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Ski speed comparison – 2019–20 vs. 2020–21

Posted on 2021-03-23 | by real biathlon

Skiing was once again by far the most important factor to determine an athlete’s eventual World Cup rank. Not only did the two outright fastest skiers, Johannes Thingnes Bø and Tiril Eckhoff win the overall title, but out of the ten fastest skiers (per gender), eight made the World Cup top 10 on the men’s side, six on the women’s side. Let’s look at who managed to improve and whose ski speed declined season-to-season.

You can check out full season statistics for all World Cup athletes here:

  • Ski speed: Men | Women
  • Shooting percentage: Men | Women
  • Shooting Times: Men | Women

For patrons, the comparisons page allows you to compare all shooting and skiing stats on your own, not only season-to-season, but also by trimester.


Note: Only athletes with at least 4 non-team races last season and 15 non-team races this winter are included in the tables. “Back from Top30 median” is the percentage back from each race’s top 30 median Course Time (arithmetic mean per season).


Men

Tuomas Harjula and Jeremy Finello were the most improved skiers this season, both roughly 3.5% faster compared to 2019–20. Erik Lesser had an injury-affected winter last year and bounced back to his previous level. Johannes Kühn, the fourth-fastest skier last season, never managed recover from a pre-season injury and ended the season with the biggest decline among regular starters.

Johannes Thingnes Bø was not as dominating as many expected after the retirement of Martin Fourcade, however, his ski speed was not to blame: he set the top ski time in 20 out of 26 races. Sturla Holm Lægreid improved a lot, albeit he only appeared in four races last winter. Percentage-wise Quentin Fillon Maillet had a big decline in his skiing performances, even though his course times ranks were only 1.9 positions lower and he he finished the season third overall. Émilien Jacquelin‘s average was heavily influenced by the WCHs mass start (+12.1%); without that one race his speed would have been roughly 0.5% better.

