Saturday, January 16, 2010

Oh Otepaeaeaeaeae

God, it's fun to watch the races in Otepää. Pretty much every meter of the distance course was lined with fans making a deafening din that doubled in intensity whenever one of the Estonians - like the two who finished on the podium, or favorite daughter Šmigun-Vähi (9th on the day), or any of the other racers in blue and white and black - passed through. They put the Norwegians (except maybe at Holmenkollen) to shame.


On the tracks, the Tour de Ski winners kept their hot streaks going, with both Bauer and Kowalczyk taking big victories. Beyond that, the races were almost opposite in top finishes: only Russians, Norwegians, and Estonians were in the men's top 10, while seven different countries (including Japan) were represented in the women's top 10 (and a Chinese racer took 19th!).

Justyna has a good chance at making the top three in the classic sprints on Sunday, but at some point the heavy efforts on the Tour and on Saturday will take their toll, right? Right?

1. Jönsson
2. Hattestad
3. Rønning
Newell: finals

1. Majdic
2. Bjørgen
3. Saarinen

(I'd wager 100 Estonian krooni that three of the other top-ten spots in both the men's and women's races will be occupied by Norwegians.)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ill take that bet.

I don`t think the Norwegian women get 3 in the top 10

Anonymous said...

Well, at least you got the first two men right. Otherwise an off day for you! Pity for Newell, he needs to not be so relaxed, he gave his place in the semis away. How about Hanna Falk? Wow. I bet she bench presses 200lbs and leg presses like 500lbs.