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Seven men to be five for the Olympics.
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Just as for the women, there are seven in the Swedish men’s squad, which must be cut to five for the Olympics. The Swedish Olympic Committee only allows five men, four in the team and one reserve for the relay. Then there can be reserves at home. It is the relay that is the basis for the squad, and then the fours places in the individual disciplines are allocated between them. I will return to this problem.
The picture shows six of the seven Swedes in today’s race, where all of them – apart from the preselected Björn Ferry and Carl Johan Bergman – are fighting for a relay place.
From left: Björn Ferry (number 49 in Thursday’s 20 km race), who will be competing at his third Olympics. He had switched sport in plenty of time before Salt Lake City. Björn is 31, and lives and competes for Storuman. He was 17th in the equivalent race last year. Björn has two consecutive wins in the pursuit in Anterselva and nine podium places in the World Cup. As a former cross-country skier he is better at that side of things and was twelfth in last year’s skiing analysis, which was topped by Norwegian Ronny Hafsås (who won the cross-country World Cup premiere), Frode Andresen and Ole Einar Björndalen. Björn should have caught up with what he lost due to his broken collar bone.
52) Mattias Nilsson, 27, Östersunds Biathlon, the “home skier” in a men’s team where ”only” three live in Östersund. Mattias was the best Swedish biathlete (seventh in the sprint) at the last Olympics in Turin (San Sicaro), where he – as few know – won (!) his leg of the relay (the team came fourth). Has had problems shooting, but two podium places in previous world cups show his capacity when he’s on top form.
131) Jörgen Brink, 35 and the oldest of the Swedish men. Jörgen competes for Östersund, but lives in Sollefteå with his family. He is originally from Hälsingland. Many people have expected Brink to develop too quickly. He is only in his third year of biathlon. With three World Championship bronze medals in cross-country (2003), he has shown his skiing capacity and he is one of the ten best biathletes on the trails.
16) David Ekholm, 30, will almost have finished when Brink starts. David competes for Ekshärad in Värmland, but lives in Östersund with the well-known Helena Jonsson. He had a great World Championships with fifth in the individual and silver in the mixed relay. He shoots well in prone, but not as well as his girlfriend either in prone or standing. 35th in last year’s premiere.
74) Fredrik Lindström, 20, a name to remember from Anudsjö who represents I 21 Sollefteå, but lives in Östersund. Fredrik was one of Sweden’s best junior cross-country skiers, before choosing the second of his two sports. If he doesn’t make the Olympics he can console himself with the Junior World Championships. But Fredrik was 13th in the sprint at the pre-Olympics and was part of the winning Swedish relay team. Didn’t ski the individual in Östersund last year, but was 47th in the sprint and will be better this year.
34) Carl Johan Bergman, 31, also competes for Ekshärad, but lives in Lillehammer with the Norwegian biathlete Liv Kjerstin Eikeland (second in Östersund three years ago). Carl Johan was ninth last year and has previous 1-2-3 podium places. Carl Johan has returned to a slower shooting tempo than the one that ruined his shooting a couple of years ago. An eye operation can also have had an effect. Clearly more reliable prone, but most impressive when he is on top form and then he’s better than the 15th he has in last year’s skiing analysis. Ninth in last year’s premiere.
18) Magnus Jonsson, 27, is not in this picture. Magnus represents Östersund Biathlon, but lives in Sollefteå. He was 53rd in last year’s individual here. His best result in a 14th place in Oberhof and a 15th place in the World Championships(!). Skis better than he shoots and, along with Mattias Nilsson, is around the 30 best in last year’s analysis.
Ahead of Thursday’s men’s individual we can mention the German, Michaeil Greis (now number 14) who won last year’s premiere, where Ole Einar Björndalen (no 12) was just 34th and this year’s cross-country premiere winner, Ronny Hafsås (no 87) was just 76. Ronny skis fast, but last season he had problems with standing shooting, only hitting with 6 or 10 shots. Compatriot and World Championship king here in 2008, Emil Hegle Svendsen, likes Östersund and placed 3-1-3 in last year’s three races in Östersund. This Norwegian is amazing steady when shooting prone (91 percent hits).
