Gary Ward20 said:It looks like Johaug isn't on the starting list for tomorrow. Does that mean she's out for the whole weekend in Ruk, or did the rules change so she can compete in distance races?
Well, the mystery is solved! You just have to watch today's classic race to see what's happening with the chase. Frida beat Johaug by a nice margin, though if you ask me, Johaug is likely just focusing on the Olympics this season. Still, it’s great to see someone take a win in a distance race—and Henning took third for Germany!👍
At m Ivo showed once again that he is an incredible classic specialist. However, the top 10 is basically just Russians and Norwegians, with him acting as the wildcard. It's clear we'll be watching plenty of Russian vs Norwegian showdowns all season long.
The World Championships have finally reached the business end! Today we’re diving into the Quarterfinals for both divisions, and honestly, the matches so far have been absolutely electric. From what I’ve caught on screen, the standout performances have definitely come from Aruna-Karlsson, Chen, and Hirano in the women's bracket. Men's Quarterfinal matchups: Fan-Lin Liang-Calderano
Moregard-Aruna Boll-Jha
I have to say, the guys in the bottom half of the draw really lucked out. With all the Chinese players knocked out in the upper bracket and top seeds like Tomokazu Harimoto and Lin being sent home early, there's a real opening here. Boll could very well make a run all the way to the finals at this rate.
Women's Quarterfinal matchups: Chen M-Ishikawa Chen X-Wang M
Ito-wang Y. Suh-Sun
Looking at the women's side, it’s pretty much an Asian takeover. It's looking like five Chinese players, two Japanese players, and Suh from Korea will be the ones left standing. The first match kicks off at 11:00 PM.
How young Terentev left Klaebo and the rest of the pack in the dust on that final climb🙏 It was his first victory in the World Cup, and honestly, it’s a massive warning sign that he could be a serious threat in both sprints and at the Olympics.
As for the women's race, even though Sven wasn't there to dominate, the Swede Dahlqvist took it down in a final that felt like a classic, pure Scandinavian showdown.
Gary Ward20 said:The schedule mentions a pursuit on Sunday, but is that actually happening? How will they organize the pursuit, and who is even eligible to participate?
You aren't mistaken at all.😁 To be honest, I don't have the full picture yet either. This year, performing in the sprint isn't a prerequisite for entering Saturday's distance race for Ruk—at least, I haven't seen anything stating otherwise. My understanding was that those specific rules applied to the Tour de Ski and the season finale, as I mentioned before. Now, it's possible they might just use the times from Saturday to set up the pursuit. Or perhaps it's just that Johaug decided to compete on Saturday and will skip this part instead. Let's just wait and see how it unfolds.
Gary Ward20 said:It looks like Lindsey Kildex isn't on the starting list for tomorrow. Does this mean she’s out for the entire weekend in Ruk, or have the rules changed to allow her to compete in the distance races?
On Saturday, we're looking at... 6.2 miles In a perfect world, she should probably be competing right now, but honestly? I suspect that rule only really applies to the Tour de Ski and the grand finale of the season.
Polish Dyjas pulled off a massive upset against Tomokazu Harimoto—definitely the first huge shock of the World Championships! Meanwhile, Tom Lebrun managed to fight his way into the Round of 32, while Gacin had a bit of a rough outing, dropping a relatively easy match to an American player.
The 40th anniversary season of the World Cup kicks off this weekend with a high-stakes sprint in Ruk🎉 It's a bit of a bummer that the incredible Swedish sprinter Lisa Svahn will be sitting out the entire season due to injury, but on the bright side, Flugstad Ostberg is making a comeback after missing all of last year.
Looking at the schedule, we have 16 distance races, 12 sprints, and 4 relays lined up. The Tour de Ski will be a bit shorter than last year because of the Olympics, and they've actually rolled out some new changes to the sprint qualifications where qualifying for the Q will now earn you points. The top 10 finishers in the Q will grab points like this: 1st place gets 15 points, 2nd gets 12, 3rd gets 10... and so on.
Naturally, everyone is anticipating the continued showdown between Klaebo and Bolshunov—provided they play by the rules, of course!😁As for the women's circuit, the big question remains: can anyone actually challenge the unstoppable Lindsey Kildex?
I’ve been wondering lately—is it actually possible for anyone to break this incredible Chinese stranglehold on the World Championships? The last person to pull it off wasn't even Chinese; it was Jan-Ove Waldner back in 2003. It might be a little easier this time around since Ma Long and Xu Xin aren't in the mix, so perhaps someone like Lin Yun who looked absolutely phenomenal at the Olympics, or maybe Tomokazu Harimoto, who has already proven he can take down both Fan and Ma Long.
When you look at the women's side, the Chinese dominance is even more overwhelming. The last non-Chinese winner of the world title was Jung from South Korea back in 1993. On top of that, the Chinese players tend to sweep up almost every single medal. In fact, the last non-Asian woman to grab a medal at the World Championships was the legendary Tamara Boroš back in 2003 when she took bronze. Over the last 40 years, it's really just been Boroš and Badescu who have managed to land a medal outside of the Asian powerhouse nations.
