I think the Dutch men (especially in long distances) are simply not good enough. We've been leaders in long distances for decades, but we've always had great talents like De Jong, Romme, Bergsma, Kramer, and Roest. They're not around right now, so we're focusing more on short distances, but there's a certain Stolz who reigns supreme.   What I've noticed is that many newcomers (Jilek, Lubineaud etc) originally come from inline skating. The Netherlands should look into that too. We also need to be open to new training methods, like those of the Swede Nils Svensson, who won two gold medals in Beijing with a unique training regime.   Good luck with Ghiotto, I will definitely cheer for him: such a friendly person and a beautiful skater. He really deserves a gold medal. 

Momen's pools and host cities announced https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/volleyball-nations-league/news/host-cities-and-pools-vnl-2026   Week 1  Ottawa, Canada:   Brasilia, Brazil:   Linyi, China:    Week 2 Orleans, France: Gliwice, Poland: Ljubljana, Slovenia:   Week 3  Belgrade, Serbia:  Chicago, United States:  Kansai, Japan:

Women's pools and host cities announced https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/volleyball-nations-league/news/host-cities-and-pools-vnl-2026   Week 1 Quebec City, Canada:  Brasilia, Brazil:  Nanjing, China:   Week 2  Ankara, Turkey:  TBD, Philippines:  TBD, TBD:   Week 3  Belgrade, Serbia:   Hong Kong, China:   Kansai, Japan:

If that draw seemed a surprise for us, what should we say about their last 2 matches, wins against City and Atletico Ok, with City is somehow understandable due tu low temperatures in Norway, but last night they won in Madrid against Atletico...unbelivable

First look at the ski jumping Olympic venue

I like the new format, goal here or there can change the full table standing. great night yesterday. 

Group 1  8 PTS Qualified to SF  8 PTS Qualified to SF  5 PTS qualified to Wch  4 PTS  3 PTS  2 PTS   GROUP 2    8 PTS Qualified to SF  7 PTS Qualified to SF  7 PTS Qualified to Wch  4 PTS  2 PTS  2 PTS   SF games:  VS  VS      

First look at the Olympic Rings  

The all Dutch men seemed out of form in Inzell. Could this mean some intense strength training during this period? Overall, I think that, the progress in the men's long-distance events has been incredible since last year and I have the impression that both Ghiotto and the Netherlands team haven't caught on to some new equipment updates? The times achieved this season by: Eitrem, Jilek, Lubinaud, Semyrunyyi and Davson are incredible in terms of time progress year by year. But considering the financial potential of the Netherlands, I'm surprised they could have to by left behind technologically? Unfortunately, this doesn't surprise me in Italy's case, as we don't even have a single indoor track to test our technological innovations – the one in Milan is currently inaccessible even to the hosts. Of course, if Italy were a normal country, who supported their own athletes, the track in Milan should have been available only for the Italian team for many months ago, where would be testing various innovations there, but unfortunately that is not the case, because we live where we live

Stolz recently lost twice to Zurek in the 500 meters, so I don't know if he'll even be a favorite there. He will have certain favourite in the 1000 and 1500 meters. Mass starts are a lottery and in the team race, putting him in would be a significant risk, because the team USA is incredibly well-coordinated without him and has been undefeated for 2 years. It's not certain that even someone very strong like him won't disrupt this lineup. Maybe, they only put him in the quarterfinals and give him the gold medal for only that race? In any case, for me he can realistically count on 2-3 gold medals individually + a question mark regarding the team race. Overall, I think he should focus on 500-1000-1500, instead of dreaming of 5 gold medals. And if he will win those 3 gold medals, he can then, with a clear head, attempt the mass start at the last race of the Games.