Women’s World Cup 2021

[James]

Go to the Russian one, it’s still working.

Robinson also seems to be developing Ligety arms. Don’t know what that means, if anything.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

Speaking of Aaargh, did you guys see the gate keeper at the men's race?

 

[James]

Speaking of Aaargh, did you guys see the gate keeper at the men's race?

No.....?

 

[Erik Timmerman]

 

[4ster]

haha yeah! it’s on the men’s thread too.

 

[Primoz]

And it started... Christian Thoma, head coach of Swedish women team, tested positive for corona on arrival to Levi. Everyone else tested negative, and regardless of that, whole team is now put in quarantine and not allowed to start. Not really sure that can be called fair game.

 

[4ster]

And it started... Christian Thoma, head coach of Swedish women team, tested positive for corona on arrival to Levi. Everyone else tested negative, and regardless of that, whole team is now put in quarantine and not allowed to start. Not really sure that can be called fair game.

oh no

 

[S.H.]

And it started... Christian Thoma, head coach of Swedish women team, tested positive for corona on arrival to Levi. Everyone else tested negative, and regardless of that, whole team is now put in quarantine and not allowed to start. Not really sure that can be called fair game.

if you believe Ski Racing's reporting, it seems like this decision was made by Finnish govt and not FIS, so ... can't say that's not fair

Swedes in quarantine; Anna Swenn-Larsson, teammates to miss Levi

The Swedish ski team in Finland has been placed into quarantine after a COVID-19 outbreak among its personnel. The team has been isolated by the Finnish government and will not be able to race in Levi. Notably among them is Anna Swenn-Larsson, considered one of the top challengers to Mikaela...

skiracing.com

Quote: " But because these athletes had contact with the coach for more than 15 minutes, the Finnish government stepped in and quarantined the entire group. "

Tommy Eliasson's quotes support that quarantine is government driven, not FIS-driven

If those are Finnish policies, I don't know how you can complain.

 

[James]

And it started... Christian Thoma, head coach of Swedish women team, tested positive for corona on arrival to Levi. Everyone else tested negative, and regardless of that, whole team is now put in quarantine and not allowed to start. Not really sure that can be called fair game.

Doesn’t make a whole lotta sense.

 

[dbostedo]

Doesn’t make a whole lotta sense.

I look at it like college football this year... some teams are playing all different numbers of games, things are being rescheduled, some teams are bound to get screwed over by various things.... who cares if it's not fair? At least they're playing.

Same for ski racing... I really don't care if unfair things happen - they're bound to as we tread new ground. So Sweden dosn't get to race? That's very unfortunate, but no reason to stop the racing. Just keep moving forward and put an ansterisk and a note that things in 2020 were COVID affected. Trying to keep everything in line and everything fair isn't likely possible.

 

[Primoz]

It was Swedish and Finnish authorities decision yes, but it doesn't really matter who's decision it was. It matters whole team is out regardless on tests. And that's what I somehow don't think it's really fair, and fair or not fair it honestly doesn't really make sense to have any sort of competition if you have no idea who will be racing and on what conditions. Positive test is one thing, testing negative and still not being able to compete is something else. Oh well not really my problem, as for me this season is more or less no work anyway so don't really care much about the rest then

 

[James]

Positive test is one thing, testing negative and still not being able to compete is something else.

It’s ridiculous. At the worst it should be three days and test again. But really, you need to test everyday and weed people out, so you don’t have to quarantine the whole team.

 

[James]

I look at it like college football this year... some teams are playing all different numbers of games, things are being rescheduled, some teams are bound to get screwed over by various things.... who cares if it's not fair? At least they're playing.

Same for ski racing... I really don't care if unfair things happen - they're bound to as we tread new ground. So Sweden dosn't get to race? That's very unfortunate, but no reason to stop the racing. Just keep moving forward and put an ansterisk and a note that things in 2020 were COVID affected. Trying to keep everything in line and everything fair isn't likely possible.

With such a shitty system, you’re going to end up with no racers quickly. So then maybe you’d care?

 

[S.H.]

