Johaug | 1173 |
| 5. | Alexander Legkov | 796 | Charlotte Kalla | 1100 |
With the World Cup points per race, the top five would look like this
Points Per Race
| Men | Points | Race | Average | Women | Points | Race | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Dario Cologna | 1566 | 23 | 68.1 | Marit Bjørgen | 1578 | 19 | 83.0 |
| 2. | Petter Northug | 1236 | 20 | 61.8 | Justyna Kowalczyk | 2073 | 29 | 71.5 |
| 3. | Emil Jönsson | 746 | 13 | 57.4 | Therese Johaug | 1173 | 20 | 58.7 |
| 4. | Lukas Bauer | 923 | 18 | 51.3 | Arianna Follis | 1310 | 27 | 48.5 |
| 5. | Daniel Rickardsson | 981 | 23 | 42.7 | Charlotte Kalla | 1100 | 23 | 47.8 |
So as you can see Cologna and Bjørgen would take the titles of being the highest quality, or most efficient racers on the circuit. It would settle all the arguments and give the athletes something else to aim for especially since next year is the “lull-year” where there are no Olympics or World Championships.
However, after writing the portion above I realized a couple of speed bumps:
- Tours races are only 50 points for the win instead of the traditional 100 and the bonus points at the end of the Tours. In addition, the scoring of the points in tour races and non-tour races are different. For example, World Cup points for a fourth place in a non-tour race is 50% of what the winner gets while fourth place in a tour stage is 80% of the winner.
- Bonus World Cup points given out in the La Clusaz, Rybinsk and Lahti pursuits also skew the true numbers.
To remedy this for the sake of the calculation, instead of average World Cup points, the award would have to be measured as average placing based on a hypothetical athlete who would have won every race they entered. If an athlete won every single race of the season, obviously they would aptly have an average of 1. Calculating with placings instead of World Cup points would take out the need to factor in the difference point value for Tour races and non-Tour races.
In the example of Kowalczyk, she entered 26 races all together this year. As expressed by an average placing throughout the year, Kowalczyk’s total placings were 127 in 26 races this year.
(127/26) = 4.884
In the example of Bjørgen she entered only 17 races all together. Bjørgen’s total placing were 43 in 17 races this year.
(43/17) = 2.529
Thus, on average it shows that Bjørgen was over two places better (2.5th vs. almost 5th average) in every race she entered than Kowalczyk throughout the 2010-2011 season.
So taking all factors into account, the best three skiers in the world would line-up like this:
Points Per Race
| Men | Starts | Total Placing | Average Placing | Women | Starts | Total Placing | Average Placing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Petter Northug | 18 | 120 | 6.6667 | Marit Bjørgen | 17 | 43 | 2.529 |
| 2. | Dario Cologna | 20 | 143 | 7.15 | Justyna Kowalczyk | 20 | 87 | 4.884 |
| 3. | Alexander Legkov | 17 | 197 | 11.588 | Charlotte Kalla | 18 | 136 | 7.556 |
So in fact, the King and Queen of the World Championships, are in fact the best skiers this year when you take the World Cup into account. It was close between Cologna and Northug as only 1/2 a placing separated them over the course of the season.
Some will argue that this might not be fair since some athletes cashed in at the low attended Rybinsk races. I say to them, the athletes that didn’t go should go so they can collected some higher places in addition to some potential prize money.
Also, while on the subject of awards for skiers, what about an award for the best new rookie on the circuit. A minimum of five races would be needed to qualify and under a certain age (wouldn’t be fair for all those no-name 30-year-old Russians to get the award every year) and it would go along the same line as the award stated above. We all saw how Hanna Falk burst onto the scene last year, but how many will remember that 5-10 year from now. It was a year that definitely got recognition, but should continue to get recognition in future years and a name on a trophy would remind us when some of the current super-stars came onto the scene.
The U23’s are a great event, but not all the best U23’s are there every year. Look at this year, Harvey on only one race and Johaug who was still eligible, is so good that she doesn’t need to bother with events that are below the World Cup.
As for naming the awards? It seems that the majority of sports in the world have trophies named after great athletes from the past. This is no more apparent than in hockey where every trophy is named after an influential athlete, coach or builder of the sport for their time. Hockey has the “Rocket” Richard Trophy, named after the fiery French-Canadian who played in the 1940’s and was the first player in history to hit 500 goals, to honour the highest goal-scorer of the season and the Vezina Trophy, named after Georges Vezina from the 1920’s dedicated to the best goaltender of the season among others. Baseball has the Cy Young award for the best pitchers of the season while the NBA has the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy for the top rookie.
