Speed Skating Discussion | Qualification to Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026 Road to Milano Cortina 2026

[NearPup 3,512]

4 minutes ago, SalamAkhi said:

I'm not really worried for the USA actually  I know the Dutch men won't be favorite either way but they could at least play a role in there, which from my point of view is one too much. So let's just stay opponents and focus on individual events shall we 

Who do you think has a stronger team in the men's team pursuit? They have not lost all year. They set the world record this season. Nobody has gotten within a second of them all year.

 

Edit: oh, for the USA xD

 

Ya, but that's part of why the Dutch aren't going to be too bothered by the men's team pursuit I think. Even if they threw everything at the TP at this point it's probably too late to develop a team that can compete against the , so the gold is pretty much gone anyway.

Edited 7 hours ago by NearPup

[Josh 11,574]

19 hours ago, heywoodu said:

My personally favourite system would be something where there is a certain set of high criteria to be pre-selected (like winning at least all but one of the World Cups in a certain distance before the trials), which would really only pre-select the absolute top - disadvantage is that you're somewhat forcing them to be in peak shape for one and a half month or so, which isn't good for Olympic performance, although they can choose to go for the trials of course. Rest of the spots would then be done by trials.

 

That too would have it's drawbacks though. Focus on the World Cup qualifiers would be almost the same as it is for trials now, as one would need to qualify to have a chance of being pre-selected.

That's what Canada is doing 

 

For us anyone who finishes top 8 in the World Cup standings doesn't have to go through Olympic Trials, obviously the standards would have to be a lot higher, the Dutch team is much more stacked.