Yeah, it apparently turned out to be vital that four of the top five
finishers switched skis at 20k and Saarinen again at 25k. I'm
forgetting what Sachenbacher did.



On 27 Feb 2010 23:10:03 GMT
Heikki Kantola wrote:

informed
rec.skiing.nordic with the following:
What a race! Missed the breakaway due to changing streams but my
gosh did the two drop everyone else. Kowalczyk's skis seemed to be
gliding a little better on the downhills, giving her moments of
rest. And she really made Bjoergen work. In the final meters, I
wonder if Bjoergen broke into a stride because her back started
hurting too much - sometimes a strider's dilemna - or because of
drag DPing. That quick change was the difference. Poor Steira
pushed the pace while Marit and Justyna switched skis, and I wonder
if that cost her in the last K or so. Salvation for Finland,
especially with Kuitunen's skis being bad from the get-go.

I don't think her skis were bad, why she dropped so far from the
podium was primarily because around 8 km she did fall (this was not
shown on the TV). And in the post-race interview she also revealed
that this will be her last season.

The skl change element in these races is indeed quite interesting, and
for example Saarinen's last change initially looked to be less
beneficial especially as she bit fumbled with the bindings, but
eventually those skis appeared to have superior glide compared to the
others who were fighting for the bronze.

--
Heikki "Hezu" Kantola,
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