Season analysis anyone?

Well, that's pretty much it for another season - some predictable wins (Lindsey Vonn so amazingly consistent that the women's alpine series got almost too predictable; made up for last year though!) and some surprises. There are some interesting details on the biathlon world cup events on http://realbiathlon.blogspot.co.uk/; worth a trawl and no, it's nothing to do with me (better informed for a start!), I just found it of interest.

Still not sure if Tora Berger (and others) will really retire (remember how many times Anya Pärson seemed to indicate that she was retiring?) - fairly certain that Magdalena Neuner and Helena Ekholm won't be back though. I'm not sure if Bjørndalen should go on - certainly he is one of the most amazing biathletes ever, and still a force in the relay events, but surely his record can stand without risking another season? Next year I hope to see some new names (or even some old friends) put Darya Domracheva under some pressure, although with her wonderful style of skiing and good shooting it will require considerable skill and mental strength. For the men, hopefully Simon Fourcade can do better although again he will have to be on form to beat his brother; I expect we will see Bø back in the top few as well. Obviously I'd like the Germans to do well, and it would be nice to see the Russian team doing better (although they did win the men's and women's nation cup this year, which might be some consolation).

Finally, I'm no sports psychologist but I wonder if Lena Neuner's poor standing shoots in the final races were due to her interview with Sandrinne Bailley when she admitted that the thing she would least miss about biathlon was the standing shoot, especially as she once missed all 5! Once you get that memory in your brain, it might well come back at the most inopportune times!