The official training schedule had to be urgently modified due to a sudden and drastic change in weather conditions.
The nightmare of melting snow
After weeks of consistently negative temperatures, spring has arrived much earlier than expected in the Estonian resort.
The air has warmed dramatically, creating extremely complicated waxing conditions for technicians. Biathletes will have to deal with very wet, heavy snow that will deteriorate rapidly as athletes pass over the course.
Weather forecasts indeed predict almost summer-like temperatures for March in this region, approaching 14°C during the warmest part of the day:
- Wednesday, March 11: Max 9°C / Min 1°C (Wind: 4 m/s)
- Thursday, March 12: Max 10°C / Min 4°C (Wind: 4 m/s, light precipitation)
- Friday, March 13: Max 10°C / Min 1°C (Wind: 5 m/s)
- Saturday, March 14: Max 14°C / Min 4°C (Wind: 5 m/s)
- Sunday, March 15: Max 7°C / Min 3°C (Wind: 4 m/s)
The Italian team’s astonishment
The unusual weather conditions in Otepaa were quickly documented on social media by the Italian team. Lisa Vittozzi, Lukas Hofer and Nicola Romanin shared short videos from their training session.
The images are striking: outside the thin strip of white snow on the artificially maintained biathlon stadium track, snow in the Estonian town has practically disappeared. Everything around is green.
The sporting suspense remains wide open, but the battle promises to be just as physical as tactical on tracks that could quickly turn into real minefields.
