Biathlon World Championships in Antholz: mass starts (23-02-2020)

Clicca qui per la versione italiana There are far fewer people at the station than yesterday: only a group of Germans with Stuttgart scarves take the train with me. In Olang they let us go immediately to the square (instead they channel those who come from the opposite direction) and we take the shuttle in 15 minutes. At the shuttle change I think I will take advantage of the advance to visit the village (called "Biathlon World"), but it is still closed. I arrive at the stadium more than an hour early, exhausted after the climb, and I take the opportunity to explore the surroundings. Going to the stands, you will meet the mascot of the 2021 Cortina World Championships. Next to that of Cortina, there are the stands of Pokljuka (Slovenia), home of the next Biathlon World Championships, and of Ruhpolding (Bavaria), home of the next "Summer World Championships" (I didn't even know they existed).

I arrive on the grandstand shortly after 12, and there aren't many places any longer. A concert by a German-speaking singer is underway, which must be quite well known, since many sing the chorus in one of his songs. At 10 minutes from the start, the participants are announced, the first 10 in football style: the speaker says the name and the attendance the surname. To make it more difficult, the list that appears on the screen will never be on the sama page as the announced athlete. They give the three and a half minutes to the start and the athletes have yet to enter the starting area and put on their skis: I would be taken by anxiety, they are calm.

They start: all in group until the first shooting range. There in 16 make no errors, Wierer is not among them, but at the second shooting range she makes an excellent series and rallies. I see that there is one who made 5 mistakes, I think "poor her", then I find out that it is Vittozzi. At the third shooting she will arrive very far behind, then she will come back a bit, but she will still arrive last. Wierer instead arrives in the leading group at both the third and fourth shooting: she makes a mistake in each, but most of the opponents do worse, so much so that after the fourth polygon she seems to go away: she has 14 seconds on Roeiseland of Norway. The speaker already seems to be commenting on her third gold, but at the checkpoint of the first kilometer of the last lap we all realize that we have spoken too early: Roeiseland is 6 " behind. When they come back into sight in the final downhill (which I have done many times too) the Italian still seems to have a good margin, but in a small climb she is reached, then passed in the entrance tunnel of the stadium and shortly afterwards she will give up, closing closer to the third than to the first.

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This time, being the last day, they are making the victory ceremony directly. Original formula: the winners start next to the stage and when they are announced they climb first on the stage, then on the podium. The Norwegian anthem is heard singing loud enough, although certainly not at French levels. It was 1.30 pm: it is not long before we take a seat again. I think I will eat in the nearest kiosk, but the queue discourages me: I will find one almost with no queue.

I'll be back in the grandstand around 2.20pm. I see a lot of people in the aisles and I get scared, but in reality there are still almost empty rows. Compared to other races, more French flags are seen. In front of me there are Russians, behind some Swedes. Before the last race they present the staff and the volunteers, the host also sings some songs. The race ends up in a duel between the French and the Norwegians, with the former placing 4 in the top 7, but the latter winning with J.T. Boe, the only one without errors at the shooting range. Windisch seems to be able to enter the fight for first places up to the third shooting, where he will make 2 mistakes.

After the race, I don't consider stopping at the victory ceremony, much less at the closing ceremony, which they advertise: I'm tired and I want to be among the first to leave the stadium hoping to find less queue, but then I can't resist Kaiserschmarrn (sweet omelettes in pieces, typical Austrian) and I linger. The queue to get to the shuttle is still about 50 minutes: I have time to hear both the victory ceremony and the closing ceremony. They also set off fireworks, although it is still daytime.

At the shuttle change, I enter Biathlon World, but it is being dismantled. However, a kiosk is still full of people drinking. I then try to buy merchandising, but I have to give up because they only accept cash and I am left without. It's not over: problems with the trains will bring me back a couple of hours later than expected. At the station I also see yesterday's man with a hat

It's over: on the one hand I am sorry to have seen only two days, but on the other I don't know how long I would have resisted, communting has exhausted me. After all, I'm getting older...