After the Biathlon World Cup in Oberhof, Justus Strelow was annoyed by the criticism of the route from many colleagues in his sport.de column. The 27-year-old would especially like to thank the many helpers.
I’m standing on skis in the Oberhof ski hall and completing today’s training session. It’s raining outside and the temperatures are above freezing. That’s why I put my long endurance session under the roof. As I walk, my gaze falls through the window into the snow deposit next door. The excavator constantly loads the artificial snow with its shovel into the trailers, which pull trucks and tractors behind them. It goes out there and the snow is unloaded again – shovel by shovel it is created: our World Cup route in Oberhof.
In the past few days, this image from New Year’s Eve has come back to my mind: how volunteers in Oberhof did everything in their power for hours, days and even night shifts to ensure that the World Cup took place in Germany last week despite critical external conditions could – fantastic!
And in this context, I have to admit that I was annoyed by the criticism from various biathletes about the conditions of the Oberhof track on the first day of training. Endre Strömsheim spoke of the worst training with sawdust, earth and stones on the track. And Johannes Dale even had the worst training of his entire career. Martin Fourcade even recommended rethinking the Oberhof location as a whole – from a distance, mind you. Fourcade had not come from France at all.
So there was a hail of criticism, and I would have liked everyone to instead take a look at what hundreds of volunteers did for us athletes despite heavy rain.
Of course, the artificial snow that trucks bring in is not wonderfully white, but rather dirty. The artificial snow depot in Oberhof is covered with sawdust for protection – of course these will later be found on the route. Strong winds also blew more dirt from the trees. But I recommend taking a look at the Alpine competitions: several races there have already fallen victim to the weather this season. In Oberhof, however, all competitions took place under fair conditions and on firm surfaces.
In general, I care about the many volunteers: the judges, the parking lot attendants, the ticket inspectors, the drivers, the many stewards and countless helping hands. Many people take extra vacation time to help out. Not just in Oberhof, but at every competition location, including this week in Ruhpolding.
Not a single World Cup would be conceivable without volunteer work. We biathletes should appreciate that. So I don’t want to criticize, I just want to say thank you!
Justus Strelow