What if the FIS named these awards the Dæhlie Trophy for the male athlete with the highest average placing and the Skari Trophy for the top female? Currently, the great names of our sport are reserved for the history books and there’s no real recognition of their brilliance except for the odd video on VHS and stories from those old enough to watch them race.
In Canada, we have the Jackrabbits program which was named after the Norwegian-Canadian Herman “Jackrabbit” Smith-Johannsen who introduced not only Canada, but also the USA to the sport of cross-country skiing (This guy was incredible by the way, he lived 111 years). If the program that got us started in the sport was named something bland like “Skiing for kids”, would we really know who the pioneer of the sport was in North America? I doubt it.
With this new trophy in play, it would settle all the qualms that rival fans (read Kowalczyk and Bjørgen) would have with each other and show who is truly show the highest quality skier throughout the year.
Just my 2 cents. Talk to you tomorrow.
Leave a comment
NordicXplained 
Metrosports are handing out awards at the end of every season, just wish the FIS would adopt this.
Metrosports are handing out awards on the end of every season, just wish the FIS would adopt this.
http://metrosport.webs.com/
Whatever helps you sleep at night Steve… *rolls eyes*
Very good. But if this is so hard then whoever is able to go to Tour de Ski and then still take a significant place in the Olympics and World Championships must obviously be far superior in skills and endurance. You cannot have it both ways. If this is the point then Bjorgen clearly is inferior in skills and endurance compared to anyone who went to Tour de Ski and then still took a significant place in the Olympics and World Championships.
Yes, or no?
Point is, after the events, you can come up with infinite number of scoring methods by which any person’s chosen athlete can win. For example – assign effort needed to win 1, 2, and 3 place in each competition and then add those efforts together for all competitions. With such scoring Johaug, Follis, Kalla, and Kowalczyk would all be way ahead of Bjorgen because they did go to Tour de Ski and other competitions Bjorgen did not. See the problem?
Now going back to the reason, why not going to Tour de Ski aids in preparing to later competitions, especially if you need some medicines to compete/win. The asthma medicines in question are immunosuppressants, they stops the immune system from reacting to what a body perceives as a threat – with the Excersise Induce Asthma, the threat being continued, extreme, deadly effort. The body wants to give up, but the medicine talks it out of it. But, you take too much of it or for a prolonged time, it stops working. Not much different than the way coffee works on lack of sleep. It works for a while, then it stops, then it reaches the opposite effect.
This leads to the need to reduce exposure to the medicine at the beginning of the season by not going to events and or trying to cancel them. At times, this game reached farcical levels, with Norway, for example, trying to cancel last season World Cup opening competitions because it was too cold. With competitors from southern Europe not having a problem with the temperatures, it was Norway trying to cancel the events – quite funny.
The events were not canceled because it would piss off the sponsors, and I think this is the only thing going for someone who for, whatever reason, found himself trying to oppose the asthma medicine games. The sponsors want more events, don’t what them cancelled, and prefer if all top athletes are in key events because that’s what makes people watch these events.
For all these reasons, Kowalczyk maneuvering herself into being the asthma medicine foe has no choice but use the advantage she has – which, precisely, is not needing the medicine. As she does not need it, she can go into almost every singe event without taking the risks that those who need the medicines face. Her foes now have a choice of letting her win the cup, or risk adverse long term health effects of using the medicines too much.
This is why before Kowalczyk, World Cup winners would need ~1000 points. With Kowalczyk, ~2000 is needed to win. The FIS sponsors love it, because they get two times bigger exposure they used to get, so I doubt it they will go along with schemes that would promote no-shows.
The above was aimed at Fastdon’twhatever…of course.
This years World cup overall standings seems like a joke when you look at the results.
1. I know we have to be diplomatic and say that Kowalczyk is the best because she got the most points, but i just can’t help myself.
2. Not in any previous season Marit was so dominant as this… She has won all but two of the distance races she has entered this season, counting and World championship races. Kowalzcyk only win in Rybinsk when there where no norwegians and i think no swedes too. The other two distance race wins coming from Johaug.
3. So when you win about 90 percent of your entered races i think it’s safe to call this athlete the best in the season, no matter what the points are saying.
