Month: February 2014

soccer

An offbeat proposal for NWSL 2015

Posted on by Beau Dure

We can’t be too surprised by this report:

Equalizer Soccer – Documents: Canada to withhold players from NWSL before World Cup; Herdman stresses player health.

We can get a good laugh over John Herdman’s complaint about players getting too many games on artificial turf when they’ll be playing the Cup on the fake stuff (hopefully better fake stuff than in most NWSL facilities), but the fact is we’re looking at a difficult scheduling question here. The World Cup runs from June 6 to July 5. Women’s national teams are even more insistent than men’s national teams when it comes to getting their players together ahead of a major competition.

So are we looking at an NWSL season in which the national team players will miss half the games? Yes.

So what do we do about it?

Option 1: Just deal with it and play a season in which the best players aren’t around most of the time.

Option 2: Forget player loans, both incoming and outgoing. Extend the season into September and maybe October. Loans out to Australia or in from Europe won’t be practical any more, which will limit the player pool a bit, but the league could take a bit of a break for the Cup and still play a significant number of games.

Option 3: A split season. (I did say “offbeat,” didn’t I?) Here’s how it works:

First of all, with all apologies to the Algarve Cup, the league can’t put everything on hold so you get full representation from the USA in World Cup years. The NWSL season starts in early March. The first half of the season runs 8-9 weeks, with all the national team players on board. If the league is up to 10 teams in 2015, then that’s time to play each other team once.

The top team in the first half of the season is automatically seeded into the playoffs.

The second half, without the World Cup-bound players, is a new season of sorts. Once again, play 9-10 games over 8-9 weeks. And the top team in the second half is automatically seeded into the playoffs.

In mid-July, once everyone has taken a one-week breather from the Cup, we return to NWSL play. Two teams have qualified for the playoffs. The other eight try to qualify. Split into two four-team brackets — probably two-leg aggregate series, with the team with the best overall record hosting the second leg. (Even better: the Page playoff system I’ve long sought for MLS, giving significant advantages for top seeds while giving most teams at least one home game.)

The disadvantage for the top two teams is that they’ll be sitting idle while all this is going on. Why not spend that time having an international tournament? Invite the Champions League winner and Japanese champion for a four-team tournament.

So by August 10 or so, we would have four teams ready for the NWSL playoffs: The winner from each season, and the winner from each four-team bracket. Wrap it up by Sept. 1 so players can go out on offseason loans. And the USSF could still do its revenue-friendly “Victory Tour” from September to November in which they’ll examine the player pool for the Olym– … yeah, I nearly said that with a straight face. In reality, of course, they’ll send the Olympic players around to play easy friendlies and sign autographs. It’s easy for us to laugh, but it makes money from women’s soccer, and the sport can’t afford to pass that up.

Too complicated? Too whimsical? Too sensible to happen in real life? What do you think?

3
olympic sports, winter sports

Where are they now: Women’s ski jumping litigants

Posted on by Beau Dure

In 2009, a handful of women’s ski jumpers took their frustrations to court, attempting to sue their way into the 2010 Olympics. They found some sympathy from the court, but the legal case was always a long shot:

(The court) didn’t rule in favor of the plaintiffs because the Olympic program is set by the IOC. With that in mind, Canadian law against discrimination can’t apply because VANOC can’t stage an Olympic ski jumping event without the IOC.

In theory, the court could find in favor of the plaintiffs and force VANOC to give up on ski jumping altogether, cancelling the event or moving it to another country. No one expects that to happen. The idea of the suit, Corradini says, is to force the IOC to add the women’s event to save the men’s event.

Though they incurred the wrath of condescending Canadian IOC-crat Dick Pound, women’s ski jumpers finally made it to the Olympics in Sochi. Then a few days after the Olympics ended, I did a massive purge of filing cabinets (long story) and came up with a folder that included the complaint in question — Sagen v. Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

So what happened to the plaintiffs in the suit? How many made it down the ramp in Sochi? Here’s a look:

– Anette Sagen (Norway; misspelled as “Annette” on the complaint): Dominant in the mid-2000s, Sagen was injured in 2012 and didn’t get back in form to make the Norwegian team. She went to Sochi as a guest of the Norwegian federation.

