Tokyo 2020 Day after Day as it could have happened

[rafalgorka 1,810]

5 minut temu, CCB napisał:

Well, only the Women's coaches are under investigation and only their Gymnastics Sport Program has stopped. So Epke can continue training. But unfortunately Epke has not qualified yet for the Olympics.

 

He should do it by the World Cup series. And then everything's possible.

[CCB 612]

10 minuten geleden, rafalgorka zei:

 

He should do it by the World Cup series. And then everything's possible.

Yes, still possible he qualifies. But living legend Uchimura will be there as well. So Epke will definitely not the favourite on high bar. But we still have another participant: Bart Deurloo. He is fully committed to high bar and focuses on a medal.

[rafalgorka 1,810]

Friday, Day 7, would be very difficult to follow. A lot of things going on in the same time. 

 

I hope rowers will be fast enough to finish before swimmers will start their races ?

And athletics is on the same time, too. I remember in Rio I watched athletics all-around transmission on tv and High jump or pole vault finals seperately online. 

 

IMHO I wouldn't have problem with summer olympics lasting 24 days, not 19, just to avoid these schedulling clashes. If Tour de France can last more than 3 weeks and it's not boring for me... The only problem would be - do I get enough vacation from work? 

 

Anyway, there is a lot to watch on Friday. Poland vs Japan in volleyball. It is always hard to play against hosts, unless it is Chinese men's handball team from Beijing. 

 

Then K1 slalom final, judo top weight categories, tennis... 

 

And as usual, every olympics there is something I didn't plan to watch at all but I did it accidentally and it turned out to be very entertaining. Maybe this year I would find something like that, too. ? 

[Grassmarket 4,102]

British interest will be on Mo Farah in the 100000m.....I don’t see it happening.  His marathon career never worked, so he comes back to track.  Too many new young athletes won’t give him any respect & I don’t think the last-lap kick is there anymore.  

[Jinzha 702]

For the Netherlands the BMX finals and rowing 8s will be the most exciting today, Maybe judo too.

 

I will also try to follow swimming and the first day of athletics of course and hopefully a women's football quarterfinal. This day will require at least 3 screens...

[Col_Frost 179]

I certainly would have problems with choose what to watch. There's last canoe slalom final, there's archery, batminton, rowing, table tennis and first day of athletics. I say that K1 in slalom, both eights in rowing and badminton mixed doubles final would be most interesting for me.

[CCB 612]

3 uur geleden, rafalgorka zei:

And as usual, every olympics there is something I didn't plan to watch at all but I did it accidentally and it turned out to be very entertaining. Maybe this year I would find something like that, too. ? 

Well, I recommend something ;-) for example archery. Day 7 is the first day of finals of the individual tournaments. Spectacle guaranteed!

 

Day 7 indeed a busy day. BMX finals, hopefully with the full Dutch team. And rowing 8s: although GB and Germany are the favourites, the Dutch will not give up so easy. In judo legend Teddy Riner will try to defend his titles in the +100kg, but I look forward to see Henk Grol, one of my favourite Olympic athletes. 

 

And the start of Athletics: @rafalgorka A lot of Polish medals incoming?

[rafalgorka 1,810]

3 godziny temu, CCB napisał:

Well, I recommend something ;-) for example archery. Day 7 is the first day of finals of the individual tournaments. Spectacle guaranteed!

 

Day 7 indeed a busy day. BMX finals, hopefully with the full Dutch team. And rowing 8s: although GB and Germany are the favourites, the Dutch will not give up so easy. In judo legend Teddy Riner will try to defend his titles in the +100kg, but I look forward to see Henk Grol, one of my favourite Olympic athletes. 

 

And the start of Athletics: @rafalgorka A lot of Polish medals incoming?

 

Well, this is a tough question.

 

Probably the best chances are in hammer throw.

 

In men's hammer Paweł Fajdek is our best chance for medal, even gold I would say, but - despite he won a few gold medals in world championships - he imploded awfully both in 2012 and in 2016 in the qualifications. So I hope he will hold his nerves this time. And secondly, he needs to be careful about Bence Halasz, this is a very serious contender, improving fast. So Fajdek is our biggest chance for gold - but it will not be easy at all. Wojciech Nowicki may get a medal, too.

 

In women's hammer Anita Włodarczyk will have a difficult task to win another medal. US throwers are getting better and better and she had some health and coaching problems, so I don't expect her to win again. Papers say that it is quite possible that she will not take part in Tokyo olympics at all. But I hope she will.

 

There is a chance for a medal in men's pole vault. But only Bronze, I'm afraid. Piotr Lisek was 3rd in Doha and 4th in Rio. But two medals are for Armand Duplantis and Sam Kendricks, I think, so there will be very tense fight for 3rd spot on the podium.

