Picking the Podiums

I can't say I'm doing terribly well so far in picking the podiums of Olympic races. I had two out of three in the women's freestyle (including being dead right on gold and bronze) and three out of three in the women's sprint (though only silver in the right spot), but I picked only one eventual medalist in the men's freestyle race (and then put him in the wrong spot) and none of the medalists in the men's sprint. Moreover, my pick for bronze in the men's sprint didn't even qualify for the heats!

Undaunted, here are my picks for Friday's women's pursuit and, below, the before-and-afters for the skate and sprint races.

women's 7.5k + 7.5k pursuit

1. Kowalczyk

2. Kalla

3. Steira

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women's 10km freestyle

picks

1. Kalla

2. Kowalczyk

3. Bjørgen

actual

1. Kalla

2. Smigun-Vaehi

3. Bjørgen

5. Kowalcyzk

men's 15km freestyle

picks

1. Bauer

2. Northug

3. Hellner

actual

1. Cologna

2. Piller Cottrer

3. Bauer

4. Hellner

41. Northug

women's classic sprint

picks

1.Majdic

2.Kowalczyk

3. Bjørgen

actual

1. Bjørgen

2. Kowalczyk

3. Majdic

men's classic sprint

picks

1. Jönsson

2. Hattestad

3. Newell

actual

1. Kriukov

2. Panzhinskiy

3. Northug

4. Hattestad

7. Jönsson

45. Newell