The 2019–20 Biathlon World Cup is taking place in France, at Le Grand-Bornand and today I had the pleasure to watch the 7.5 km sprint for women. I saw the previous edition that took place in Hochfilzen, Austria a week ago, in 13 December 2019 and loved it. It's a tough sport and very different from the other ski related sports.
Last time the race in Hochfilzen, Austria was a little bit different as the weather was different. I remember it was cold but other than that, it was perfect. Today however it was warm, must have been around 8 or 9 degrees Celsius and it was raining. You can argue that biathlon is not an indoor sport and you're right, but when ski is involved, there must be suitable condition. However, imagine no one was complaining, no one fell, no one had an accident.
During this period a bunch of winter sport events are taking place all over the world. I've seen all kinds of mixed and inappropriate weather conditions that have caused accidents, races were stopped and some even cancelled due to the weather.
Today when I saw it was raining, I thought we'll witness a race that is cancelled halfway but that didn't happen. The snow must have been artificial as at that temperature snow is long melted, plus the slope was the only place covered with snow.
The ladies had no problem with the rain, they were racing, business as usual. There were staff members cleaning the mats at the shooting place so they don't have to lay down in water but other than that, there were no problems.
Tiril Eckhoff, the 29 year old Norvegian who became first at 10 km Pursuit a week ago in Hochfilzen, Austria, got the gold. Looks like she's the best at the moment and I'm glad to see her reconfirming her success.
Justine Braisaz, the 2e year old French biathlete came second today, it's her second victory this season at this event, she came first in Östersund, at 15 km Individual.
Markéta Davidová, the 22 year old Czech took the bronze. She came third in Östersund.
Tomorrow is going to take place the 10 km Pursuit. I'm curious to see the weather and I'm hoping to see a good race without any accidents. It's frustrating when an event is cancelled and even more frustrating when you see athletes falling due to bad conditions.