It’s ridiculous. At the worst it should be three days and test again. But really, you need to test everyday and weed people out, so you don’t have to quarantine the whole team.

I agree there should be daily or every-other-day testing probably in the week leading up to each race series, but ... national/local regulations are what they are, and that's just how it is.

If teams want to avoid this, they can test daily and avoid having sustained close contact between teammates/coaches. Physios ... you can't, but you can definitely reduce the amount of close contact. It's costly, yes, but it's doable. Otherwise, this is a risk you're taking.

Frankly, I don't think it's unfair that the Swedes aren't racing, unless the other teams are subject to different rules, which as far as I can tell they aren't. It is fair. Maybe you don't agree with the rules, but ... they are what they are.

 

[dbostedo]

...it honestly doesn't really make sense to have any sort of competition if you have no idea who will be racing and on what conditions...

I'm not sure I agree... race with whoever is available.

you’re going to end up with no racers quickly. So then maybe you’d care?

Yep. That's correct. I'm not saying they shouldn't/couldn't do better. I'm saying do the best you can, then roll with the punches. I thought there was an implication above (and sorry if I misread @Primoz or @James) that you should just cancel races, rather than have something "unfair". Perhaps I read too much into things.

 

[Primoz]

@dbostedo honestly yes, I would just cancel everything. Single WC race is not an issue, but there's World Championships in play, there's overall WC in play etc. Let's say Italy decides there's 14 day quarantine for anyone coming from US (technically not exactly like this, but citizens of EU countries are treated differently when traveling between "red countries" then citizens of non EU countries, so in reality this can actually happen). So Shiffrin needs to go to quarantine for 14 days before WCH in Cortina. And quarantine means not a step outside of the room. Her WCH is gone. Or someone from US team tests positive, and whole US team, including Shiffrin packs their bags and are out of Cortina, no questions ask. Not really sure things would still be all ok then, or?
As I wrote, I agree with positive test and you are out. But this way, you can do everything you need to do, you test negative, all is ok, yet you are still out of race. For Levi yeah big deal it happens, it's just one race. But there's no guarantee same thing won't happen on all other races, including WCH. I don't know, but personally I think it's better not to have season, then have season like that, and even declare World Champions this way.

 

[dbostedo]

I don't know, but personally I think it's better not to have season, then have season like that, and even declare World Champions this way.

That's where I completely disagree. And if FIS said "everyone can compete but the Americans" for some reason, I'd still be fine with that.

If you have a reasonable number of competitors available, go ahead and have the races. If some teams/skiers can't make it, so what? So you have an odd season with very different competitions (even the World Championships). There's nothing inherently wrong with that. I think it would be interesting in a way to have unusual fields and results.

In the NFL here in the US, during WWII, the seasons were very weird - some of the teams merged so they'd have enough players even. People realize that it was an oddball season. But they still played. College football this season is in a similar circumstance. Other leagues have had strike shortened seasons where they still held the championship. In the grand scheme of things, it's not a big deal - and many players still got to play, and people still got to enjoy watching.

 

[4ster]

Not expecting any surprises in Levi (but can’t wait to see what happens)

And yet between the first writing of that headline and circling back to edit, comes our first surprise. Finnish authorities have just quarantined the entire Swedish team after their head coach tested positive for coronavirus attempting to enter the Levi bubble. That means they will miss two of...

skiracing.com

Vlhova
Shiffrin
Holdener

 

[dbostedo]

Not expecting any surprises in Levi (but can’t wait to see what happens)

And yet between the first writing of that headline and circling back to edit, comes our first surprise. Finnish authorities have just quarantined the entire Swedish team after their head coach tested positive for coronavirus attempting to enter the Levi bubble. That means they will miss two of...

skiracing.com

Vlhova
Shiffrin
Holdener

Total POOMA guess:
Vlhova
Bassino
Liensberger
Shiffrin

 

[4ster]

Start list was just posted. I will stand by my picks but I would luv to see Gisin do well...

http://medias2.fis-ski.com/pdf/2021/AL/5026/2021AL5026SLR1.pdf

Moltzan (45) & O’brien (37) still starting outside the top 30. Schild is back (13) after injury last season & Meillard (32).