– Daniela Iraschko (Austria): Now Daniela Iraschko-Stolz, the 2011 world champion won the silver medal in Sochi.

– Jenna Mohr (Germany): Retired/pushed out of the sport in 2012 after losing form and financial support.

– Lindsey Van (USA): The 2009 world champion hasn’t been in great form lately but finished a solid 15th.

– Jessica Jerome (USA): One of the leaders in movement to get ski jumping in the Games finished 10th.

– Ulricke Grassler (Germany): The runner-up to Van in the 2009 World Championships recovered from an emergency appendectomy in August to compete on the World Cup circuit and in the Olympics.

– Monika Planinc (Slovenia): Retired in 2009.

– Marie-Pierre Morin (Canada): No results in FIS database.

– Karla Keck (USA): Last competed in 2006.

– Nathalie De Leeuw (Canada): Last competed in 2009 World Championships.

– Katherine Willis (Canada): Retired in 2009.

– Jade Edwards (Canada): Not active; no results in FIS database.

– Zoya Lynch (Canada): Last competed in 2008 Continental Cup.

– Charlotte Mitchell (Canada): Still only 19; competed in 2014 World Junior Championships.

– Meaghan Reid (Canada): No results in FIS database.

0
sports culture

Can we separate athletes from their appearance?

Posted on by Beau Dure

Fiona McCade makes the case that the age of social media has been especially cruel to female athletes:

Can it really be true that in the hideously sexist, discrimination-riddled Seventies, it was easier than it is now for a woman to triumph without her looks being an issue? Or was it just because I was so young that I never noticed Martina Navratilova’s FHM underwear shoot?

It’s an interesting question without a simple answer. No, Martina never appeared in an underwear ad or swimsuit issue as far as I can recall — and yes, I was alive then. On the other hand, you can’t deny that Chris Evert built a big fan base in part because she was the blonde peppy alternative to a lot of the top tennis players of her day.

The Seventies just had a different vibe. We didn’t see much leering over female athletes, but we didn’t see many female athletes at all. And everyone was pushing the envelope a little — today, it’s hard to imagine a soccer player, male or female, baring all as the Cosmos’ Shep Messing did. (“You said you wanted exposure!”)

ESPN’s Body Issue is restrained by comparison, notwithstanding the dubious photo selections from the Hope Solo shoot. It’s a celebration of the athletic build. And athletes tend to be attractive — they’re fit, and they usually carry themselves with a charismatic confidence. Walking around the Olympics means walking around with beautiful people. Not that we sportswriters feel self-conscious by comparison. (At least, not at the Winter Games, where we’re all hiding under thick coats and hats, anyway.)

And male athletes get their share of ogling. I’m still scarred from watching Oprah early in the Chicago Bulls’ dynasty era and seeing a female crowd collectively lose its grip as they gazed upon these fine basketball players. Tom Brady’s TV appearances, from Family Guy to Saturday Night Live, are a little embarrassing.

Brady embraces it, with little harm to his career. Female athletes have a tougher choice. Heather Mitts rolled with ESPN’s “Hottest Athlete” tag and helped keep women’s soccer in the news during some lean years for the sport. But when you think of Anna Kournikova these days, do you think about her status as one of the best doubles players in the world for a few years? (Seriously — look it up.)

And McCabe gets into the darker side of modern media:

Social media has a lot to answer for. If people in the past felt that sportswomen weren’t gorgeous enough, they probably said so quietly, over a pint and just to their mates. Now, they can say it in so many globe-traversing ways that the sportswomen themselves can hardly avoid finding out about it.

The Internet undoubtedly requires a thick skin. Any public figure is going to face some share of cruelty. But it seems only fair to remind people to grow up a little bit and think about what they’re tweeting, doesn’t it?

1
olympic sports, winter sports

Was Dominica’s Olympic ski team a fraud?

Posted on by Beau Dure

What would you do to participate in the Olympics and get a nice wave of publicity?

Would you gain citizenship in a small foreign country? Would you go to the Games knowing that your best performances had barely pushed you over the very low bar to qualify in a couple of events?

