Things are better without counting the athletes at the Biathlon World Cup, writes Santtu Silvennoinen from Kontiolahti.
Niklas Hartweg (left), Martin Ponsiluoma and David Zobel, the top trio of the opening round of the World Cup, posed in front of the advertising wall of German brands. Kimmo Brandt / EPA / AOP
The transition from the skiing world cup from Kuusamo to the biathlon world cup to Kontiolahti along the narrow highway is about 470 kilometers and a good five-hour motor march.
The home-grown games of the Northeast became a more systematically organized event. Starting with road signs, entrance controls and public services, everything is a little bigger in pumpum skiing.
About money this is also the question.
The main sponsor of the International Biathlon Union (Ibu) World Cup tour is BMW. Well-known German companies are also financing the second tier: Viessmann, Deutsche Bank and Hörmann.
In the individual competition of the Biathlon World Cup, 93,750 euros in prize money is distributed. The price difference is from 15,000 euros for the first place to 200 euros for the 30th place.
Nordic cooperative store chain Coop is the title sponsor of the cross-country skiing world cup. The second sponsor is the Swiss cheese brand Le Gruyère AOP.
In the Skiing World Cup, prize money is distributed to the top 20 in individual competitions. The rewards for the first and last athlete to get the money are the same as in pumping: 15,000–200 euros. In total, approximately 50,000 euros are paid in the Cross-Country World Cup competition.
It’s about sums, because the International Ski Federation Fis uses Swiss francs. One euro is approximately one Swiss franc.
In Ruka, they raced on a rocky track next to cheese advertisements. PASI LEISMA
In skiing, the Pölhö reform was made for this season, because no less than 50 best in each competition get World Cup points. In the pursuit of the Ruka World Cup on Sunday, 44 women crossed the finish line. The value of the victory was faded, because the first place gets 100, the second place 95 and the third place 90 points.
In biathlon, the opposite has been done. The winner gets 90, the runner-up 70 and the third 60 points. The top 40 in each race earn points.
On Tuesday, there were 102 athletes on the start list of the men’s 20 km race in Kontiolahti. On Saturday, 84 skiers started in the men’s traditional ten in Ruka.
Kontiolahti will host the Biathlon World Cup again this year. IL
Finland’s number one biathlon skier Tero Seppälä took part in the free 15 km competition of the Olos Cannon Games in mid-November and ended up in 16th place. The loss to Iivo Niskasen was accumulated by about 56 seconds and to Friedrich Moch of Germany, who won the race, by 1.33.8. Remi Lindholm, who skied poorly in the competition, was ten and Perttu Hyvärinen, who skied really poorly, was three seconds behind.
Mari Eder beat Kerttu Niskanen by 19.1 seconds in the free ten of the Taivalkoski Suomen Cup the other weekend. Krista Pärmäkoski was not involved.
There is no doubt which sport has better endurance athletes.
Champions of both sports like Ole Einar Björndalen come once every thirty years.