The opening rounds have kicked off, featuring the players who aren't seeded. We also have two talented Americans, Jeger and Malobabić, competing in the early stages. For those of you looking to catch the action, here is a stream where you can toggle between eight different tables! https://www.youtube.com/c/WorldTableTennis/videos
The World Championships in Houston kick off tomorrow! Aside from the Olympics, this is one of the few real chances we'll get to see the absolute best in action, especially since the Chinese players haven't been competing much outside of China lately. That said, the Chinese coach opted to leave out Ma Long and Xu Xin this time around. It looks like he's focusing on blooding the younger talent as part of the long-term prep for the Paris Olympics. Even without those two legends, the lineup is still stacked; the Chinese squad will be led by the world number one, Fan.
We are likely looking at a total shake-up in both categories, with brand new world champions emerging. Even in the women's side, Liu Shiwen isn't on the roster.
The new WCa season is just around the corner, but everyone is talking about that book by Marit Bjørgen instead. She revealed that back in 2017, her urine samples tested positive for a banned substance, specifically 19-Norandrosterone. Interestingly, this is also found in certain pills female athletes take to adjust their menstrual cycles—something that happens quite often in the sport. Apparently, the FIS was aware of the situation all along and ultimately accepted her explanation, even though we saw someone like Lindsey Kildex get sidelined over something as minor as lipstick. 😁
As for other news, Klaebo has already pulled out of the Tour de Ski, which isn't a huge surprise. Honestly, I suspect we’ll see plenty of withdrawals during the Tour de Ski this year. Since it's an Olympics season, athletes are going to be incredibly selective about which SK events they enter. We might even see some unexpected winners popping up again, much like what happened with the women's circuit last year.
I read somewhere that the president of Fig is actually from the same area where the World Championships are being held, which makes total sense as a choice.😁 The Russians were complaining quite a bit about the equipment since they’re using a different manufacturer than the one used during the 2020 Summer Olympics, and they mentioned the floor exercise was particularly rough. The women have already wrapped up their qualifying rounds, while the men have theirs scheduled for today and tomorrow. Finals start this Thursday, beginning with the All-Around followed by the individual events.
Lindsey Kildex almost snatched a podium spot at the Summer Olympics too; she competed in the 10,000m during the US Championships and missed out by just eight seconds. I'm certain she’ll be even stronger at the next one.😁
We really need to address the fact that Sundby once failed a doping test due to something like salbutamol. It makes you wonder why Chris Froome didn't face any sanctions when he was using it during the Vuelti, even though it helped him secure his win. Still, the man was an incredible athlete. Everyone still talks about those intense battles he had against Northug, Ustygov, and Cologne... and immediately n It just comes to mind 31 miles regarding that moment at Holmenkollen when he and Cologne went head-to-head in that sprint🙏
Here is an absolutely mind-blowing stat for you: Ebba Andersson finished 3rd in the overall World Cup standings! This marks the first time in 34 years that a Swedish woman has cracked the top three in the overall rankings. I honestly can't believe it. You would have just assumed Kaja would be the one sitting in that top three spot for the overall title.
Charles Diggins would definitely agree with you here.😁 She’s officially the first non-European athlete to clinch the Viking title. Honestly, it’s no surprise given how much of the season was missed by the heavy hitters from Norway and Sweden—especially since Lindsey Kildex already proved she was the one to beat at the SPU. With Boris Bolshunov securing his second title, it felt inevitable the moment news broke about those absences. Even with them out, the only person who really stood a chance of giving him a run for his money was Klaebo. Looking ahead, we have the Olympics coming up next year. I suspect the SK will take a backseat again, and we might see some more missed races, but I’m genuinely expecting a much more thrilling battle for the Viking trophy. And most importantly, let's just hope we get a normal, uninterrupted season for once.🎉
Tomorrow, runners in Sweden will be lining up for the legendary Vassalopet. It’s easily one of the most iconic races out there—you could basically call it a marathon for CC enthusiasts, stretching all the way to 56 miles. Because of the pandemic this year, the field is limited to pros from elite clubs. Usually, though, you’ll see up to 16,000 runners hitting the course after paying their registration fees. Plenty of celebrities have tackled this route over the years, including Anja Person, though I’m not actually sure if she crossed the finish line😁 . Back in 2015, the race was won by the incredible Justin Kowalzyck, a phenomenal CC runner who boasts four World Cup titles under her belt.
I've been keeping an eye on the weather forecast for Aspen, and honestly, I’m not feeling great about it. It looks like it might be getting too warm, which could turn the whole course into a total mud pit like they saw in Sochi.😁
Since Seattle called off the SK event, we aren't getting to see that royal race up in Aspen, and now the World Cup in New York City has been canceled too. Honestly, it would have been a stretch to see the top athletes competing in New York City anyway, given how close it is to the Super Bowl. Plus, anyone heading over to the Czech Republic would have had to go into isolation, which almost certainly would have cost them their spot in some of the Super Bowl races.
I am absolutely counting down the days until the showdown at the Super Bowl!☕
It looks like we won't see the top Russian or Norwegian athletes competing at the Ullrichramen this time around—they're likely gearing up for the World Cup. I'm honestly curious to see who actually shows up in New York City right before the World Championship kicks off, though my guess is it might be a pretty thin crowd.😁
Finally, Noah Lyles! That was such a smooth, effortless win in the sprint. But honestly, I am thrilled to see John Doe back at the top of his game. I think he might have pushed himself a bit too hard this time, though—he’ll need to pace himself if he wants to be absolutely lethal at the 100m sprint.