What Do We Know About Fluoro Ban. And What We Don’t

What Do We Know About Fluoro Ban. And What We Don’t

Gear News, Newsfeed
It's shaping up to be an interesting season - for all the right reasons as well as wrong ones. The World Cup calendar 2020/ 21 is still very much up in the air and is not expected to be finalized till September or even October. That's outside the FIS or the stage organizers' control for the most part, given persistent info/ rumors about impeding "second wave of COVID" and all the associated restrictions on travel/ gatherings. But the rather sudden yet resolute ban on high-fluoro in the international competitions is definitely man-made issue. Here's how things are shaping up as of early July: - Contrary to previous info, the FIS appears to be pushing for the hard scenario of ban for HF use already in 2020 I.e. without transitional season…
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Victory Scream: Who Does It Better. And Who Doesn’t  At All

Victory Scream: Who Does It Better. And Who Doesn’t At All

Newsfeed, Trivia
They all train for that moment- ans most find it essential to let the world hear. We couldn't find any scientific study that measures and analyzes why athletes scream at the finish line when they win. Perhaps, it's deemed to be too obvious. There are studies proving that athlete scream could increase grip strength by up to 25 percent(!) . Or that it significantly improves pain tolerance. But the finish line yell is hardly about strength increase or pain tolerance. More like a primordial manifestation of "I am stronger than you". Not all athletes are born the same however: [caption id="attachment_16142" align="alignnone" width="1920"] In our purely unscientific observations Therese Johaug is not only the queen of xcskiing, but the queen of the victory celebrations too with her yell being the…
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Norwegian Skiing Stays Norwegian. At Least When It Comes To Broadcasting

Norwegian Skiing Stays Norwegian. At Least When It Comes To Broadcasting

Money & Finance, Newsfeed
I'd anybody is still watching he international xcskiing in, say, 2025 she/ he would have to flock between channels a lot to find them athletes in lycra onto he snow. Ans if she/ he is watching livestream on smartphone ( which we reckon would be close to 100% by then) that person would have to have quite a few proprietary apps installed. Especially if that fan of skiing lives in Norway Because the Norwegian Ski Association just sold domestic broadcasting rights to all FIS World Cup events staged in the country to the jointly bidding local duo of NRK and TV2. Last year Infront sold the same rights but for other , non-domestic FIS World Cup races to NENT Group. NRK and TV2 are free-to-air channels, NENT hasn't made it…
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Bookies View On World Cup 2020/21

Bookies View On World Cup 2020/21

Leaders, Money & Finance, Newsfeed
No huge surprises there: Alex Bolshunov leads in every chart with Johannes Klaebo not far behind. The rest of the world's elite skiers seems to have odds ranging from fairly low to purely theoretical. Yet there are some differences: [caption id="attachment_16110" align="alignnone" width="1600"] British Unibet puts Pål Golberg 3d and gives pure distance runners Kruger and Roethe something of chance. Note Ustyugov's 7th place...[/caption] [caption id="attachment_16111" align="alignnone" width="1600"] Italian Sisal gives Niskanen a fighting chance but Ustyugov is nowhere to be found. Human error?[/caption] [caption id="attachment_16112" align="alignnone" width="1600"] Norwegian NordicBet, however, catapults Ustiugov to 3d place and seriously doubts SkiTour 2020 winner's Golberg chances[/caption] Unlike all of us, fans and observers, them bookies deal in mathematically proven odds. We hardly can fault their analysis. Can you?
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Russians Staying Home

Russians Staying Home

Leaders, Newsfeed
The European Union have decided to keep the borders closed for the citizens of the countries where COVID-19 infection numbers were recently / are high for the time being. That includes the United States - and Russia. Which means the Russian skiers have to cancel their pencil-booked training camps in Europe. In the last few decades Team Russia traditionally held most of their camps either in the Alps or in Scandinavia. Even a traditional yearly roll-call where all the national teams, including juniors, gather was held in Tehvandi-Otepää ,Estonia. Team Russia is divided into four independent training groups whereas duration/intensity/ location of a camp is largely determined by coaching philosophy of a specific coach: Yuri Borodavko for Alex Bolshunov and Natalia Nepryaeva, Markus Cramer for Sergei Ustiugov and Gleb Retivykh…
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