It has been dramatic in the hours before the start of the men’s World Cup chase on Saturday. At the team leaders’ meeting before today’s biathlon competitions, the nations were told to be prepared for action on the slopes. Sports manager Per Arne Botnan tells news. At the same time, the jury was in full swing, race leader Borut Nunar was busy on the phone, and armed police were walking around looking for something or someone. HECTIC: There was hectic meeting activity along the slopes. Photo: Hanne Skjellum / news The ground was shared. There were several reasons for concern and non-sporting activities this morning. – It’s dangerous Part of the chaos was due to tough courses and requests for cancellation. – It’s icy. It is very difficult. The most important thing is the safety of the athletes. Now it is such that it is dangerous to cross-country ski, describes Tobias Dahl Fenre, Norway’s head of lubrication. 20 minutes before the start of the race in the French Alps, the message came that the start has been postponed by 15 minutes. The new start time is 12.25 and the race is on TV 2. The tracks are tough and now the organizer has started salting the smoothest sections. – It is difficult to get a grip on the ski and in the icy turns you just slide sideways. The more people who do it and at high speed with good skis etc., they can go straight off the trail, says Fenre. BLID: Tobias Dahl Fenre took the postponement in good spirits. Photo: Hanne Skjellum / news – If you do this properly here, you will break bones. It’s not wise, he follows up. Now they are working hard to get the slopes ready for the start, but it is a challenging job. – Is it too hard? – Yes, in some places it is too hard, says technical delegate Hans Petter Olsen to news. The postponement was well received by the Norwegian national team, says Per Arne Botnan. – They completely agreed that something had to be done. It’s perfectly fine where you go uphill and where you can go straight ahead, but in some of the turns it was very scary. When you get close and several together, it’s even worse, Botnan explains. The organizers are now in the process of changing the course to adapt to the guide. Just before the start, the International Biathlon Union (IBU) informed that the course will be 250 meters shorter after the organizers removed a hill and a downhill run. – We couldn’t start as it was anyway. It was life-threatening. Or, not life-threatening, but scary. Now it has been postponed for a quarter of an hour, they have salted a few turns and then we hope it will help a little, says the national team manager to news. Expected action In addition to the ice drama on the slopes, a bigger action is expected during Saturday’s race. There has long been a lack of snow in Le Grand-Bornand and to save the popular French runs, the organizer has driven large amounts of snow up to the biathlon arena. POLICE: Due to the expected action, there is a lot of police along the slopes and among the public. Photo: Hans Andreas Solbakken / news It has led to sharp criticism in the French media, and news’s reporters have seen armed police obviously looking for something or someone in the minutes before the original start of the race. 850 volunteers are on hand for the World Cup races, and there are 20,000 spectators these two weekends. – The only thing we have heard about it is that they will be stricter in relation to security on accreditation and who enters. Haven’t heard anything more than that. They have been very strict when we come in and out. But it’s good that there are police behind the shooting targets, because it’s scary if people come down there, says Botnan.
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– Dangerous to cross-country ski – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
