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@Swewi is competitive on the Swedish curling circuit. I believe they have played in the Olympic trials before. @Vojthas (who hasn’t been active for a while ) competes in the Polish club league for curling. @John Foyne won a medal in American Football at The World Games 2017. He’s active in flag football at present (I believe). @IoNuTzZ is/was a competitive 400m runner I believe (not sure about the level). There may be a few more people active at the national/club level, but I’m not sure. @Agger @heywoodu have both done half marathons in the past if memory serves. @Josh is a swimmer, but I don’t have any idea about the level (I’d assume local/youth).

Couldn't think of six (non-Dutch) nominees for every category, but I just sent in my vote: BEST MALE ATHLETE for sportsmen in Olympic sports #1: Leon Marchand - Swimming #2: Noah Lyles - Athletics #3: Mathieu van der Poel - Cycling #4: Jonas Vingegard - Cycling #5: Kelvin Kiptum - Athletics #6: Daiki Hashimoto - Gymnastics BEST FEMALE ATHLETE for sportswomen in Olympic sports #1: Sifan Hassan - Athletics #2: Faith Kipyegon - Athletics #3: Kaylee McKeown - Swimming #4: Mollie O'Callaghan - Swimming #5: Lotte Kopecky - Cycling #6: Janja Garnbret - Sport Climbing BEST NON-OLYMPIC ATHLETE for athletes in Non-Olympic sports and disciplines #1: Killian Jornet - Trail running BEST YOUTH ATHLETE for athletes up to 18 years old (born after January 1st, 2005) (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Summer McIntosh - Swimming #2: Niels Laros - Athletics #3: Kaylia Neymour - Algeria #4: #5: #6: BEST MEN'S TEAM for national men's teams or groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Volleyball team #2: Team sprint - Track cycling #3: Handball team #4: #5: #6: BEST WOMEN'S TEAM for national women's teams or groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Football team #2: Waterpolo team #3: Volleyball team #4: Handball team #5: Freestyle relay teams - Swimming #6: BEST DOUBLES/PAIR OR MIXED TEAM for doubles and pairs or mixed teams and groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Duda/Ana Patricia - Beach Volleyball #2: Mixed relay team (Velzeboer/Schulting/Van 't Wout/De Laat) - Short track speed skating #3: Bodnar/Radis - Rowing #4: McCarthy/O'Donovan - Rowing #5: Perusic/Schweiner - Beach Volleyball #6: BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR for the most improved athlete (aged 19 or over) or national team (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Jordan Stolz - Speed skating #2: Puck Pieterse - Mountainbike #3: Qin Haiyang - Swimming #4: Letsile Tebogo - Athletics #5: Emma Finucane - Track cycling #6: Anna Hall - Athletics COMEBACK OF THE YEAR for athletes or national teams who made a comeback performance in 2023 (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Simone Biles - Gymnastics #2: Ruta Meilutyte - Swimming #3: Laura Aarts - Waterpolo (retired goalkeeper came back to the team and helped them become world champions) #4: Katarina Johnson-Thompson - Athletics #5: #6: SPORT MOMENT OF THE YEAR for any sport moment from 2023 #1: Femke Bol charging to 4x400m World Championship gold a few days after her fall in the mixed relay #2: Simone Biles winning four golds in her return to the Antwerpen gymnastics hall #3: Mollie O'Callaghan 200m freestyle world record #4: / / Team Jumbo-Visma winning all three Grand Tours with different riders #5: #6:

Sure, anybody can vote If everybody agrees I can extend the deadline until Sunday and reveal the nominees on Monday.

