The fundamental problem here is the IOC standing firm by a completly arbitrary 2900 athlete cap. A lot of problems would be instantly fixed if we went up to, say, 3500 (and cut cost elsewhere, maybe we can give some less perks to IOC members)
Some of the quota cuts have been good, there was definitively some fat to cut (we did not need 40 men to compete in the men's snowboard half-pipe). But we are getting dangerously close to the muscles and the bones with these cuts, arguably we are already there (figure skating, ski jumpin and nordic combined cuts in particular)
Wow. Now I'm going to get even angrier if Nordic combined is ever taken out of the program
I know it would be for different reasons, but come on, if an entire tournament with 25 player teams is fine, so is one sport that has what, the amount of athletes for 3-4 ice hockey teams?