4. The World cup points are saying that Marit didn’t enter Tour de ski and what disproportion this races points create in World cup. Everyone is talking about how Bjoergen concentrated on Oslo and sometimes you get the impression that she missed half of season. When in fact Bjoergen missed just Rybinsk and Tour de ski.
5. I’m not sure, but i think that even in sprint races Marit was beating Kowalczyk all the time.
6. The same time i think that it’s kinda strange how some athletes concentrate on just the World champs and Olympics and seems that the World cup becomes irelevant that year. Mayby FIS should do something like give away the most of the prize money depending on their World cup standings, that is reducing the money given after each race, but leaving the pointing system about the same. Mayby this would make athletes be more seriuos about the world cup, but mayby it’s just norwegian problem. I think the most noticable absantees was Bjoergen and Steira in this years Tour de ski.
So whose fault was it that Bjoergen didn’t/couldn’t go to Tour de Ski? Kowalczyk’s??? Why didn’t Bjoergen go to Tour de Ski? Perhaps because if she did, the asthma medicine trick would not work at the end of the season?
World Cup points are made the way they are because the sponsors want as many races as possible to be watched. That’s what PAYS for all that show. Without sponsors, there is no sport. If it wasn’t for Kowalczyk this year, Norway would completely dominate XC races and nobody (Norwegians included) would watch any of it.
If FIS messes with the WorldCup points, they will shoot themselves in the foot. On the other hand, if they looked why all the Norwegians have asthma that other competitors do not have, the sport would become much more interesting.
The Norwegian nonsense is threatening the whole show.
Well Steve, I’m not blaming Kowalczyk because Bjørgen didn’t compete in the TdS. I think we all know she didn’t compete so she could focus on the World Champs on her own snow. I’m almost 100% certain she didn’t go because of her “asthma medicine trick” wouldn’t work at the en of the season. That comment alone is one of the most illogical ones I’ve read on this blog.
I’m not suggest tinkering with the World Cup points. I’m in favour of keeping the Crystal Globes, but having an additional Cup/Trophy to award to the “best” skier, the one with the highest average placing throughout the season. I think saying Kowalczyk was the sole reason that the people watched the World Cup this year is a little flattering. What about Majdic and Jönsson who won the Sprint Crystal Globes or the Canadian’s who in Harvey had great season. I do agree with you that Kowalcyzk’s non-stop racing brought fascination to many of us in her ability not to burn out, but Cologna on the men’s side was similar in the fact that he was very dominant in the World Cup this season, but couldn’t put it together at the World Champs.
As for the whole asthma thing, it’s not just the Norwegian’s that have asthma. I read a statistic that said that almost 50% of World Cup athletes had asthma. This is because the environment in which skiers push themselves. As humans, it’s not in our natural condition to push ourselves as hard as possible while sucking in air that is -15. This cold air going into the lungs damages them, and this is the reason why skiers have such a high ratio of athletes with asthma, which will include the Norwegians.
How does not going to Tour de Ski lets someone concentrate on World Championships that are three months later? One prepares for World Championship by sitting on a couch and eating cookies or by training? Why not train in Tour de Ski?
Ask yourself that question and you will know that my suggestion is in fact based on knowledge on how all that asthma medicine works, in the process being also immunosuppressant. But, enough about that. I am tired of it myself.
Talking about possible changes to point system. Of course, it does not hurt anyone to have additional prizes, but if the main price were to be skewed toward highest average placing, it would award no shows at races. Show up at one competition out of 20 and you get the award. Soon, nobody would be going to any of the competitions except for a selected one. Then someone picks a race that nobody else showed up at, and they get the prize. Also, with such a system, why have World Cup at all if you already have World Championships? Point systems at different sports are different situation because they require teams to play certain number of matches against other teams.
This would be silly and against current (quite smart) FIS marketing strategy of trying to have more competitions, with more participants, thus making their “product” far more mainstream that it used to be.
The ow Bjørgen is a doper argument just show how little you know about the way the asthma medicine works and how little you know about the number of athletes that are useing the same substances.
And personally i think Kowalczyk is a great athlete but not much of a person. Accusing Bjørgen saying shes a doper is just plain stupid. And either show a disturbing lack of knowledge of the facts or she is purposefully slandering Bjørgen for no other reason then that she is a sore loser.
