The Biathlon World Cup starts on Wednesday (February 7, 2024). The weather brings beads of sweat to the organizers’ foreheads. Wind and heat are poison for the snow.
Training on Monday had to be canceled, on Tuesday morning (February 6th, 2024) the weather in Nove Mesto in the Moravia region, southwest of the capital Prague, looked a little better. Although the temperatures were still well into the plus range, the wind was no longer blowing quite as strongly.
“As of now, can be trained”, explained the German Ski Association in response to a “Sportschau” request in the morning. Even before the first decision (mixed relay on Wednesday from 5:20 p.m. live on Erste) it is clear that the weather will be a challenge for the organizers. “We are constantly monitoring the weather forecast and hope for improvement in the second week of the World Cup”said competition director Vlastimil Jakes.
Competition director: “Enough snow in the depot”
The temperatures are currently significantly above zero, it rains every now and then and it is stormy. For this reason, the facility had to be closed on Monday. However, the competitions are not in danger; enough artificial snow has been prepared in advance. “We still have 50,000 cubic meters of snow in the depot. We are not worried about lack of snow, but in bad weather such as temperatures above zero and rain, the quality of the snow will not be as good as in sub-zero temperatures.”said Jakes. There is currently around one meter of artificial snow on a white band on the routes around the Vysocina Arena.
Snow from the depot and otherwise spring in Nove Mesto.
Roller skis instead of skis: Öberg takes it with humor
The athletes took the spring temperatures with humor. “Welcome to the Czech Republic, better weather conditions than in Östersund in May”wrote fellow Swedish favorite Hanna Öberg on Instagram and posted a video on roller skis on an asphalt track.
Second World Cup after 2013
Nové Město is one of the newer biathlon venues. The biathlon facilities were only built in 2005, and a World Cup took place there for the first time in 2012. Just one year later there was the World Cup. After 2013, the city on the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands is hosting the World Championships for the second time. Back then the weather cooperated and Nove Mesto was a winter wonderland. These days it seems more like spring. If the twelve decisions are to go smoothly, the weather also has to cooperate.
| Date | Decision |
|---|---|
Wed., February 7th (5:20 p.m.) | Mixed relay (4×6 km) |
Fri, February 9th (5:20 p.m.) | Women’s sprint (7.5 km) |
Sat., February 10 (5:05 p.m.) | Men’s sprint (10 km) |
Sun., February 11th (2:30 p.m.) | Women’s pursuit (10 km) |
Sun., February 11th (5:05 p.m.) | Men’s Pursuit (12.5 km) |
Tue., February 13th (5:10 p.m.) | Women’s Individual (15 km) |
Wed., February 14th (5:20 p.m.) | Men’s Individual (20 km) |
Thursday, February 15th (6:00 p.m.) | Single-Mixed (4×3 km + 1.5 km) |
Sat., February 17 (1:45 p.m.) | Women’s relay (4×6 km) |
Sat., February 17 (4:30 p.m.) | Men’s relay (4×7.5 km) |
Sun., February 18th (2:15 p.m.) | Women’s mass start (12.5 km) |
Sun., February 18th (4:30 p.m.) | Men’s mass start (15 km) |