Pellegrini finally took down Klaebo in the sprint! Someone actually did it!🙏
That was a great sprint where Pellegrini really showed her strength in the final stretch. Faehndrich managed to pull off a win in front of the home crowd, who always bring such incredible energy to Davos. Since there were only 39 racers in this women's start, Ten Hadžić managed to secure some points in CC, and I'm pretty sure this marks the very first time an American woman has scored points in the women's CC circuit!
Jouve and Faehndrich pulled off a Great sprint in Beitostolen, while Klaebo didn't even take the start.
With no Swedish women in the finals, it looks like Sundling isn't quite ready yet. There was no Fish in the mix either, but after an eighteen-month hiatus from racing, Lisa Svahn finally made her comeback in a smaller event.
Klaebo showed up and just had a typical day at the office during the sprint, following right on the heels of the Fish which wasn't really what I was expecting. On top of that, the Swedish women are missing two of their heavy hitters, Sundling and Svanh.
Gary Ward20 said:Does anyone happen to know why Klaebo wasn't at the start today? Also, what on earth happened in the women's race—how did Karlsson end up in 8th place? I haven't had a chance to catch any of the races yet.
Klaebo is dealing with a sore throat, so he’s sitting this one out. It's a shame, really, since this race was essentially just the Norwegian National Championships. As expected, Musgrave has settled right into the rhythm of the Norwegian flag.😁 Iver Andersen just secured his very first career win in CC! It happened during only his second race of the World Cup 2022/2023 season. What an incredible way to kick things off!
I didn't catch that race myself, but honestly, it's not like Karlsson finishing 8th is some kind of disaster. They are still performing at a high level regardless. The margins are actually quite slim.
Klaebo pulls off a hat trick to open the season! It was his signature move again—letting everyone catch up first, waiting for the perfect moment, and then setting a pace so punishing that nobody even wants to attempt a counterattack. He just cruises to another easy victory. That marks his 51st career win in the World Cup, but honestly, he has accumulated far too many sprint wins compared to other eras. For instance, if you ask me, the Greatest of All Time, Dahlie, had 46 victories, but 45 of those were in distance races with only one single sprint win. The prestige of the World Cup has been somewhat diluted by this inflation of sprint racing.
Looking at the Swedish weekend, we saw Ebba and Frida simply swap places in today's pursuit compared to yesterday. In my book, those two remain the absolute favorites heading into the VKG.
Klaebo is definitely playing it cool when he claims he isn't in peak condition. Imagine what happens when he actually hits his stride! Plus, these shorter distances seem to be working perfectly in his favor. I mean, seeing six Norwegians land in the Top 10 Ski during the 10km is quite something. 😁
When looking at 6.2 miles C, the situation is totally different since there aren't any Norwegian women on the podium, but it’s honestly great to see Oestberg back out there racing. After all those health issues and being forced to sit out, seeing her compete again is just wonderful.
Klaebo looks like he’s cruising at half speed and still grabs the first sprint (C), leaving a Norwegian front four in his wake.
The women's race featured a much more intense sprint. Dalqvist entered that final turn in the lead, but I suspect her teammate accidentally bumped her right as she hit the snow. In the end, instead of a clean Swedish sweep, we saw a double victory led by Fish.
The new season is just around the corner, and if you ask me, the men's side might end up being a bit of a snooze fest due to the heavy dominance of the Norwegians. On the flip side, things should get way more interesting with the women since we won't have Johaug anymore. This opens up a massive window for the Swedish women to snatch the VKG. It honestly sounds wild that they’ve never actually had a Cross Country winner, especially considering Ebba Andersson has only managed to land in the top 3 over the last two seasons. While their women's Cross Country scene is absolutely exploding with a huge roster of elite athletes, the men's side seems to be in a total slump.
As for Klaebo, he's a complete wildcard heading into the season opener because he's been battling injuries all summer long. However, he has signed up for a test race in Norway this weekend, which will help him decide whether he'll actually show up for the start of the Ski season.
He struggled through the pommel horse, hitting some major snags during the middle routine and really faltered right at the finish line, whereas Q put together a much cleaner performance. Considering he’s working with the lowest D-score, a spot on the podium is actually quite realistic, even if the Japanese star Doi and the Dutch gymnast de Munck were both off their game. It’s such an intriguing podium lineup—Mc Clenaghan from Ireland totally earned that gold, while Abu ali Soud secured a historic first-ever medal for Jordan at the World Championships. To round things out, veteran Merdinyan walked away with the bronze.
1. China - 257.858 2. Japan - 253.395 3. Great Britain - 247.229
China took home a well-deserved gold medal. They were incredibly consistent across every single apparatus, and they were the only ones who truly mastered the vault. They cruised past the 40-point mark while everyone else struggled with their vaults. The absolute highlight of the evening was the routine by Zoe Jingyuan, who once again proved he is in a league of his own on the floor exercise. The Japanese team underperformed a bit, which is surprising since they were the heavy favorites for gold and led the pack during qualifications. Hashimoto fell on the pommel horse—his favorite event—but luckily that didn't impact the final result too much. Let's just hope he isn't injured and stays ready for the AA. Great Britain was the "best of the rest," and those top three teams have officially punched their tickets to Paris.
-WAG-teams
1. USA - 166.564 2. Great Britain - 163.363 3. Canada - 160.563
The Americans kept their winning streak alive! This marks their 6th consecutive gold in the team event. The Canadian women were the biggest surprise of the night, somehow managing to squeeze into the finals. It’s such a shame about Flavia from Brazil getting injured during quals; if she had been healthy, I really think they could have challenged the USA. Every single team seemed to struggle on the balance beam tonight, especially the Chinese squad, where all three gymnasts fell. The women's AA final is happening tomorrow! If you want to catch the action, you can watch it on Fig's official YouTube channel.