You do realize that doing the Tour de Ski is extremely hard on the body and is almost the opposite of a training session? It drains the body and takes a while for the body to fully recover, which is the exact reason why Bjørgen didn’t enter the previous two years as she wanted to use that energy effectively and train for the Olympics and World Champs; which she did quite successfully.
Once again Steve, I think you didn’t fully read my post. I suggested there be criteria for the prize that went to the highest average placing athlete of the year such as athletes would have to enter at least 12-13 races per season to be eligible. Otherwise, the situation you pointed out would be a massive loop-hole in the prize.
No one is suggesting anything radical. Just i noticed that there are quite a few people saying that mayby Tour de ski gives to mutch points to participating athletes. It’s the most demanding and prestigiuos race in the World cup, i agree, but mayby it’s a bit too mutch in points. Reduce it a little. When you win 90% or more of the world cup races participating in about 90% of the world cup races you should be atleast with a decent shot of winning overall. I mean it’s 90% percent of races in witch you gained advantage over the rest of the field. That’s my opinion.
With the norwegian domination i have to agree. I have to say that this dominance is not only reason why norwegian girl’s are so good. I have to admit that todays women skiers quality is “not that good”. Results became very predictable. I liked to see mayby the russian girls coming back, the germans. I think FIS would love to see russia and germany doing better, because the money potential here is huge.
I think the reason Tour de Ski gives so many points is because:
1. It’s a fairly new FIS thing
2. FIS is trying to make it into platform to make FIS events to be a mainstream every year winter thing, a winter event that counts in the media
All in all, not a bad plan for everyone involved, I would think. FIS becomes more mainstream, more people compete, more people watch it, sponsors and athletes make more money.
For those reasons, I think FIS and FIS sponsors were far more disappointed that Bjorgen was a no show than her fans are now. To now mess with the points and pretend that it was somehow a mistake to give Tour de Ski that many points would damage the event, to benefit whom exactly?
That’s the reason why it is now the matter of greatest importance for Bjorgen to be in Tour de Ski next year.
Some points:
1. Bjoergen did not win World Cup not because she was not in Rybinsk but because she was not in Tour de Ski. Rybinsk is totally insignificant in the equation as Kowalczyk overall WC standing is 500 points above Bjoergen.
2. The fan war started not by anything Bjoergen or Kowalczyk did but by what FIS judges did disqualifying Kowalczyk for changing track in front of Randall and making her slow down. That heated up emotions at the very start of the season.
3. I don’t know what the hell were the judges thinking but disqualifying her for that while Bjoergen would not be disqualified for stepping on Kowalczyk skis and knocking her out of the race (Drammen 2010) was clear indication that Norway-dominated FIS had no intention of playing fair.
that FIS some how favors Norway is utter bs, IF anything FIS is harder on Norwegian athletes then others. Several times Norwegian athletes have been disqualified for breaking FIS rules vile athletes from other nation has been allowed to countiue on. Like Softerud was in tour de ski.
Addisonaly whenever there are changes going to be made to the scheduel the input from the Norwegian team is never lisend to. I mean some of the changes have been done specifically to reduce the Norwegain dominance like the addison of sprint races.
True or False, fair or not, that Norway-dominated FIS story is what is being played in Poland, and to a degree in other places like Slovenia, Slovakia, Russia, etc. It may very well be that it is complete BS, sort of psychological warfare on Norway for dominating the sport.
The best way to deal with it would be a total transparency of judges’ decisions on disqualifications or lack of them. Every time something like that happens, all judges decisions should be explained on paper and published for all to see. Published previous judges’ decisions then become guidelines for everyone in the future.
This is the norm of civilized world that solves a lot of problems. Not doing that creates problems for everyone.
I really can`T see how anyone can believe FIS favors Norway when several of the FIS leaders has straight out said they would prefer that other nation did better and that Norway did not take as many medals. Cause long term it would be bad for the sport if a small country dominates to much.
Nice Post! I see no reason for there not to be awarded points at the World Champs. Bjoergen is clearly the better skier in my mind, losing to Kowalzyk only once this season. I mean how can you say that the skier that gets 4 golds and 1 silver at the World Champs is not the best skier. And the whole asthma medicine conspiracy, give me a break! Anyway arguing with the people on the FIS comment board is like arguing with a dining room table.
Yes, next season will be interesting with athletes putting more focus on the overall world cup and TDS. I am looking forward to it already!
