Hours until the start of the championships. Work on the tracks goes into the night

"The worst is the rain and strong warm wind. When it's cold rain, it freezes and holds, but with warm wind, it eats away at the track right before your eyes," explained race director Vlastimil Jakeš. His team works hard into the deep night.

The forecast isn't entirely favorable either. "Unfortunately, it doesn't freeze at night, temperatures don't go below zero by any chance. We help ourselves, we have tricks for that. We've learned to conserve energy because the event is long, it's not like a four-day flashlight," Jakeš elaborated on the situation.

The technical team's work was also appreciated by the chief organizer Jiří Hamza: "Thanks to all the people for how hard they work on the tracks. They spend twice to three times more time here than if normal conditions prevailed. We have to prepare everything as best as possible; the whole biathlon world will be watching us. I would like to invite the spectators once again not to be deterred and to come even in this non-winter weather."