I had today years old when I discovered that Argentina had a Black player in the past.   A WC champion btw.   https://x.com/Argentina/status/1990057267077455984?t=nSxFbKFyOkEA3Mde2JeBng&s=19

Which is incidentally also why rugby was so early in 2024 (well, athletics but same difference)

Also agreed, but its because the venue needs to get ready for the archery competitions. 

Completely agree. 

1 - 4  it's a shame!!!!   Don't  play the second half is inexplicable; why?   Maybe someone expect Norway the next WC 2026 surprise  (as yours tv commentators  : coyuld be semifinalist ). The real thing is that Italy isn't a Top Team and reach the WC 2026 could be a big success.......   We don't have a Top-players (the only is Donnarumma) and we don't see a rising stars, and if we don't play "as a squad" we're not going anywhere!     PS: For play-offs the worst opponent for us is: ITALY

Any idea how many countries have athletes in qualification position for the Olympics?    @Topicmaster1010 @NearPup

Rugby should not start this early, regardless.  Nobody should be eliminated from medal contention before the opening ceremony, and yet most rugby teams were/will be.  

Here's an update to the potential second placed teams based on the October World Rankings    - I - 9th  - A - 10th  - C - 20th  - H - 24th  - E - 26th  - D  - 27th  - G - 33rd  - J - 34th  - C - 38th  - L - 44th  - A - 46th  - K - 61st  - F - 62nd  - J - 65th  - H - 75th  - B - 84th   Ukraine and Ireland locked up their spots as second place teams. Ireland is currently in Pot 3, but I suspect they will leapfrog Albania in the November rankings which means there's a chance for them to sneak into Pot 2 if other results go their way.   In a worst case scenario, Ukraine would be in Pot 2, but should the favourites pull through they will move into Pot 1.

Assuming the W Mass Start stands, here is the final table for SLC (also updated in Post 2 above):   Event Gold Silver Bronze Men       500m 1 Jordan Stolz   Damian Zurek   Gao Tingyu   500m 2 Jenning De Boo   Yevgeniy Koshkin   Kim Jun-Ho   1000m Jordan Stolz   Damian Zurek   Jenning De Boo   1500m Jordan Stolz   Ning Zhongyan   Finn Sonnekalb   5000m Timothy Loubineaud  Metodey Jilek   Sander Eitrem   Mass Start Jorrit Bergsma   Felix Maly   Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu   Team Pursuit United States   Norway   China           Women       500m 1 Femke Kok   Erin Jackson   Yoshida Yukino   500m 2 Femke Kok  Erin Jackson  Lee Na-Hyun   1000m Jutta Leerdam  Femke Kok   Beatrice Lamarche   1500m Joy Beune  Antoinette Rijpma-De Jong   Ragne Wiklund   3000m Joy Beune   Valerie Maltais   Ragne Wiklund   Mass Start Mia Manganello   Valerie Maltais   Bente Kerkhoff   Team Pursuit Japan   Canada   United States       Medal Count: 1)  7-2-2--11 2)  5-2-1--8 3)  1-0-1--2 4)  1-0-0--1 5)  0-3-2--5 6)  0-2-0--2 7)  0-1-3--4 8)  0-1-2--3 9)  0-1-1--2 10)  0-1-0--1 10)  0-1-0--1 12)  0-0-2--2  

Results now showing what we thought...  in first.  But interestingly, a 0.0 lap for Lap 16 for everyone.  Maybe error in ringing the bell or something?