Broken Leg Guy wrote:
I don't disagree entirely with your premise but are you saying that ALL of these Nordic skiers/biathletes train/compete outside of Russia and are in a trusted testing pool?
In a sport with a checkered history of PED use and most likely where EPO would be most helpful, I find that hard to believe. Nearly every Nordic event I've seen has a Russian in the lead group.
I'd say any athletes finishing just off any podium that contains OAR consider yourself a medalist and be prepared to accept a medal in the future.
It's really a joke. I would say the same thing if it were any other country under the same circumstances.
Here in Canada, we are waiting for Alex Harvey's FEDEX medal ceremony after he did a great sprint to slip in for 4th in the 50K with 2 Russians in the silver and bronze. But there is no use crying over spilt milk. Alex was the reigning 50K world champion, and has one of the best finishing sprints in the field. He is like a Sagan of XC skiing, able to compete in every distance from the final 100m sprint finish to 50K.
Alex made the calculation that when Ristanen went early, he would blow up and the medal group would be with the Norwegians. He was wrong, as the Fin built a 2 minute lead. Sundby and Harvey were playing poker with each other while the Fin and Russian went ahead and continued to play poker with each other while a Russian used them to squirt away for bronze.
The racing on the snow (doped or undoped) was phenomenal if you understand the sport. The Finnish pit crew pulled off the ultimate coup rewaxing Ristanenen's skis as the conditions changed. The Russian chose to not go for the ski change, and opened up a 100m lead at the 8K to go exchange, but the better gripping and gliding skis that team Finland prepped for their man was the different.
You could see both Harvey's and Sundy's skis slipping on the last steep uphill. They lost the bronze medal there with the Russian was not. I have no clue if the bronze winning Russian did a ski change with 8K to go or not, but he was visibly "not slipping" on the uphills. Was he doped? I have no clue, but his skis were damn better for the final climb. Visually, the difference was not doping, it was a guy on better skis.