Winter Olympics?

[j44ke]

Jess Diggins raced like she had a broken latch on her boot or iced-up binding or waxing problem. Something. Weird movement to her right knee during the classic laps of the skiathlon. Like it was collapsing inward or she was having to redirect the ski.

[caleb]

Jess Diggins raced like she had a broken latch on her boot or iced-up binding or waxing problem. Something. Weird movement to her right knee during the classic laps of the skiathlon. Like it was collapsing inward or she was having to redirect the ski.

I didn't see the collapsing inward. My impression was that the American wax techs missed the kick wax. Both Jesse and Rosie were slipping and having to get out of the tracks when everyone else was able to kick.

Also, what an ugly course for an Olympic games! Compare it to a replay from Holmenkollen and (at least in my mind) this is not a course that elevates the spirit. It's a depressing grinder of a course built to hit specs. Even in our little city we have at least two courses that would have been better venues.

[Bob Ross]

Beers of course.

Can I skip the snow -- and the ice, and the brooms, and the liquid plastic, and the duct tape -- just go straight to the beers, and still claim I'm playing Broom Ball? If so, I'm in!

But my team has to be Shirts.

[j44ke]

I didn't see the collapsing inward. My impression was that the American wax techs missed the kick wax. Both Jesse and Rosie were slipping and having to get out of the tracks when everyone else was able to kick.

Also, what an ugly course for an Olympic games! Compare it to a replay from Holmenkollen and (at least in my mind) this is not a course that elevates the spirit. It's a depressing grinder of a course built to hit specs. Even in our little city we have at least two courses that would have been better venues.

Makes sense. The knee movement could easily have been ski slippage. The shot was from head on. I think at Val di Fiemme, she had a similar problem. Johaug was slipping too, but she took off on the section into the stadium with the tailwind before switching into her freestyle skis and that was that.

[vertical_doug]

I didn't see the collapsing inward. My impression was that the American wax techs missed the kick wax. Both Jesse and Rosie were slipping and having to get out of the tracks when everyone else was able to kick.

Also, what an ugly course for an Olympic games! Compare it to a replay from Holmenkollen and (at least in my mind) this is not a course that elevates the spirit. It's a depressing grinder of a course built to hit specs. Even in our little city we have at least two courses that would have been better venues.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/%E...6!4d115.282669

Well, you just drop everything in the desert mountains and wonder why it is not inspiring? This is the area of the Athletes Village (You can see it under construction) , the national ski jump, the biathlon center, Cross Country Center, and Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou.

(Notice on google maps how no images are available. That's how tightly the Chinese scrubbed this place)

[bironi]

Back to curling.
Not ah boot the rock
Or stone
It's about
them throwing and sweeping
and the mind meld between.
I would think twice taking on a game with Spock.

[Mark Kelly]

I didn't see the collapsing inward. My impression was that the American wax techs missed the kick wax.

I wouldn't be too hard on the wax techs, this man made snow seems to be pretty difficult to predict.

Even Iivo Niskanen was slipping occasionally in the men's skiathlon tonight and if Niskanen is struggling normal humans would be screwed.

[rwsaunders]

Aerial video of the ski jump center under construction, a story about the indoor XC training center and making ice at a curling center.

https://www.chinastory.cn/spxqy/envi...2674166_1.html

https://www.chinastory.cn/PCywdbk/v2...7831249_1.html

https://www.chinastory.cn/PCywsp/env...7222176_1.html

[72gmc]

The ice making stories I’ve read are not the happy heroic stories the broadcasters like. Lots of water diverted from a region that was already putting its farmers in a tough spot.

[72gmc]

Jess Diggins raced like she had a broken latch on her boot or iced-up binding or waxing problem. Something. Weird movement to her right knee during the classic laps of the skiathlon. Like it was collapsing inward or she was having to redirect the ski.

The difference between classic and skate is expected with this team, isn’t it? It’s gaining strength, but there is a lot still to do when it comes to classic.

[vertical_doug]

The ice making stories I’ve read are not the happy heroic stories the broadcasters like. Lots of water diverted from a region that was already putting its farmers in a tough spot.

What farmers? Beijing displayed them all to make room for the olympic facilities.

[72gmc]

What farmers? Beijing displayed them all to make room for the olympic facilities.

I just wrote out a detailed response complete with links, but vbulletin nuked it for vbulletin reasons and now my thumbs are tired. Guardian, Reuters, NPR, WaPo all have stories that say or suggest a very large region is affected by Olympics water use, including farmers. I don’t personally have insight or better sources to argue with them.