And would you do all this knowing you’re going to come under such heavy scrutiny that people would end up doubting the injury and illness that kept you from competing?

It’s easy to shrug off the Deadspin report on “Dominica’s fake ski team” — Gary di Silvestri and Angelica Morrone — given Deadspin’s basic mission as a sports site for people who want to feel superior to athletes. But Deadspin has been turning up some sound investigations recently, and the byline here belongs to Dave McKenna, the intrepid D.C. journalist whose work for City Paper infuriated Washington NFL owner Dan Snyder to the point of legal intimidation tactics.

And McKenna turns up details that haven’t been seen elsewhere, digging into di Silvestri’s claims about his high school wrestling and college rowing exploits.

Other aspects of the di Silvestri story might be piling on. Angelica Morrone’s role in Fiat’s questionable tactics in lobbying for events in Italy seems less interesting to me than it does to McKenna — a parenthetical, perhaps, but not much else. A land deal in Turks and Caicos is a little more interesting, but the evidence of wrongdoing isn’t conclusive at this point.

For Olympic organizers, the bigger question is this: How did these two get into the Games? And veteran Olympic reporter Mark Zeigler dug deeply into that question. Everyone who competes in the Olympics has to qualify somehow, but is the bar too low in places?

I had this discussion during the Games with Ken Childs, the North Carolinian who tracks sliding sports in vivid detail. He lamented the limited Olympic quotas on skeleton and bobsled while certain ski events have just about anyone who can put on skis. And he has a point about keeping dedicated, qualified sliders out of the Games while the gallivanting di Silvestris walk in the Opening Ceremony.

But the low bar in a few events has a noble purpose. In the Summer Olympics, you’ll see scores of small countries represented in track and field’s 100 meters or perhaps a short swim race. Judo also opens up to more than 130 countries. The FIS (skiing) criteria designates the less risky Alpine races and a couple of cross-country races with low qualification standards for countries to get one male athlete and one female athlete into the competition.

And you’d hate to see that open door slammed shut. For every couple that games the system and gets a dubious invitation to the Games, there’s a guy from East Timor who inspires his nation just by getting through a brutal slalom course that tripped up roughly two-thirds of the skiers. He can go the rest of his life telling people he beat Ted Ligety.

The moral of the di Silvestris is this: If you have anything questionable in your past, you might want to address it before you let yourself become a feel-good Olympic story. The spotlight isn’t always a happy place.

0
medal projections, olympic sports

Where the Olympic medals came from and went

Posted on by Beau Dure

The biggest differences between the Sochi medal projections and the Sochi medal count were:

  • USA – Speedskating: Projected 7, got 0. In the other direction, there’s sliding sports: Projected 3, got 7.
  • Norway – Cross-country skiing: Projected 18, got 11. Also biathlon: Projected 12, got 6.
  • Netherlands – Speedskating: Projected 14, got 23. The only other projected or actual medal: They picked one up in short-track.
  • Germany – Sliding sports: Projected 11, got 5.
  • Sweden – Cross-country skiing: Projected 5, got 11.
  • South Korea – Short-track: Projected 9, got 5. And speedskating: Projected 5, got 2.
  • France – Action sports: Projected 2, got 7.

Here’s the complete breakdown:

[gview file=”https://duresport.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2014-medal-projections-difference-1.pdf”%5D

The numbers represent how many medals each country gained or lost vs. the predictions. I highlighted some sports for each country to show how many medals had been projected, but I didn’t bother with every country that was projected for 1 or 2 medals in a given sport.

Two areas were eerily accurate: Canada’s freestyle skiers and Austria’s Alpine skiers each picked up nine medals, just as projected.

So what can we say about the medal count leaders?

Russia (projected 26, actual 33): Short-track skater Victor Ahn was expected to do well and did a bit better — Russia picked up two extra medals there. Snowboarder Vic Wild added two by himself, and the snowboarders got four instead of the projected one. The rest of the gains and losses were scattered. The hosts also doubled their projected count of gold medals from six to 13.

