– I think it’s a step in the wrong direction, Ingrid tells Landmark Tandrevold. Together with the rest of the biathlon elite, she is busy familiarizing herself with the IBU’s new scoring rules before the World Cup opening. Before the season this year, the IBU has changed large parts of the system. In short, one has: Increased the points totals for 1st to 6th place in World Cup races. The World Cup results no longer count in the World Cup summary. Remove the possibility to iron out two races in the summary. And the latest change has been hotly debated among athletes and the rest of the community. In a survey last season, as many as 65 percent of the athletes were negative about the new rules, according to NTB. SIN: Tandrevold thinks it’s a shame that unexpected things can affect the World Cup total. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB – We go to an incredible number of ski races and it is demanding both for the body and for the head. You really have to thin your body to the maximum. We have agreed to that when we run it here, but unexpected things can happen and it is a shame if something on home soil or illness should affect the World Cup as a whole, Tandrevold believes. Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen agrees: – It will be the biggest difference in a negative sense. If something unexpected happens at home or someone falls ill, it would have been good to have that buffer so that there is a slightly lower threshold for taking care of one’s own mental and physical health. – Very clearly Tandrevold is one of four members of the IBU’s athletes’ committee and has worked to convey the athletes’ view of the new rules to the federation management. – I discuss the matter with the athletes based on what most of them think, and those opinions always reach the technical committee. We are very clear about what the athletes stand for in the various matters, and so it is not always taken into account, she explains. She herself did not want the change and believes that athletes can feel pressured to run even if they are ill. SIMPLE: Sebastian Samuelsson thinks it would have been easy to listen to the athletes. Photo: Hanne Skjellum / news – I think perhaps we in Norway have a slightly different definition of what is an illness and how hard you have to push the limit. My personal opinion is that one should still be able to complete two races, which is not much overall, says Tandrevold. The alibi for the Swedes in the athletes’ committee, Sebastian Samuelsson, is of the same opinion and emphasizes that most of the athletes still want the opportunity to skip two races. – It would have been quite easy to listen to the athletes in this case because it does not affect anything else in particular. I hope we get competitions where healthy athletes are at the start and you don’t risk anything just because you can’t finish a race, says Samuelsson. – We understand Race Director in IBU, Borut Nunar, says, however, that an agreement was made with both athletes and support apparatus before the changes were put into effect. – I understand that it can be difficult to understand everything together for many athletes, but we did our best to explain to the athletes’ committee and the coaches. In the end we agreed, but we will keep the dialogue open for a while longer. There is no system that is completely ideal, but I feel confident that it will work as before, says Nunar to news. SAFE: Race director in the IBU, Borut Nunar, is sure that the new system will work well. Photo: Hanne Skjellum / news He explains that they have carried out several analyzes to find a new system that will not differ too much from the old one. The aim has been to avoid advanced calculations and uncertainty when the total results are tallied. – We understand that it is not the easiest thing in the world to compete the whole season. Therefore, we have increased the points for victory, and the difference between the positions is greater. This means that you can miss one, two or three races if you have already won many races, as our top athletes have done in recent years, explains the race director. – Error by IBU news’s biathlon expert Harri Luchsinger believes that the health of the athletes is precisely the most important argument against the new scoring rules. – I think removing the possibility of strikeouts is a mistake by the IBU, because athletes who fight at the top get an incentive to compete even if they are a little sick. When there are so many points in the pot and you can’t iron anything out, athletes can choose to run with viruses in their bodies. We have seen examples that it can sit for a very long time, and I think that is very unfortunate, says Luchsinger. He believes the changes are part of an international trend. PREDATION: news’s biathlon expert Harri Luchsinger believes that the sport must watch out for the exploitation of athletes. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news – Sports must be careful so that they do not exploit their athletes. The IBU will also be involved in this in the long term by ensuring that the World Cup season is affordable overall. It will lead to athletes being able to continue for longer, and that will benefit the IBU. Removing the opportunity to cancel two races is, according to the former head of development in the Norwegian Biathlon Union, just one of several signals from the IBU that the total load on the athletes will increase. – The IBU must be a witness of responsibility when they see regulations and it is important to ensure the health of the athletes in the long term. When they will then additionally have an extra weekend of competitions next season, even if the athletes and support apparatus are negative, it indicates that the IBU prioritizes the amount of TV time over the health of the athletes, the expert believes.
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– Prioritizes the amount of TV time over the health of the athletes – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