NoFamily NameGiven NameNationRacesSki Rank
(avg)
Changeback from
Top30 median
(in %)
Change
NoFamily NameGiven NameNationRacesSki Rank
(avg)
Changeback from
Top30 median
(in %)
Change
1HarjulaTuomasFIN
1760.3-27.7+5.05-3.64
2FinelloJeremySUI
1924.3-34.4+0.84-3.47
3KomatzDavidAUT
2246.4-36.6+3.40-3.32
4LesserErikGER
2320.6-28.6+0.50-3.07
5PonsiluomaMartinSWE
268.8-18.3-1.16-2.68
6DovzanMihaSLO
2060.4-20.3+5.26-2.47
7SamuelssonSebastianSWE
2612.0-16.7-0.71-2.17
8LaegreidSturla HolmNOR
2611.2-12.3-0.79-2.16
9LatypovEduardRUS
2517.0-19.0+0.14-2.10
10SmolskiAntonBLR
2225.7-17.0+1.03-1.71
11BocharnikovSergeyBLR
2235.0-14.2+2.09-1.59
12BrownJakeUSA
1731.3-16.0+1.72-1.46
13SimaMichalSVK
1671.1-14.4+6.06-1.31
14GowChristianCAN
2150.1-11.6+3.50-1.24
15HoferLukasITA
269.4-6.3-1.04-1.15
16LangerThierryBEL
1854.6-5.5+4.08-1.03
17DombrovskiKarolLTU
1762.6-7.7+4.92-1.00
18FakJakovSLO
2622.7-7.3+0.70-0.99
19DaleJohannesNOR
265.5-4.4-2.00-0.82
20NelinJesperSWE
2316.2-8.4+0.16-0.79
21StvrteckyJakubCZE
1931.8-6.0+1.61-0.77
22VarabeiMaksimBLR
2041.4-10.3+3.12-0.74
23DudchenkoAntonUKR
1558.5-2.9+4.37-0.64
24GuigonnatAntoninFRA
2522.2+0.2+0.60-0.54
25MukhinAlexandrKAZ
1571.5-3.0+5.85-0.50
26ChristiansenVetle SjaastadNOR
2214.7-2.5-0.37-0.37
27WegerBenjaminSUI
2426.7-2.0+1.21-0.36
28PeifferArndGER
2113.9-1.7-0.39-0.34
29NordgrenLeifUSA
1759.4+1.9+4.40-0.30
30DohertySeanUSA
1947.6-1.9+3.32-0.26
31EderSimonAUT
2633.9-1.6+2.00-0.25
32BormoliniThomasITA
1843.2-3.6+2.96-0.23
33KrcmarMichalCZE
2027.3+0.1+1.28-0.20
34BoeTarjeiNOR
266.4-1.6-1.52-0.20
35BoeJohannes ThingnesNOR
261.7-1.3-3.10-0.20
36SeppalaTeroFIN
2128.0+0.1+1.17-0.17
37GuzikGrzegorzPOL
1562.5-2.1+4.95-0.06
38RastorgujevsAndrejsLAT
1919.8+2.2+0.42-0.04
39LoginovAlexanderRUS
2417.6+0.2+0.10+0.03
40ClaudeFabienFRA
2517.0+2.0+0.08+0.03
41WindischDominikITA
1924.2+1.6+0.82+0.08
42EliseevMatveyRUS
2533.0+5.4+2.17+0.08
43GaranichevEvgeniyRUS
1836.1-0.2+2.36+0.15
44TrsanRokSLO
1870.1-2.7+6.71+0.26
45JacquelinEmilienFRA
2611.8+0.1-0.22+0.27
46DollBenediktGER
2612.2+2.3-0.72+0.28
47PidruchnyiDmytroUKR
2229.8+5.8+1.57+0.32
48DesthieuxSimonFRA
2615.4+3.1-0.18+0.46
49ClaudeFlorentBEL
1945.4+5.2+3.44+0.49
50MoravecOndrejCZE
1844.6+4.9+3.32+0.50
51PrymaArtemUKR
1937.4+9.0+2.23+0.58
52LeitnerFelixAUT
2328.7+5.1+1.50+0.61
53GowScottCAN
1956.4+5.5+4.30+0.65
54StroliaVytautasLTU
1649.9+7.2+3.62+0.65
55FemlingPeppeSWE
2150.5+2.9+3.94+0.70
56Fillon MailletQuentinFRA
257.6+1.9-1.35+0.72
57IlievVladimirBUL
1731.0+9.0+1.61+0.92
58KuehnJohannesGER
1619.5+12.8+0.34+1.69


Women

Dzinara Alimbekava was the most improved skier in the women’s field, skiing an incredible 5.8% faster than last year and lowering her average ski rank by 49.6! Dunja Zdouc managed to improve even more than her Austrian teammate Lisa Theresa Hauser. Skiing 3.9% faster, Hanna Sola set the fastest ski time twice this winter and made her first two career podiums. After setting the fastest ski time in one of the races at the season-opener in Kontiolahti (for the first time in her career), Hanna Öberg had an abysmal final month of the season.

Tiril Eckhoff dominated the World Cup action after Christmas – not because of improved skiing however, she remained more or less at the same (high) level as last year. Dorothea Wierer‘s skiing improved slightly over the course of the season, but last year’s World Cup winner was still 1.2% slower, which gave her little chance to defend her title. Denise Herrmann, last winter’s overall fastest saw her ski speed decline considerably, even though she still remained one of the field’s top 5 skiers.