USA (35, 28): It’s pretty simple — the USA missed its projected medal count by seven, and they all came from speedskating, where the USA picked up zero of a projected seven. That’s tied for the biggest flop of the Games with Norway’s cross-country team, but Norway’s skiers at least picked up half of their projected medals. The X Gamers actually came up one shy of a large projection, but the sliding sports and Alpine skiers balanced out losses elsewhere.

Norway (39, 26): They picked up tons of medals in biathlon and cross-country. They were just expected to pick up more. We expected Netherlands-style domination and didn’t quite get it.

Canada (30, 25): Some bad luck in short-track and some underperforming in action sports accounted for the drop. They matched their projection of 10 gold medals thanks to the team sports, where they turned all four projected medals into gold. Only one of those was projected.

Netherlands (14, 24): They go around in circles very quickly. All of their 14 projected medals were in speedskating, and they beat that by nine. The other was in speedskating’s cousin, short-track. They came close to another couple of medals in short-track and one in women’s bobsled.

Germany (23,19): Like Norway’s cross-country team, they didn’t quite dominate the sliding track as expected.

Austria (22, 17): The Alpine skiers were fine; the snowboarders didn’t hold up their end.

France (12, 15): We can sum it up in one event — they swept men’s skicross. That was three of the additional five they picked up in action sports.

Sweden (10, 15): Took a few cross-country medals we expected to go to Norway.

Switzerland (11, 11): They must love Spinal Tap. Flopped in action sports but picked up the odd medal here and there, including women’s hockey bronze.

China (6, 9): All three in short-track.

South Korea (15, 8): The Netherlands’ gains on the speedskating oval and China’s gains in short-track came at their expense. Yuna Kim was the only other athlete to make an impact.

1
medal projections, olympic sports, winter sports

Best/worst, Sochi medal projections vs. reality: Feb. 23

Posted on by Beau Dure

The 50k cross-country race turned into a microcosm of the Olympics — a big pack going around most of the way, then Russia blasting away from everyone at the end.

For the last couple of days, we’ve figured no country would get more than 30 medals. With that cross-country sweep, Russia wound up with 33.

We’ll wrap up later today or tomorrow with a look at where each country gained or lost.

FULL TABLE

[gview file=”https://duresport.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2014-medal-projections-feb23.pdf”%5D

HIGHLIGHTS

Most prescient thing I’ve ever written: On OZY on Saturday, I wrote about Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir: “Why limit them to figure skating? How about red-carpet critiques?” Today’s news: “The duo are leaving Sochi following their last show for NBC and heading to Los Angeles, where they’ll critique fashion at the Oscars for Access Hollywood.”

Best argument against inconsistent drug-testing authoritarianism: Sweden’s Nicklas Backstrom’s allergy medication tripped a drug test that wasn’t handled in a way that broke a lot of precedent. (Disclaimer 1: I’m a Washington Capitals fan. Disclaimer 2, more importantly: I’ve seen a lot of nonsense like this in the name of “anti-doping.”)

Most candid statement on doping: Austrian skier Johannes Duerr (no relation) blamed no one but himself: “This is the worst thing I’ve done in my life.”

Most impressive stand: The Olympics are finished, and 73-year-old Prokofey Drovichev’s house is still right next to the Olympic Park.

Biggest improvements: Russia’s leap from 15 medals in 2010 to 33 this time is second only to the USA’s leap from 13 to 34 in 2002, Bill Mallon reports. Adding sports and being at home can do that.

Cutest interview: Figure skater Polina Edmunds needed to interview someone in Spanish for her high school class. Short-track skater Eddy Alvarez stepped up. (HT: For the Win)

Biggest relief: One way or another, all those people who promised death and destruction during the Olympics were dissuaded.

That’s all, folks. For now. After catching up on sleep, expect more breakdowns of the numbers from Sochi. Then news and notes from the rest of the winter sports season. Then we gear up for Rio.

 

0
olympic sports, winter sports

Sochi recap: Cross-country skiing, men’s 50k

Posted on by Beau Dure

Russia put a punctuation mark on its Olympics by sweeping the longest race on the program, with the top four finishing within one second of each other.

