Biathlon: no distinctive bibs in the IBU Cup, explanations
On Thursday, Vosges biathlete Paula Botet triumphed in the IBU Cup , dominating the opening sprint of the season in Idre Fjäll (Sweden). With a 10/10 record and the fastest time on the cross-country track, the Bressaude native gave no one else a chance to win. With this second individual victory on this circuit, one might have imagined that the Frenchwoman, who logically leads the overall rankings, would be wearing a coloured bib as she does in the World Cup.
It was not to be. Last winter, Jeanne Richard and Océane Michelon, who also topped the ranking, did not have this honour either.
“When the IBU Cup was invented, it was decided not to have distinctive yellow [for the general] or red [for the disciplines] bibs. The leaders in the general or discipline rankings on this circuit do not represent the best biathletes in these categories, as they take part in the World Cup”, explains the International Biathlon Union‘s communications department, contacted on this subject by Nordic Magazine.
Bibs that aren’t bankable enough
There is another reason for this: “Coloured bibs are also often introduced for marketing, broadcasting or storytelling reasons, neither of which currently play a major role in the IBU Cup.”
It has to be said that the vast majority of biathletes taking part in the IBU Cup are still learning. For them, the important thing is to progress rather than rankings and the crystallised rewards at the end of the season.
So the absence of distinctive numbers in the IBU Cup is rather logical… even if, for the public present on site (the races are no longer broadcast live), a yellow number at least would make things clearer.
In any case, this Saturday early afternoon, Paula Botet will start the second Idre Fjäll sprint wearing the same tunic as her rivals.
- Idre Fjäll: with 10/10, Paula Botet and Chloé Chevalier crushed the opening sprint of the women’s IBU Cup with a double victory
- Black screen on the B circuit: why won’t the IBU Cup be broadcast this season?
