"Sweden's biathletes have struggled to deliver medals at the Winter Olympics and on Friday they finally ran out of patience with their waxing team, blaming a bad job on their skis for an embarrassingly poor performance in the men's mass start. Often among the favourites in biathlon events, the Swedes had a dismal day in the final men's race of the Games,"
"The skis were the worst I ever had. They were crap, a frustrated Samuelsson told Swedish TV. Today the glide from the skis was very bad ... I'm here to fight for medals, but today I go without. Ski waxing is one of the most important elements of race preparation for biathletes and cross-country skiers, and getting the blend right for the combination of snow, temperature and altitude helps the athletes fly around the course. Getting it wrong makes it akin to skiing through treacle."
"In contrast to Sweden, Norway's team got their wax spot on as Johannes Dale-Skjevdal, who hit all 20 of his shots for the first time in his career, won gold and compatriot Sturla Holm Lgreid silver. France kept up their habit of providing slick skis to their biathletes at the Games as Quentin Fillon Maillet bagged bronze. There were to be no such celebrations for the Swedes,"
Sweden's biathletes blamed poor ski waxing for a weak performance in the men's mass start, finishing 18th, 21st and 26th. Sebastian Samuelsson described the skis as the worst he had and said the glide was very bad, abandoning medal hopes. Ski waxing was identified as critical to race preparation, with the right blend of wax for snow, temperature and altitude enabling fast glide and the wrong wax making skiing feel like moving through treacle. Norway achieved optimal waxing as Johannes Dale-Skjevdal won gold with perfect shooting, France took bronze, and Sweden's wax technicians apologised at the finish.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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