Date: 23-Feb

Sport: Cross-country skiing

Event: Men’s 50k freestyle mass start

Medalists: Alexander Legkov (Russia), Maxim Vylegzhanin (Russia), Ilia Chernousov (Russia)

SportsMyriad projections: Petter Northug (Norway), Maxim Vylegzhanin (Russia), Alexander Legkov (Russia)

How U.S. fared: Noah Hoffman was up near the front and spent most of the time from 10k to 20k tucked in second place behind Sweden’s Anders Soedergren and returned there at 42.5k. He finally settled back in the pack at 45k, coming across 12th but still only 6.3 seconds off the lead. But he kept dropping and finished 26th, 1:09.1 behind.

Kris Freeman, a four-time Olympian who has twice finished fourth in World Championship races, dropped off the pace around the 20k mark. He finished 57th, 12:51.5 behind.

First-time Olympian Brian Gregg also dropped back and finished 51st, 8:07.1 behind. Torin Koos did not start.

What happened: One big loss early on — Sweden’s Marcus Hellner, the 30k skiathlon silver medalist 14 days ago, was ailing and did not start. Germany had two biathletes in the field — Arnd Peiffer and Erik Lesser — from the relay squad that took a silver medal yesterday.

Through 20k, 47 of the 64 skiers who started the race were still within 32 seconds of the lead. Few skiers opted to make a pit stop and change skis, worried about losing time to the leaders. Norwegian star Petter Northug, who won four medals in 2010 but was empty-handed so far this time, was lurking around the mid-30s.

Russia’s Alexander Legkov made the crowd roar with a mini-breakaway as they came into the stadium for the 30k mark, but he turned out to be one of many skiers opting to change skis at last. Belarus skier Michail Semenov, in a blinding yellowish-green suit, did not change and went through with the lead.

Finland’s Matti Heikkinen, best known for winning the 2011 15k classical World Championship, took advantage of the shakeup from ski changes to break away from the pack, but he was back with the back by the 40k mark. The leaders at 42.5k were, oddly enough, the same leaders we saw at 10k — Soedergren and Hoffman.

Soedergren brought the pack through the stadium at 45k with two Russians, Alexander Legkov and Maxim Vylegzhanin, within a second. Eighteen skiers were still within 10 seconds, including other favorites such as Martin Johnsrud Sundby (Norway) and Dario Cologna (Switzerland). The first major gap was after No. 28 Alex Harvey (Canada), who was 14.5 seconds back.

The pack was still absurdly close with only two kilometers to go — 19 skiers within five seconds of the lead. Then the worst bit of luck for Cologna, the 30k skiathlon gold medalist, whose ski snapped.

The last climb saw six or seven skiers pushing ahead, three of them from Russia. It wound up a group of four — Russians Legkov, Vylegzhanin and Ilia Chernousov along with Norway’s Sundby.

At the end, it was Legkov winning by 0.8 seconds. Chernousov zipped past Sundby to force a photo finish with Vylegzhanin — and a Russian sweep.

Legkov and Vylegzhanin were no surprise. Legkov was fourth in the 50k classic at last year’s World Championships, and he was first in World Cup distance points in 2013. Vylegzhanin completed an unusual double, also taking silver in the team sprint, but he was also second in this event at the 2009 World Championships and again in 2011. Chernousov was a little bit more of a surprise, but he has been on a World Cup podium in this event.

So it wasn’t a shocking result for any of the individuals. But all three clicking on such a grand stage was a wonderful surprise for the crowd that has enjoyed its time at the scenic Laure cross-country venue.

Full results

0
medal projections, olympic sports, winter sports

Best/worst, Sochi medal projections vs. reality: Feb. 22

Posted on by Beau Dure

Unless Alexander Zubkov crashes on his home track and Norway sweeps the 50k cross-country race on Sunday, Russia will be the first host country to finish atop the medal count since … Norway, in 1994.

If you prefer following gold medal counts to overall medal counts, you’re no fun, and possibly a little pedantic. But the last host country to have the most gold medals was Canada, last time.

A few bits of medal trivia:

– 26 countries have won medals in Sochi, tying the number from last time. In fact, they’re the same 26.

– The projections had 25 countries winning medals. Slovakia and Croatia weren’t projected for medals but came through in biathlon (Slovakia’s Anastasiya Kuzmina, gold) and Alpine skiing (Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic, silver). Liechtenstein did not get its projected medal, thanks to Tina Weirather’s ill-timed training crash.

