Ignoring all the crap about national differences - which really are like seasonings and provide some variety.

I think it's more concerning that larger teams have influence over the competition that smaller teams don't have. Image what would happen if the German team started to do this as matter of course - any team with less than 3 competitors in a class would be at a disadvantage. Hardly sporting, even if it is well within the letter of the rules.

The last day at competitions is really a very different thing than the previous days. All sense appears to go out the window, tactics change, risks are taken that would never otherwise be taken.

How much of this is actually because the point spread at the end is consistently so small?