NoFamily NameGiven NameNationRacesSki Rank
(avg)
Changeback from
Top30 median
(in %)
Change
NoFamily NameGiven NameNationRacesSki Rank
(avg)
Changeback from
Top30 median
(in %)
Change
1AlimbekavaDzinaraBLR
2613.8-49.6-0.30-5.79
2ZdoucDunjaAUT
2541.4-35.2+2.92-4.39
3SolaHannaBLR
2311.5-35.9-0.56-3.85
4BeaudrySarahCAN
1566.6-16.5+5.84-3.85
5TomingasTuuliEST
1545.7-30.3+3.80-3.68
6BlashkoDaryaUKR
2044.5-18.3+3.68-3.33
7LieLotteBEL
1872.0-12.8+6.87-3.31
8CadurischIreneSUI
1652.1-18.9+4.13-2.80
9ReidJoanneUSA
1547.5-20.8+3.29-2.74
10HauserLisa TheresaAUT
2611.8-22.8-0.58-2.66
11TodorovaMilenaBUL
1933.9-17.0+2.14-1.84
12OebergElviraSWE
2516.3-9.2-0.11-1.72
13ChevalierChloeFRA
1826.0-18.7+1.25-1.68
14TalihaermJohannaEST
1842.2-12.1+3.10-1.38
15PreussFranziskaGER
2611.5-10.7-0.68-1.34
16SchwaigerJuliaAUT
1937.7-12.8+2.43-1.25
17MaedaSariJPN
1647.4-6.8+3.49-1.07
18CharvatovaLucieCZE
1719.6-5.3+0.50-0.97
19BendikaBaibaLAT
1624.0-9.4+0.85-0.95
20MinkkinenSuviFIN
1867.9-0.9+6.03-0.69
21PerssonLinnSWE
2618.2-4.4+0.16-0.66
22KnottenKaroline OffigstadNOR
2342.7-2.2+3.24-0.65
23GasparinElisaSUI
2145.4-4.8+3.33-0.45
24SimonJuliaFRA
2613.8-0.7-0.55-0.45
25BelchenkoYelizavetaKAZ
1572.3-1.6+7.05-0.40
26TandrevoldIngrid LandmarkNOR
259.3-3.4-0.94-0.39
27GasparinSelinaSUI
1914.4-3.7-0.13-0.30
28KlemencicPolonaSLO
1569.6-2.8+6.56-0.29
29DavidovaMarketaCZE
258.5-2.4-1.05-0.22
30JislovaJessicaCZE
1751.7-1.5+4.02-0.17
31DzhimaYuliiaUKR
2129.8+0.4+1.54-0.08
32MironovaSvetlanaRUS
2220.0+0.8+0.38-0.01
33HettichJaninaGER
2436.4-1.6+2.32+0.02
34RoeiselandMarte OlsbuNOR
265.2-1.9-1.85+0.04
35EganClareUSA
2331.3-0.2+1.95+0.08
36LunderEmmaCAN
2242.0+3.5+2.92+0.14
37HammerschmidtMarenGER
1751.1-0.9+4.26+0.23
38KruchinkinaElenaBLR
2318.8-1.3+0.47+0.25
39EckhoffTirilNOR
264.1-1.4-2.22+0.28
40OebergHannaSWE
2616.8+2.7-0.05+0.34
41GasparinAitaSUI
1950.2+7.0+3.99+0.54
42BescondAnaisFRA
2621.9+4.4+0.73+0.67
43PidhrushnaOlenaUKR
1836.4+7.2+2.33+0.67
44InnerhoferKatharinaAUT
1725.4+7.0+1.03+0.77
45VittozziLisaITA
2526.8+6.8+1.34+0.80
46KryukoIrynaBLR
1540.4+11.9+2.50+0.84
47Braisaz-BouchetJustineFRA
268.3+2.5-1.15+0.86
48EderMariFIN
1719.9+6.4+0.40+1.03
49HinzVanessaGER
2235.1+12.0+2.11+1.07
50TachizakiFuyukoJPN
1855.3+6.7+4.74+1.08
51KuklinaLarisaRUS
1644.5+9.2+3.39+1.12
52WiererDorotheaITA
2617.3+7.2+0.19+1.18
53DunkleeSusanUSA
1946.3+13.3+3.49+1.38
54HaeckiLenaSUI
2131.3+14.3+1.77+1.59
55ZukKamilaPOL
1734.4+13.9+1.99+1.62
56BrorssonMonaSWE
2239.9+12.1+2.98+1.70
57HerrmannDeniseGER
2510.0+7.4-1.02+2.01
58Hojnisz-StaregaMonikaPOL
1634.5+17.5+1.94+2.07
59PuskarcikovaEvaCZE
1860.0+22.9+5.46+2.48

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Posted in Statistical analysis | Tagged ski speed

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Number of winning athletes doubles in super exciting season
Women’s field narrows but men’s stays the same

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