– Russia and the Netherlands are locked in a battle for most improved. Russia won 15 medals in 2010, only three gold, but have 29 in 2014 with another one likely tomorrow. The Netherlands jumped from eight medals in 2010 to 24 this year.

CURRENT PACE

Original projections: Norway 39, USA 35, Canada 30, Russia 26, Germany 23, Austria 22, South Korea 15, Netherlands 14, France 12, Switzerland 11, Sweden 10, Japan 7, Italy 7, China 6, Czech Republic 6

The current count: Russia 29, USA 27, Norway 26, Canada 24, Netherlands 24, Germany 19, Austria 17, France 15, Sweden 14, Switzerland 11, China 9, South Korea and several others 8.

If the three remaining projections were to come true (and they can’t, because we know Russia won’t medal in hockey), we’d end up with: Russia 33, USA 28, Norway 27, Canada 25, Netherlands 24, Germany 20, Austria 17, France 15, Sweden 15, Switzerland 11, China 9, South Korea 8, Czech Republic 8, Japan 8, Italy 8. (Also, Slovenia 8, from an original projection of 5.)

We know Finland will take hockey bronze for its fifth medal, and Sweden and Canada will each take a hockey medal. We’re halfway through the four-man bobsled, and it’s very close between Russia, Latvia, Germany and the USA. There’s an outside chance of a second medal for Germany or Russia, or possibly one medal for Britain or Switzerland. The original projection was Russia, Germany, USA. If I had to predict it now, I’d say Russia, Latvia, USA.

The cross-country picks were Norway, Russia, Russia. Based on form, I’d say Norway, Finland, Russia.

So tomorrow’s projected medal count: Russia 2, Finland 2, Norway 1, Sweden 1, Canada 1, Latvia 1, USA 1.

So the final guess for the final medal count is: Russia 31, USA 28, Norway 27, Canada 25, Netherlands 24, Germany 19, Austria 17, France 15, Sweden 15, etc.

UP

Germany (+2 today, -3 overall): Rallying late in the Games with success in biathlon and snowboarding today. In position to finish at -3 if the bobsled team comes through. (Or get back to even by sweeping the 50k cross-country.)

Russia (+1 today, +7 overall): Vic Wild did it again, the biathlon men picked up their projected relay gold, and the speedskating women added one more.

Austria (+1 today, -5 overall): Projected for a big haul of four medals from seven events today, and they did even better with five.

FULL TABLE

[gview file=”https://duresport.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2014-medal-projections-feb22.pdf”%5D

HIGHLIGHTS

Most audacious goal: Mikaela Shiffrin says she’s going for five golds in 2018, one better than Janica Kostelic’s record. She’ll need to pick up the speed events in a hurry.

Worst bobsled finish: A Canadian sled wound up upside-down.

Worst teammate: See, the Dutch speedskaters aren’t perfect.

Worst political display:

https://twitter.com/ESPNOlympics/status/437238509707857920

Worst illness timing:

https://twitter.com/ESPNOlympics/status/437238506356621312

Biggest sign that this is all ending:

7
olympic sports, winter sports

Sochi recap: Alpine skiing, men’s slalom

Posted on by Beau Dure

Austria’s Mario Matt has two world slalom titles (2001, 2007) and plenty of World Cup success. But he has rarely been healthy in the Olympics — in fact, he had never finished an Olympic slalom. Now the 34-year-old is a gold medalist.

Date: 22-Feb

Sport: Alpine skiing

Event: Men’s slalom

Medalists: Mario Matt (Austria), Marcel Hirscher (Austria), Henrik Kristoffersen (Norway)

SportsMyriad projections: Marcel Hirscher (Austria), Mario Matt (Austria), Felix Neureuther (Germany)

How U.S. fared: Nolan Kasper was 18th, exactly 2 seconds back, after the first run. David Chodounsky did not finish.

That left all eyes on Ted Ligety, the giant slalom gold medalist. His World Cup slalom results aren’t special — no better than sixth in the last four years. He hadn’t finished the slalom in 2006 or 2009. But after one run, he was a solid sixth, just 0.11 seconds out of the medal places. He quipped to the camera that it was better than he expected.