There is actually a “Rookie of the year” award. Found it on the Prize Money List after Falun. Number 45.
http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/610.html?sector=CC&raceid=17502
Therese Johaug won it for the ladies, and Alex Harvey for the men.
I haven’t looked into it, but it was probably awarded to the best U23-skier in the Overall World Cup.
The World Ranking Lists (Red group) in distance and sprint includes the championships and gives a better picture of who’s the best sprinter and distance skier, so if you mash those together you’d get a pretty good indication of who’s the best skier overall.
Thanks for the heads-up! It really a shame that’s the only publicity that FIS gives the best “Rookie of the Year”. They could at least have an article on their FIS cross country page on it. Also, it’d be nice if they awarded the top three as U23 athletes tend still be coming into their best and need the prize money more than older, more established athletes.
Yeah, I agree, the up-and-coming athletes need the money more, so it would be nice if they awarded the top three. And it’s certainly weird that it doesn’t get mentioned anywhere on the FIS cross country page, winning an award should warrant some attention.
One more thing to the point system. I see no logical support for not awarding the championship races. Perhaps other than that there is a smaller quota but that is not really best of arguments either.
Also, I am not a fan of extra points in the mass start and pursuit. The bonus seconds in the tour are good but the extra points devaluate the system I guess. Especially as they took place in some of the least important races this year – the terrible rybinsk with over thirty at the start (some politics there) and the very first race after the championships with many absent and others out of fuel.
The extra sprints do make things interesting but perhaps it would be enough in the tour formats (which are growing in number wildly).
Great analysis. But besides the records and statistics, it takes no more than brains to figure out who is best in the current cross country skiing. That being said, I enjoy other skiers than those who win all the time. And some that never have won anything like a world cup.
For this year’s answers, it was really a great year for Scandinavia and North America. North Americans have been outsiders in the sport for many years but although they are no primary power now, they are getting there. And the fact that out of those 12 gold in the championships, all were won by scandinavians but one that was won by Canada.
The Championships (especially this year but in general) are the primary goal for all the athletes that have some high ambitions. From that perspective, there is no question who has been the best in male category. And Northug has not only taken three gold and two silver, he also backed up his championship results by other very strong results in the world cup, especially the finale. Cologna must be thankful for Northug’s illness in the beginning of the year where he took so many points and created a substantial lead in the tour. Had Northug’s red killer shame come a few days earlier, it would have been a different story. But since Val di Fiemme, he has been without doubt the best as he has these past three years.
But the cross country skiing certainly has a very bright future. Out of the top 10 in the male world cup standings, there are nine who are under 30. And other big names are not in the top 10, like Heikkinen or the rising star of Krogh. Despite his subtle stature, he surelly is one to count with, having allround abilities and a very good finish as he showed by dispatching with the world cup winner.
I often wondered why there is no championship every four years in the cross country skiing but right now I quite like the idea. It should mean that the next world cup season will be one where the tour de ski should have a primary significance. And the world cup globe hunt should become a major goal for many. It may be especially interesting in the women’s category if Johaug will be able to keep up without doing the sprints. I believe if she keeps the current form, the tour de ski crown could be hers, certainly if she keeps withing 90 seconds or so before the final stage.
Ah, there you are lleimmoen! You Austrian Norwegian lover you! Where have you been all this time!?! Your banter was missed!
Oh, my apology, lleimmoen! Don’t know how I missed that, but you are in fact Czech! Sorry about that!
Nice to meet you. But I do not know you. And I do not look for banter, really, I just enjoy talking cross country without accusing others who feel the same. It feels like you tried to make fun of me for that and then I can only feel pity for you. But if you wish to discuss skiing, I might be up for it although we were doing just fine here before you showed up.
No, you enjoy talking about Norwegian xc skiing. Not skiing in general. I was referred to by others and saw that you post on numerous ski sites across the globe. Good for you!
First sentence correct, the second not. The admin here could tell you otherwise. Either way, stop trying bully others for what they do, especially if that has nothing to do with you.
What is this? So you show up not to talk about the subject but to accuse others for having certain preference – while actually talking the subject. I think I will not go far when saying your life must be very sad.
Maybe do it like in Biathlon were the world champs count in the world cup.
I like the idea, the World Champs are the most even playing field you’ll see anywhere other than the Olympics. The who’s who of the sport will racing which makes it the most competitive races of the year.