 

Women's 4 x 400m is another chance. US team are much better, but Polish quartet should be able to perform well if you compare them with the rest.

 

This new mixed relay is a minor chance, too. But it is hard to find two fast 400m male runners in Poland these days, unfortunately.

 

So these are our chances. If there will be 3-4 medals and 1 gold I would say it would be a decent result.

 

And now some wishful thinking - I would be superhappy if we get a medal in individual track event. The last time we got one was a long long ago. Much too long. I would be superhappy if it was men's 800 or 1500 but both Adam Kszczot (800) and Marcin Lewandowski (1500) will have a difficult task to do it. I know they have their non-olympic medals already around their necks, but in Tokyo it will be a different game, much more difficult. I'm afraid they are faster runners than them nowadays, and these faster people will not repeat the mistake many did in men's 1500 final in Rio. In a slower pace, Kszczot's and Lewandowski's chances are getting higher but I expect both 800 and 1500 finals will be superfast this time.

 

If Caster Semenya and a few others and some new Rusians (never heard of before) will not participate - there will be a chance for Joanna Jóźwik for a good run in 800m final if she qualifies. But she had some health problems, too and - I'm not an expert - but I think she will need to think more on her tactics if she wants to win an olympic medal.

 

Sofia Ennaoui in 1500 is another chance - I like her very very much, I don't know her in person obviously, but she appears to be a very warm and funny person, really dedicated to her training. So I'm a big fan of hers. But her problem is she is competing in a time when the level of women's 1500 is really high. There are so many contenders here. But if she gets into the final, and the pace will be slow - she has an extremely good finish. Good enough for a medal? We will see.

 

It's also hard not to like Maria Andrejczyk in women's javelin - she was 4th in Rio, great in qualifications (if i'm not mistaken here, her throw in the qualis would give her a gold in the final, but I need to check it). Unfortunately she also had problems with health, so it is hard to say if she can repeat her Rio performance at least.

 

There are some youngsters shining already - Klaudia Siciarz in 100 hurdles for example, but it is a chance for a medal in Paris, I would say. I will look out how her career will unfold. She has a talent and potential for sure.

 

And finally, I would be supersuperhappy if we get a medal in men's high jump. This is by far my favourite event. As somebody told here before speaking about fencing - this is because of my good personal memories. But we don't have a good male high jumper in Poland now. Good enough to have a real chance for a medal.

In women's high jump there is Kamila Lićwinko. I wish her all the best but it will be very difficult for her to get on the podium. And from my personal point of view I wouldn't wish her e.g. a bronze medal after two Ukrainian jumpers which would be achieved only because Maria Lasitskene wasn't there. If you want to get a well-deserved olympic medal, win it in a strongest possible field ever. Otherwise, it will not taste the same. And I understand what Russians did was outrageous (maybe there should be a better word for that but my English is not so good). But I don't think that people like Lasitskene or Sidorova - who didn't fault with doping rules personally, should not be able to compete in the olympics. If it would happen under Russian flag or not - well, maybe without this flag but - as Barrack Obama said - this question is above my pay grade.

 

Anyway, I am a kind of multi-kulti person and I must admit that I watch olympics primarily to enjoy good, tense competitions - whether Poles are getting 3 gold medals in one day or not.

 

All the best for you, enjoy your weekend.

 

 

[CCB 612]

5 minuten geleden, rafalgorka zei:

 

Well, this is a tough question.

 

All the best for you, enjoy your weekend.

 

 

Wow, you call that a very broad preview, nice to read. Altogether quite a lot of opportunities for the Polish athletes. 

 

Netherlands also has some opportunities, but not as much as Poland. We 'only' have Dafne Schippers at the 100m and 200m (silver in Rio), but honestly: she's not going to make it this time. A lot of sprinters are meanwhile a lot better: Dina Asher, Shaune Miller-Uibo, Elaine Thompson and many others. And Sifan Hassan at the 10.000 meters. But there will be a lot of competition from Kenia and Ethiopia. 

 

Maybe there are a few other slight chances: Femke Bol (400 hurdles), 4x100 women and Nadine Visser (100 hurdles). But not very realistic.

 

You're right: most important is having exciting competitions, but ... still nice when your own country wins some medals :-). 

 

And to finish: a nice weekend for you as well!

[rafalgorka 1,810]

I think Sifan Hassan may get two golds for Netherlands. It can be 1500-10,000 combo. The timetable shows she can't run both 1500 and 5000 I'm afraid. In 10,000 she is a very strong favourite. In 1500 she is the one to beat, too. But she must choose her tactics in 1500 wisely and be careful with Ethiopian and Kenyan opposition. And with Sofia Ennaoui sprinting in the finish, of course!