Kasper had a rough patch early in the second run but made it down, which is more than could be said for many. He was fifth among the first 13 skiers to go, one place behind University of Denver alumnus Leif Kristian Haugen of Norway.

And Kasper would be the only U.S. skier to finish. Ligety was in trouble from the early going and finally slid out. He tried to hike back up but couldn’t resurrect his run.

When the course kicked out several favorites, Kasper climbed up to 13th overall.

What happened: The tough course took out six of the top 30 in the first run, including Benjamin Raich, fellow Austrian Reinfried Herbst and surprise giant slalom medalist Steve Missillier. The leaderboard was filled with favorites — Mario Matt first, Sweden’s Andre Myhrer 0.45 seconds back in second, then Germany’s Felix Neureuther, France’s Alexis Pinturault and Austria’s Marcel Hirscher clustered in seventh through ninth.

The surprises were tied for third — Sweden’s Mattias Hargin at least has a recent World Cup podium, which Italy’s Stefano Gross hasn’t done in two years. France’s Jean-Baptiste Grange, in fifth place, won the 2011 World Championship in the midst of a superb World Cup season but hadn’t been on the podium in a few years. Then Ligety, a giant slalom monster but better in the speed events than slalom.

Croatia’s Ante Kostelic, Ivica’s father, somehow drew the assignment of setting the course for the second run again, just as he did in the combined. Would anyone finish? The first three skiers failed, and the fourth had to hike back up the hill to make a gate. Six of the first 15 went out.

With the course chewing up the field, someone would have a chance to move up the standings with a good run. Through 21 skiers, the leader was 19-year-old Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen, who has four World Cup podiums in a breakout season.

Hirscher took a big dent out of that. He extended his 0.51-second lead over Kristoffersen in the first run to 0.55 seconds.

Then came Pinturault, going out of control but fast in the early going. He kept going fast but also kept going out of control, eventually going airborne with his skis askew. He was out. Then Neurather went out. Then Ligety. Then Grange. Hargin made it down but slipped down the standings (and immediately skied out the athletes’ exit). Gross gave it a good run early but could only finish third with two skiers to go.

Myhrer, the 2012 World Cup champion and 2010 bronze medalist, came out aggressive. And almost immediately straddled a gate.

Mario Matt had a 1.28-second advantage over Hirscher after the first run. He went out conservatively, giving back a bit of time. But he was in control … and he did it. He gave back exactly one second, winning by 0.28 seconds.

Full results

0
olympic sports, winter sports

Sochi recap: Biathlon, men’s relay

Posted on by Beau Dure

A thrilling final leg in the last biathlon event of these Olympics saw Russia pull away for gold in front of a raucous home crowd, while Ole Einar Bjoerndalen could only watch as Emil Hegle Svendsen’s wayward shooting cost him a final medal for the collection.

Date: 22-Feb

Sport: Biathlon

Event: Men’s 4×7.5k relay

Medalists: Russia, Germany, Austria

SportsMyriad projections: Russia, Norway, France

How U.S. fared: Bad news at the start — Tim Burke, the American with the best World Cup track record — was ill and did not compete.

Lowell Bailey went out fast, then took his time on the first shooting stage to leave the range in ninth. He was one of a handful of athletes to shoot cleanly at both stages in the first leg, heading back out on the ski course in fifth place. He stuck with Russia and handed off in fourth place, just a second off the podium.

Russell Currier stuck with Russia through his first lap but missed six times on the range. That sent him away on three penalty loops. He came into the range 11.9 seconds off the lead and left 1:51.0 behind in 17th place. He missed only two in his next stage and climbed back up to 15th.

Sean Doherty, only 18, missed three shots to slip to 16th. The youngster shot cleanly in the second stage and hung around in 15th.

Leif Nordgren had the anchor leg and was all alone — about a minute behind Switzerland and 45 seconds ahead of Kazakhstan. He missed twice on prone and twice more standing, giving up a good bit of time while Bulgaria shifted ahead of Kazakhstan behind him. Bulgaria’s Krasimir Anev caught him and beat him to the finish by 0.7 seconds. The USA finished 16th — the three teams behind them were lapped.