“What if the FIS named these awards the Dæhlie Trophy for the male athlete with the highest average placing and the Skari Trophy for the top female? Currently, the great names of our sport are reserved for the history books and there’s no real recognition of their brilliance except for the odd video on VHS and stories from those old enough to watch them race.”
Ok, I felt so old all of a sudden reading this :p I mean, I grew up during the Daehlie era!
That being said, it’s a great idea! Also thank you for taking the time to go through the maths: what’s actually interesting is that, at the end of the day, it confirms what we did know intuitively (that Bjørgen and Northug were the best this season) but wasn’t quite confirmed in World Cup standings (although to be fair, World Cup standings aren’t that far off either)
However, in order to truly reflect the season, shouldn’t the places obtained at the World Championships also factor in? Unlike for instance hockey, world championships are really part of the cross-country skiing season in that the same actors are present (more or less, but at least top athletes who would fight for the best average placing would likely all be selected) and the settings are the same – only the prestige (and the pressure on the athletes) are really different.
Moreover, we’ve seen that the championships play a rather big part in our perception of who’s been the best this season. Ok, so it wouldn’t have changed much in the women’s department since Bjørgen won pretty much every race she started this year, but that Northug eclipsed Cologna has quite a lot to do with the former’s domination during this event (and the poor results of the latter).
Therefore, it seems to me that they should be taken in account too in the same way placing in world cup events would be. While I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t change the positions too much in the average placing rankings, it would likely reveal a larger gap between first and second position (especially in the men rankings)
I don`T really see the argument, Bjørgen beat Kowalczyk in all the races she entered but one. Thats a pretty clear indication on who is better.
Technically speaking, Kowalczyk beat Bjørgen twice, but one of those was the handicap start pursuit stage from the WC Opener in Kuusamo, where Bjørgen was most likely just skiing for the overall.
But I agree with you and was planning to expand on the idea in a post.
Well, there won’t be any championships next year so we will see who ends up winning the WC (FOR REAL).
So down with the ‘Rookie of the Year’ award, as well as naming awards after legendary skiers. Beckie Scott, Sara Renner, Bill Koch for NorAm/SuperTour, and Beckie for Sportsmanship on the Overall World Cup? I like it.
Also, it’s well known that the Spy is 100% sure JKowal is a doper, but that does not make the Spy a Bjoergen fan. The spy is just less convinced she is a doper, compared to the Pole.
If the spy is backed into a corner and must support a female XC skier, it’s going to be either Saarinen (even though she looks like a horse) or one of the German women (who is incredibly ‘talented’ – google Nicole Fessel, Katrin Zelller, or Steffy Boehler, and you will understand…)
It’s going to be a long 5 months until the World Cup restarts, but until then, go Nucks Go! Danny Hamhuis is a hero!
Is the Spy going to talk in third person his whole career? 🙂 On a completely un-ski related note, pumped to see another Canucks fan, which is surprising since you’re in the heart of Flames country. I actually live the town where Hamhuis grew up, if you didn’t know anything about hockey, you wouldn’t know about this Luongo guy up here since everyone has a Hamhuis jersey. A massive blow about Malhotra, if MG didn’t sign Lapierre and Higgins we’d be so far up shit creek right now it wouldn’t even be funny.
Someone posted this video to the CDC boards a couple days ago which combines a couple of my favourite things; Canucks and the Transformers. Gets me pretty amped for playoffs! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azzzSxHroJE
Kowalzcyk needs to work on waxing her skis better and technique. If she had the technique that any of the Swedes have, she’d be the one beating Bjoergen by 30 seconds. It’s easy to call other people ‘horses’ when you hide behind a computer screen. C’mon, why don’t you show us what you look like. You make the n00bs at fiscrosscountry.com look like angels with your stupid comments. To the more serious stuff, the German women, in terms of this generation, are pretty much done, Kunzel retired last year and unless Sachenbacher and Zeller find the fountain of youth that Di Centa found the last couple of months, they won’t be as good as last year or the year before. Fessel, even though she was one of the best junior skiers in the world a number of years ago, is a late bloomer. She is definitely a ‘product’ of the Behle/German system that has one of the best structured training programs in the world and one would expect only good things from her in the future. Look out for Lucia Anger, Jessica Mueller and one or two other young German skiers in the future. Also look out for the young German men, they pack the top of the u23 and junior fis scales right now, and Tim Tscharnke is one fast Schwabe!