Finally we have arrived at the start of another season. After much anxiety if there would be a season at all, or if the worldwide pandemic would stop it in its tracks, we are back where it all ended some eight months ago in Kontiolahti, Finland, and the biathletes are raring to go.
We have put the period after the end of the 2019-20 season to good use and built a biathlon model, which we hope to employ to provide us with an overview of the various athlete’s chances of ending in the different positions, for every single race of the 2020-21 season.
Bib | Name | Country | Chances of various positions | Winning chance | Chance for a medal | Projected seconds behind |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
WIERER Dorothea |
|
12% | 27% | 0s | ||
ROEISELAND Marte Olsbu |
|
10% | 22% | 19s | ||
OEBERG Hanna |
|
8% | 21% | 19s | ||
PREUSS Franziska |
|
6% | 17% | 29s | ||
HERRMANN Denise |
|
6% | 14% | 58s | ||
VITTOZZI Lisa |
|
5% | 15% | 40s | ||
ECKHOFF Tiril |
|
5% | 13% | 64s | ||
TANDREVOLD Ingrid Landmark |
|
4% | 11% | 63s | ||
HOJNISZ Monika |
|
3% | 10% | 63s | ||
HAUSER Lisa Theresa |
|
3% | 11% | 51s | ||
SIMON Julia |
|
3% | 9% | 87s | ||
PERSSON Linn |
|
3% | 9% | 66s | ||
PAVLOVA Evgeniya |
|
3% | 10% | 35s | ||
BRAISAZ Justine |
|
2% | 7% | 104s | ||
HINZ Vanessa |
|
2% | 8% | 74s | ||
BESCOND Anais |
|
2% | 8% | 86s | ||
KRYUKO Iryna |
|
2% | 8% | 72s | ||
BRORSSON Mona |
|
2% | 7% | 75s | ||
DZHYMA Juliya |
|
2% | 6% | 82s | ||
KUKLINA Larisa |
|
1% | 6% | 89s | ||
PIDHRUSHNA Olena |
|
1% | 6% | 86s | ||
DAVIDOVA Marketa |
|
1% | 4% | 127s | ||
HOEGBERG Elisabeth |
|
1% | 4% | 104s | ||
HAECKI Lena |
|
1% | 3% | 163s | ||
OEBERG Elvira |
|
1% | 3% | 132s | ||
KAISHEVA Uliana |
|
1% | 3% | 117s | ||
COLOMBO Caroline |
|
1% | 2% | 128s | ||
GASPARIN Selina |
|
1% | 2% | 169s | ||
SEMERENKO Vita |
|
<1% | 2% | 124s | ||
SKOTTHEIM Johanna |
|
<1% | 2% | 175s |
This model we have also used to simulate the entire season and project who are the most likely contenders for the large crystal globe as well as the small ones, for both genders.
As usual the very first races of the season is packed with uncertainty as it is near impossible to know how the athletes have progressed in training since the end of the previous season. The input of our model is purely results from previous seasons. It does not have access to any of the results from the warm up races or training reports for any of the athletes. Partly because of this we expect the accuracy of the predictions to pick up when the first few races have been completed and the model has fresh data to work with.
Our simulations indicate that there are several candidates with a somewhat similar chance of winning. The usual cast of suspects consisting of the likes of last year’s overall winner Dorothea Wierer, Hanna Oeberg, Marthe Olsbu Roeiseland, Denise Herrmann and last year’s runner up Tiril Eckhoff.