What happened: Strange start — 15 of the 19 skiers shot cleanly at the prone stage, with Austria and Russia each missing one to fall well down the standings. Canada’s J.P. Le Guellec was quickly through the range and took the lead halfway through the first leg. He flew into the range for the second shooting stage with the lead, but he missed four straight shots to incur one penalty loop.

That second stage restored order — Norway (Tarjei Boe), Germany (Erik Lesser) and France (Alexis Boeuf) shot cleanly and took off in the first three spots. Then it was Slovakia and the USA. Boe and Lesser broke away from the pack, while Russia (Alexey Volkov) and Austria (Christoph Sumann) moved up into it despite two misses. Boe got a 10-second gap on Lesser before the exchange, while Volkov moved into third just a second ahead of the USA’s Lowell Bailey.

The younger Boe, Johannes Thingnes, missed one shot in his first stage but still stuck with Germany’s Daniel Boehm. Russia’s Evgeny Ustyugov pulled within 10 seconds. A pack of seven emerged 15 seconds behind Ustyugov.

Boe shot cleanly at the standing stage to take the lead from Boehm, who missed once. Slovenia’s Jakov Fak was making a move to chase Ustyugov.

And so Boe handed to off a man twice his age — Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, looking to add to his Olympic record with a 14th career medal and break a tie with Norwegian cross-country great Bjoern Daehlie by winning his ninth career gold. He led by 20 seconds over Germany’s Arnd Peiffer, with Russia’s Dmitry Malyshko and Slovenia’s Klemen Bauer close behind.

Bjoerndalen, as usual, shot quickly on the range. And this time he shot cleanly. Malyshko, Peiffer and Austria’s Simon Eder also cleared the targets to form a little pack about 20 seconds behind.

With little change, Bjoerndalen came into the range for the last time as an Olympic athlete. Five shots, all perfect, in a ridiculous 20 seconds. Peiffer was also quick and clean to get a gap on Malyshko, who missed once. Eder missed twice and barely kept Austria’s lead for fourth over Slovenia’s Bauer. The resilient Canadians, meanwhile, were hanging in for sixth, within a minute of the lead and about 30 seconds of the podium as Brendan Green went for his last lap. Behind him, Simon Desthieux was trying to keep it close for France before handing off to elite closer Martin Fourcade.

Peiffer, though, wasn’t conceding anything. He whittled away Bjoerndalen’s lead to a mere two seconds. The anchors: gold medalist Emil Hegle Svendsen for Norway, Simon Schempp for Germany. Schempp was third on the current World Cup season.

And the others weren’t out of it. Russia handed off a 16.6-second gap to Anton Shipulin. Slovenia’s 38-year-old Janez Maric was 18.0 seconds back. Austria had Dominik Landertinger just 18.6 seconds back. And could Fourcade pull back 1:07.7 for France if others faltered?

It just got closer. Svendsen and Schempp each missed one, only the second miss for each team on the day. Shipulin missed twice but got through quickly. Landertinger missed one but also joined the fray. After seven shooting stages, we had four countries within 6 seconds: Norway, Germany, Russia, Austria. The one country out of the mix — France, which saw Fourcade pull back a lot of time on the first lap but give it back with a couple of misses on the range.

The top four raised their guns almost simultaneously. Svendsen missed his first. Langertinger missed his third. Svendsen missed again as Schempp and Shipulin left the range. Langertinger got out as Svendsen missed again. And Svendsen missed a fourth, going to the penalty loop and wiping out Bjoerndalen’s chances of a final Olympic medal.

Italy’s Lukas Hofer missed twice but shot quickly, moving within range of Norway’s Svendsen for fourth. Everyone else fell apart on the range.

But the focus was up front, with Shipulin and Schempp dueling while Landertinger gave chase. Shipulin led Schempp into the stadium, made the final turn and took off. The Russian crowd roared as Shipulin pulled up at the finish, comfortably ahead of the German. Landertinger soon followed to seal bronze for Austria, with Svendsen and the others nowhere in sight.

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