“Life-threatening descents”
Oberhof conditions leave Norway’s biathletes stunned
January 4, 2024, 5:24 p.m
The weather is causing a lot of headaches for the organizers of the Biathlon World Cup in Oberhof. The competitions must be postponed by one day. There are differing opinions about the condition of the route; the Norwegians, for example, are stunned.
The first race of the Biathlon World Cup in Oberhof had to be postponed due to bad weather. But rain and wind are the smaller problem. There are much greater concerns about the condition of the route. “These are probably the worst conditions in which I have ever run in Oberhof,” said superstar Johannes Thingnes Bø on “NRK”, shocked by the conditions at the legendary facility in the Thuringian Forest. A lot of tree bark and stones on the route are just one problem, added the 30-year-old. “In addition, there is very little snow in some places. The descents were life-threatening,” Bø sounded the alarm.
Because the Norwegians were the first team to complete a training session, they also involuntarily became guinea pigs. What they experienced also outraged Endre Strømsheim. “Terrible. It’s absolutely crazy conditions to train in. At least for me it’s a record: it was the worst day of training ever.” The route only consists of 50 percent snow. The rest is “sawdust, dirt and stones.” Johannes Dale completely agreed. He also said: “It was a very strange training session with a mixture of gravel, pine needles and stones on the track. That was the worst training session I had in my World Cup career.” The 26-year-old complained that it was also “cold and wet.”
“The work was just bad here”
The conditions also caused anger in the Norwegian wax truck. The many stones and dirt on the track make testing almost impossible. The material is also destroyed. “The work here was simply bad,” criticized Norway’s chief technician Tobias Dahl Fenre. In his eyes it is also “impossible” to fix the problems before the first race. “The only option is that they put more snow on it. But if they do that, they have to choose a different method,” he said, referring to the rock-snow mixture that currently forms the trail. The technician said it felt as if the organizers had driven a snow machine over the route and scattered stones along the way.
IBU sports director Daniel Böhm did not defend Oberhof against the criticism, but promised improvement in the coming days. “We definitely won’t be able to create a winter wonderland. But together with the organizers we will do our best to make it as good as possible. We have some snow in camp, which we consider to be the worst affected areas,” he said.
“Joy is there and we worked so hard”
Despite the persistent rain, the competitions are scheduled to start late on Friday. This was confirmed by the head of the organizing committee, Bernd Wernicke: “We were well prepared, point A. We were always in coordination with the IBU world association, point B. And the weather report shows that the relocation was correct. We can hold the competitions from Friday.” said Wernicke. The men’s sprint over ten kilometers scheduled for this Thursday was postponed due to heavy precipitation, plus temperatures and gusts of wind and is now on the program on Friday (11.20 a.m./ARD). “I’m ready now: It just has to start. The joy is there and we’ve worked so hard,” said Wernicke.
Unlike the angry Norwegians, the German biathletes were understanding. “The conditions were fine. The track was firm and the helpers made the track hard with salt,” said Justus Strelow after training. “Everyone will make an effort to ensure the conditions are as fair as possible.” Because it is not the first time that Oberhof has suffered from a lack of snow in January, French legend Martin Fourcade also weighed in on the topic. He even questioned the continued existence of the races in Thuringia on