Thord Eric Nilsson has a 50-year background in journalism and was sports editor at Östersunds Posten (1971-2005). He now has his own agency. His specialties have included cross-country skiing and, in the last decade, Östersund’s major new sport, biathlon. Thord Eric will be writing columns and features during the World Cup.
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The Biathlon World Cup could not have started better for Sweden!
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Helena Jonsson and Anna Carin Olofsson were a top twosome – and clearly so – in the women’s 15 km individual. Helena was a worthy gold medallist, winning by 26 seconds from Anna-Carin. The duo were around a minute ahead of third placed Dayrya Dombracheva. Vitryssland.
Helena won thanks to her steady shooting, with just one miss. Anna Carin showed her skill on the trails, but had one more miss than her teammate. The result was historic – an absolute first for Sweden in the World Cup.
Complete results you find on www.biathlonworld.com
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The winner, Helena Jonsson.
Photo: Kjell Bollnert |
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Vinterstudion’s season premiere on Saturday.
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2 days until the World Cup Premiere in Östersund...
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| As usual, André Pops is anchorman for Vinterstudion. Picture: SVT |
Biathlon in Östersund also means it’s the premiere for SVT’s hit Vinterstudion. It’s premiere weekend is 5-6 December when Pops & Co will be broadcasting live from the biathlon stadium in Östersund and the Biathlon World Cup. His famous guests in the studio will naturally include Magdalena Forsberg.
SVT’s broadcasts from the biathlon races start on Wednesday 2 December at 17.00, with the women’s individual. The commentators are the classic duo of Christer Ulfbåge and Kalle Grenemark.
You can watch the action on SVT1 & SVT 2 and SVT Play.
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240 million will be able to watch the World Cup Premiere.
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2 days until the World Cup Premiere in Östersund...
240 million people in 59 countries have the chance to watch Östersund’s World Cup Premiere in biathlon, live on Eurosport.
Eurosport broadcasts in 20 languages and reaches 117 million households. Eurosport 2 broadcasts to 36 million households in 14 languages to 46 countries. Eurosport Asia-Pacific was launched in 2006 and already reaches 12 countries in the region. Eurosport’s websites, with their nine language versions, are Europe’s leading sports network with 9.9 million unique visitors per month.
Read more at www.eurosportcorporate.com |
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Major launch for biathlon officials ahead of next week’s big premiere.
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6 days until the World Cup Premiere in Biathlon...
As usual, the launch of the biathlon celebrations has taken place and it’s no secret that around 500 very enthusiastic officials will be doing their best to lift the World Cup Premiere to new heights.
Chair of the Organising Committee, Gun Fahlander, was in a wonderful mood and began by saying how happy she was to finally meet all the fantastic biathlon supporters again. With her was the captain of the Swedish team, Staffan Eklund, who reported on the status of the Swedish team.
“The mood in the team is good and there are high expectations for this season. We feel strong and, ahead of this season, our women’s team is ranked as number two in the world and our men’s as fourth. It’s not so surprising – we’re good!” states Eklund, who says that he thinks it is fun to start the season in Östersund again.
The evening continued with news about the upgrades to the stadium and improvements on last year, as well as a presentation and review of this year’s policies and practical issues.
More than 500 officials are ready to go. There are six days left.
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Rain and temperatures above freezing are having no effect on the trails at Östersund ski stadium. Chief of competition, Sten Wadensjö, is the image of calm ahead of the World Cup Premiere in just over a week.
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9 days until the World Cup Premiere...
Chief of competition, Sten Wadensjö, sleeps well at night, despite the varied weather over the last few weeks, that has brought rain and temperatures above freezing.