There’s also a long article at independent.co.uk about the differences between artificial snow and natural snow as a competitive surface, with quotes from Jessie and other athletes.

[j44ke]

I wouldn't be too hard on the wax techs, this man made snow seems to be pretty difficult to predict.

Even Iivo Niskanen was slipping occasionally in the men's skiathlon tonight and if Niskanen is struggling normal humans would be screwed.

Yes, that seems to be the conversation. To Jess Diggins' credit, I've never heard her say a bad word about the team's ski waxers. She was the fastest skier on the course in the freestyle half of the race - faster even than Johaug evidently.

[Mark Kelly]

She was the fastest skier on the course in the freestyle half of the race - faster even than Johaug evidently.

I had the sense with Johaug (and with Bolshunov in the men's) that the tactic was to stick with the lead pack through the classic then accelerate once on skates. Both of them hit the afterburners on that first steep climb on skates and established a demoralising gap.

[vertical_doug]

I just wrote out a detailed response complete with links, but vbulletin nuked it for vbulletin reasons and now my thumbs are tired. Guardian, Reuters, NPR, WaPo all have stories that say or suggest a very large region is affected by Olympics water use, including farmers. I don’t personally have insight or better sources to argue with them.

There’s also a long article at independent.co.uk about the differences between artificial snow and natural snow as a competitive surface, with quotes from Jessie and other athletes.

Sorry, my humor was lost with the misspelling. I realize the area is short of water and it is being wasted on the course. I was merely pointing out, that may be the deck chair on the titanic. They essentially carved out 4 venues out of dry mountains. They displaced farmers and locals, because if you look at earlier sat photos, the area did have small farms.

I don't see how they keep the venues viable after the olympics.

Having said that, some of what the Chinese did was smart in repurposing several of the 2008 venues. The curling curb was the aquatic center for 2008 Olympics. They used the bird's next again for the opening and closing ceremonies. The hockey center is a repurposed 2008 Olympic venue called the fan. The big air is built inside an abandoned steel mill.

Thomas Bach must like these Olympics because as long as he is a useful idiot for propaganda the Chinese don't criticize him. In Japan, he was nicknamed Baron Rip-off. "Bottakuri danshaku (ぼったくり男爵)"
But then he did refer to the Japanese in Japan as Chinese after they blew $35billion.

[choke]

It's called broom ball and is a MN staple. The rink is formed by mounding snow, in abundance 11.5 months of each year, to form a rink. Fill the "rink" with water, cut some brooms in half...dip them in liquid plastic and commence.

Oh, you need duct tape on your shoes in just the right amounts for that perfect glide to grip factor.

Beers of course.

Heh....I played broomball in Moscow, though my understanding is that it's different than broomball that's played in the US and Canada. We used tape on the brooms to shape them. We also had shoes with very soft rubber soles and indented holes in the sole, which meant that they deformed a lot and worked somewhat like suction cups.

Our team (US Marines) was pretty terrible, as none of us had ever played before and since we worked shifts it was a bunch of different people every game. I think that I made it to 4 or 5 games. I'll never forget the first game, we played the French Embassy and one of the French players didn't fasten the mask on his helmet. He was bent over, the mask had swung down and one of our guys missed the ball and hit him square on the chin, which opened a good sized gash. You can imagine our elation from drawing blood the first time out.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/...t-sport-a64721

[72gmc]

Having said that, some of what the Chinese did was smart in repurposing several of the 2008 venues. The curling curb was the aquatic center for 2008 Olympics. They used the bird's next again for the opening and closing ceremonies. The hockey center is a repurposed 2008 Olympic venue called the fan. The big air is built inside an abandoned steel mill.

I agree. It's laudable re-use.

Regarding artificial snow, I wonder what the near future holds for winter events worldwide. Is the surface actually as wonderful for competition as the athletes say, or are they being good ambassadors? I have to think equipment teams are working hard on this.

[j44ke]

Note: If you are squeamish, do not watch replays of Nina O’Brien's crash in the women's giant slalom.

[Tom]

My brother's daughter went to Burke Mountain Academy and I asked her about a trip her team took out to British Columbia and how the snow was. "Water injected ice" she shrugged. I don't think it matters where the snow comes from, they're going to turn it into concrete no matter what.

[Markco]

For the racers, the harder the surface the better the competition. Soft snow degrades with ruts as you work down the starting list putting racers out of the top 10-15 at a disadvantage. Props to the athletes who come from the back side of the start list to be competitive. At the speeds they compete at, a rut can toss you out of the course or worse.