BEST MALE ATHLETE for sportsmen in Olympic sports #1: Mathieu van der Poel (cycling) #2: Leon Marchand (swimming) #3: Jordan Stolz (speedskating) #4: Carlos Alcaraz (tennis) #5: Oliver Zeidler (rowing) BEST FEMALE ATHLETE for sportswomen in Olympic sports #1: Femke Bol (athletics) #2: Lotte Kopecky (cycling) #3: Sha'Carri Richardson (athletics) #4: Emma Finucane #5: Ragne Wiklund (speedskating) BEST PARALYMPIC ATHLETE for athletes with a disability #1: Diede de Groot (tennis) #2: Tanguy de la Forest (archery) #3: Anna-Lena Forster (alpine skiing) #4: Jesper Pedersen (alpine skiing) #5: Stefano Raimondi (swimming) BEST YOUTH ATHLETE for athletes up to 18 years old (born after January 1st, 2005) (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Joshua Tarling (cycling) #2: Mirra Andreeva (tennis) #3: Summer McIntosh (swimming) BEST MEN'S TEAM for national men's teams or groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Men's teampursuit Denmark (track cycling) #2: Men's 4x100 relay USA (athletics) #3: Men's teamsprint Netherlands (track cycling) BEST WOMEN'S TEAM for national women's teams or groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Women's team Netherlands (field hockey) #2: Women's team France (handball) #3: Women's teamsprint Germany (track cycling) BEST DOUBLES/PAIR OR MIXED TEAM for doubles and pairs or mixed teams and groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Broenink & Twellaar (rowing) #2: Tita & Banti (sailing) #3: Perusic & Schweiner (beach volleyball) BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR for the most improved athlete (aged 19 or over) or national team (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Xandra Velzeboer (shorttrack speedskating) #2: Evgeniia Chikunova (swimming) #3: Joshua Tarling (cycling) COMEBACK OF THE YEAR for athletes or national teams who made a comeback performance in 2023 (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Simone Biles (gymnastics) #2: Ruta Meilutyte (swimming) #3: Estavana Polman (handbal) SPORT MOMENT OF THE YEAR for any sport moment from 2023 #1: Sifan Hassan winning her first two marathons (in her first two participations) #2: Jannik Sinner wins the Davis Cup after winning against Djokovic #3: Simone Biles wins multiple gold medals at the World Gymnastics Championships

Wish I could've voted for six Dutch sport moments of the year SPORT MOMENT OF THE YEAR for any sport moment from 2023 #1: Femke Bol charging to 4x400m World Championship gold a few days after her fall in the mixed relay #2: Men's team sprint taking back their world title in a head-to-head race vs Australia #3: Sifan Hassan winning the London and Chicago marathons #4: Mathieu van der Poel winning the road cycling world championship even after a fall #5: Wout Pouls winning his first Tour de France stage #6: Karolien Florijn dominating every single sculls rowing race including the world championship

First stage voting should end tomorrow but we only have 5 voters so far. We may have to change the schedule and give it another week, announcing the nominees closer to New Year's rather than Christmas (just like last year). Or maybe even cancel the whole thing if the number of voters is too low. I tagged last year's voters in case anyone is interested. Of course there's a lot more people who can vote (didn't wanna bother more members tagging them here), so please feel free to follow the instructions in this post

Three golds in a row for Jared Schmidt, as he wins round 1 of the Innichen WC! Hannah Schmidt also on the podium with a bronze. Round two tomorrow.

Did a thorough review. Only Brazil does not have the MER for dressage. Assuming they do not compete then they and the Group F quota will get reallocated. Here is the reallocation table going into the final month. - 2738 - 2716 - 2590** - 2567 - 2505** Both Norway and Luxembourg only have two riders with MER. Regardless unless something crazy happens the quotas will likely go to Finland and Portugal.

will be sending 16 athletes in 7 disciplines:https://www.ssat.or.th/2022/01/01/youth-winter-olympics-games-2024-candidate/ This is more than the ALL the athletes the country has ever sent to the WOG/WYOG combined