Simone Biles wrapped up the season with another rough outing, finishing just 46th in the qualifiers with a score of 13.200 (D-5.700, E-7.500). He had one major blunder, but even if he hadn't, it would have been an uphill battle to make the finals because his difficulty score is just too low compared to the rest of the field. On a brighter note, Ude put on a stellar performance and successfully qualified for his new pommel horse final this Saturday. The unknown athlete also delivered a very strong floor routine, scoring a 14.266 to land in 11th place—though a 0.2 deduction unfortunately kept him out of the finals.
The first finals of the day are coming up, starting with the women's team competition at 6:30 PM.
The 51st Gymnastics World Championships kicked off in Liverpool yesterday! It’s been an incredible start, and I'm really looking forward to today, as the women's qualifying rounds are officially underway. As for the men, their qualifiers are happening tomorrow. On the NFL roster, we have five athletes ready to go: Ude, Srbić, Benović, and Furač. And young Kukuljan Frleta. Of course, our most serious heavy hitter is Srbić. He hasn't quite hit his usual stride this year, mostly because he’s had to deal with some constant adjustments. I’m putting in some extra training sessions lately because of those new rules that kicked in on January 1st, 2022. It's a bit of a hurdle, but honestly? I have high hopes that things will actually run much smoother once we get into the NFL. Even though we aren't seeing any presence from Rus at the Masters Invitational or the EP, the competition is still incredibly fierce. It’s being led by the Olympic squad, and they are looking seriously strong. With Hashimot taking the lead as the clear frontrunner here, we’ve also got the American, Malone, and the Chinese contender all in the mix. With folks like Boheng and that Brazilian guy Souz...
Here is the upcoming schedule:
October 29th & 30th – Women’s Q session. October 31st – Men’s Q&A session.
1.11 - Women’s Team Finals 2.11-Team Finals-Men's Division
March 11th — The AA Season Finale: Women’s Division The 4.11-AA finale—Men's division.
The finals for the Men's and Women's events on November 5th and 6th are officially set! I can't wait to see how this plays out.
Tomokazu Harimoto is burning way too much energy celebrating every single point; it’s obvious his drive to beat his own countrymen is getting the better of him.😁 Wang is clearly playing at a world-class level right now on the global stage, but he’ll need to maintain this exact momentum through next year if he wants to secure a spot in the Olympics, because I think Fan Zhendong is a lock, while the battle for that second singles spot is still wide open.
It was honestly such a close call—Meng almost completely flipped the script after trailing 3-1 in sets and finding herself down 10-7 in the seventh. She just handed it away by hitting way too many easy FH shots out of bounds during that final set.
That was some top-tier table tennis. I’m really hoping the men's final is just as gripping. Watching Harimoto feels like watching a veteran who's been in the game forever, yet the kid is only 19! He’s already got one major championship title under his belt from when he was just 15.
wiredcanyon39 said:What a masterclass from Dimitrij Ovtcharov! He absolutely dismantled Fan Zhendong to secure his spot in the semifinals. Next up, he’ll be facing Harimoto, who just finished playing around with Dang Qiu. I can't wait to see how the other quarter of the bracket shakes out!
I just finished watching the replay of the match between Wang and Ma Long—man, what an incredible game!🙏
Ma Long was staring down a brutal 3-0 deficit, looking like he might just drop the whole match, but he somehow fought his way back to force a seventh game. In the end, though, Wang just stayed more composed during those final crucial points and clinched it. Setu is playing some absolutely incredible table tennis right now—he’s in the form of his life! Honestly, you can't overlook that kind of momentum; pulling off two massive wins like that in a single week is no small feat. The greatest of all time meets the world number one. It’s going to be an absolute clinic tomorrow in the finals when he faces Harimoto, who has been absolutely tearing through the bracket. Dimitrij Ovtcharov.
Nothing new to report from the women's side here in San Francisco—it’s basically an all-Chinese takeover. At this rate, we're looking at a showdown between the two best in the world, Sun and Meng, in the finals.
What an absolute thriller in the final between Fan and Wang! It pushed all the way to a seventh set, where Wang managed to grab a massive early lead and just refused to let it go. It’s been a monster week for Wang—taking down two of the top players on the planet is no small feat—but things are about to get even more intense. This coming weekend marks the WTT finals, featuring the top 16 players in the world. I thought the women's final was a bit of a letdown, though, since Sun cruised to the title way too easily.
C. Meng pulled off a total thriller to win, handing us the biggest upset of the tournament so far. This means we aren't just stuck watching a predictable lineup of Chinese and Japanese matchups in the QF. The bracket is looking much more diverse and exciting now, which is always the best part of these events. We still have that big Ma vs Qiu showdown left to decide the final spot in the QF.
That was an incredible match between Felix Lebrun and Lin Yun-ju. Those few unbelievable points Felix snatched away just go to show he can hold his own against the absolute elite. The winner moves on to face Ortraga, who already knocked out another veteran, Chuang Chih-yuan, in the first round. Over in the Group Z bracket, we saw a massive upset when M. Wang fell to the Chinese player Yuan.
It was a quick sweep in the finals against Germany, where Dang Qiu managed to snag just a single set from Ma Long. By the way, Dang Qiu isn't one of those typical naturalized Chinese players representing Germany like most of them do for various other national teams; he was actually born right there in Germany.
And it goes without saying that the Chinese women also grabbed the gold, absolutely dominating the field without dropping a single match; you could count the sets they lost on just one hand.