“There’s no risk of substandard trails. We still have 3500 cubic metres of snow in storage that will be used to groom the final stretches. That’s all that’s needed now to keep the trails in good condition without natural snow, we know this from previous years,” says Sten Wadensjö, who thinks that the biggest problem with the lack of recent snow is purely visual.
“It’s much more attractive if the ground and the stadium are snow-covered, it contributes to the atmosphere for both the participants and the spectators. But there’s no risk that the trails will suffer.”
The current long-term forecast is that it will be cold this weekend and during the competition week, but there won’t be great amounts of precipitation. But the forecast can change, and hopefully a layer of snow will cover Östersund when it’s time for the races to start!
But whether there’s natural snow or not, there is no risk that the competition trails will be ruined by the mild weather, according to Sten Wadensjö.
“Rain does not have much effect on groomed snow, in principle the water runs off the snow and down into the ground alongside it. Because the trails are groomed every day they stay in good condition,” he says.
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On Tuesday 1 December, Ybuss will start operating a new route between Trondheim and Östersund – just in time for the World Cup Premiere in Östersund.
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10 days until the World Cup Premiere...
“This route is part of our efforts to attract Norwegians to the region, and we are also starting an airport transfer from Trondheim airport to Åre. That we are able to launch this ahead of the World Cup races is just wonderful,” says Ybuss’ MD, Nicklas Lindersson.
Book tickets via ybuss.se or ybuss.no (redirects to .se)
Timetable
Mon-Thu Fri Sat Sun
Trondheim, Sentralstasjon 09:40 X 05:30 X
Östersund, Bussterminalen 13:40 X 09:30 X
Mon Tue-Wed Thu Fri Sat-Sun
Östersund, 18:55 19:15 22:10 X 17:40
Bussterminalen
Trondheim, 23:00 23:20 02:15 X 21:40
Sentralstasjon
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10 days until the World Cup Premiere…
A total of 153 men and 126 women will compete at biathlon’s World Cup Premiere in Östersund in just over a week. According to competition secretary Nina Jonsson, they are mostly the same nations as those that have competed in Östersund in previous years.
“How many nations compete varies, but I believe it’s usually somewhere around 32-38,” says Nina Jonsson.
Germany and Norway have the most athletes at the World Cup premiere, with sixteen and fifteen, respectively. Russia, Ukraine and Sweden have fourteen each. A total of 239 team officials will also be in Östersund to help and support their biathletes so they can achieve their best at the races.
This is the list of the nations that will be at the World Cup races in Östersund!
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Wallmans Dippan is Saturday’s entertainer.
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9 days until the Biathlon World Cup Premiere....jpg)
Yet another high-profile act has been booked for the Biathlon World Cup Premiere in Östersund. We have previously announced that Kevin Borg and Lili&Susie will be performing and adding to the entertainment at the arena. Now we are also able to present one of Sweden’s leading showbiz companies, Wallmans Nöjen and their successful show from Åre – Wallmans Dippan.
“Now it feels as if we have a real Super Saturday. Fantastic sprint races for men and women and, if we can’t call it Après Ski we can still offer fantastic "Between Ski" entertainment. Wallmans will be performing between the races... but perhaps you’d worked that out," explains Mattias Nordqvist, programme manager for the World Cup Premiere.
Wallmans was first out in Sweden with the successful concept of having waiting staff that also provide on-stage entertainment and was founded back in 1956 by Hasse Wallman. One fun fact is that over the years, Wallmans Nöjen has produced everything from concerts for The Beatles, Rolling Stones, musicals like Cats and Grease, to major events on Sweden’s most famous stages.
The group employs around 1200 people and has annual sales worth SEK 345 million. Its headquarters are in Stockholm.
What the spectators will see between the races on Saturday 5 December is a taster of this winter’s programme from Wallmans Dippan in Åre. The premiere in Åre takes place on 26 November if you just can’t wait until your trip to the races in Östersund. Read more about Wallmans Dippan at www.wallmans.se |
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In less than three weeks, Östersund stadium will be ready to welcome competitors and spectators from around the world. Construction has started!
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20 days until the World Cup Premiere…
Stadium manager, Göran Schylander, is calm as he looks out over the stadium area with less than three weeks to go until the World Cup Premiere.
“Almost everyone working with the construction of the stadium has been with us for several years and knows how everything works, so there shouldn’t be any problems. We’re experienced now, and that’s a great reassurance,” says Göran Schylander and shows us around the area.
Toilets are now being built behind the stands, for women, men and for people in wheelchairs. It is important that the races are as accessible as possible for everyone who wishes to see them – one section of the stands is also reserved for people with disabilities.
Lorries drive backwards and forwards with artificial snow for the competition trails. A thin layer of natural snow covers the ground and the stadium, but naturally the organisers are hoping that more snow will fall soon.
“Even if the competition trails are good with artificial snow, they look so much better when their surroundings are also snow-covered,” says Göran Schylander.
Just now, tents for the officials, VIP room and spectators in the “Torget” are being built on the short side of the shooting range. Many things need to organised in association with the temporary buildings at the stadium during the World Cup races – water, district heating and drains are just a few of the pieces that must be put in place before the premiere.”
One new thing this year is a play area for younger children, something that the organisers hope will attract more families with young children.
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The pop icons will be performing at the biathlon stadium on 3 December.
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22 days until the World Cup Premiere in Östersund...
The year’s World Cup really has something for everyone. For those who want to recall what was most popular on the dance floor in the 1990s, it’s a good idea to buy a ticket to Thursday’s races, as that’s when pop duo Lili & Susie will be performing.
The Päivärinta sisters need no further introduction, as they released one dance hit after another , but we’ll mention a few anyway. ”Oh Mama” and ” Bara du och jag” from 1987, as well as “What’s the Colour of Love” from 1990 are the really big hits. Lili & Susie first took part in Melodifestivalen (a Swedish song contest) in 1989 with the song ”Okey Okey!” and were reunited for the Melodifestivalen in 2009, where their song "Show Me Heaven" went through to the next round.
”It’s wonderful that we were able to book Lili & Susie, but even if they hadn’t been able perform we have really given our entertainment programme a boost compared to last year. Lili & Susie have given Thursday another popular act,” says Mattias Nordqvist, who is responsible for the event programme.
We have previously announced that the opening artist, on Wednesday 2 December, is Kevin Borg. Lili & Susie will perform before the men’s individual race on Thursday 3 December.
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This year sees a record early start for cross-country skiing enthusiasts in Östersund! The artificial show trails at Östersund ski stadium are now ready to ski on.
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33 days until the World Cup Premiere in Östersund…
Östersund Municipality’s new snow guarantee means that 2.6 kilometres of trails have been groomed using artificial snow that has been stored under sawdust since February.
New this year is that from 1 November until 15 December there will be a fee for using the trails. This is so the municipality can afford to off early snow and the opportunity to ski from as early as 1 November.
According to Joakim Halvarsson, head of the municipality’s Leisure unit, and responsible for the artificial snow trails, the total cost of the trails is around SEK 765,000. This includes snowmaking, snow storage, transport and grooming.
Over the last week, around 400 truckloads of snow have been driven to the trails and then groomed with a piste machine.
“The trail is now on half a metre of snow, and we are grooming every night so that it can freeze during the night, so it will stand up to use even if the day is above freezing,” says Joakim Halvarsson, who is pleased after having tested the trails himself.
In order for as many people as possible to be able to benefit, the loop that has been chosen is quite “gentle”.
“The idea is that everyone ho wants to can go out and ski, children and adults and enthusiasts, as well as elite skiers,” says Joakim Halvarsson.
The artificial snow extends the normal ski season by several weeks, and the hope is that after the middle of December there will be enough natural snow to guarantee access to snow. From 15 December until the end of the season, all the municipal ski trails will be free of charge.
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