I must admit it wasn't easy... in some categories I had even too many names/events in mind that I found extremely difficult to choose only 6 (some times 7, thanks to a couple of ex-aequo) meanwhile in a few other categories I had the opposite problem, had to dig deep to find 6 really good options I also tried not to be so "obvious" when possible, but without being "extravagant" however, this is my effort for this year... BEST MALE ATHLETE for sportsmen in Olympic sports #1: Lèon Marchand (Swimming) #2: Marco Odermatt (Alpine Skiing) #3: Noah Lyles (Athletics) #4: Johannes Thingnes Boe (Biathlon) #5: Hifumi Abe (Judo) #6: Karlos May Nasar (Weightlifting) BEST FEMALE ATHLETE for sportswomen in Olympic sports #1: Molly O'Callaghan (Swimming) #2: Faith Kipyegon (Athletics) #3: Femke Bol (Athletics) #4: Mikaela Shiffrin (Alpine Skiing) #5: Rebeca Andrade (Artistic Gymnastics) #6: Yui Susaki (Wrestling) & Uta Abe (Judo) BEST NON-OLYMPIC ATHLETE for athletes in Non-Olympic sports and disciplines #1: Shohei Ohtani (Baseball) #2: Christian McCaffrey (American Football) #3: Naoya Inoue (Boxing) #4: Islam Makhachev (MMA) #5: Virat Kohli (Cricket) #6: Bart Swings (Inline Speedskating) BEST PARALYMPIC ATHLETE for athletes with a disability #1: Marcel Hug (Athletics) #2: Simone Barlaam (Swimming) #3: Jesper Pedersen (Alpine Skiing) #4: Alexandre Lèautè (Cycling) #5: Karen Palomeque (Athletics) #6: Diede De Groot (Tennis) BEST YOUTH ATHLETE for athletes up to 18 years old (born after January 1st, 2005) (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Connor Bedard (Ice Hockey) #2: Summer McIntosh (Swimming) #3: Darja Varfolomeev (Rhythmic Gymnastics) #4: Qiu Qiyuan (Artistic Gymanstics) #5: Luana Marton (Taekwondo) #6: Maximilian Maeder (Sailing, Kitesurfing) BEST MEN'S TEAM for national men's teams or groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Baseball NT #2: Basketball NT #3: Rugby (Union) NT #4: Rugby (Union) NT #5: Waterpolo NT #6: Cricket NT BEST WOMEN'S TEAM for national women's teams or groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Volleyball NT #2: Swimming Freestyle Relays 4*100m & 4*200m #3: Waterpolo NT #4: Football NT #5: Biathlon Relay 4*6km #6: Handball NT BEST DOUBLES/PAIR OR MIXED TEAM for doubles and pairs or mixed teams and groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Ruggero Tita & Caterina Banti (Sailing, Nacra 17 Class) #2: Ana Patrícia Ramos & Eduarda Lisboa (women's Beach Volleyball) #3: Show Jumping Team (Equestrian Sports) #4: Ondřej Perušič & David Schweiner (men's Beach Volleyball) #5: Melvin Twellaar & Stef Broenink (Rowing) #6: Toni Eggert & Sascha Benecken (Luge) BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR for the most improved athlete (aged 19 or over) or national team (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Qin Haiyang (Swimming) #2: Akhmed Tazhudinov (Wrestling) #3: Matt Temple (Swimming) #4: Karoline Knotten & Juni Arnekleiv (Biathlon) #5: Puck Pieterse (Mountain bike) #6: Ilia Malinin (Figure Skating) COMEBACK OF THE YEAR for athletes or national teams who made a comeback performance in 2023 (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Simone Biles (Artistic Gymnastics) #2: Cameron McEvoy (Swimming) #3: Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Athletics) #4: Sha'carri Richardson (Athletics) #5: Justine Braisaz-Bouchet (Biathlon) #6: Antonella Palmisano (Athletics) SPORT MOMENT OF THE YEAR for any sport moment from 2023 #1: Shohei Ohtani striking out (at that time) club teammate Mike Trout to close the men's Baseball WBC #2: Glenn Maxwell scoring 201/not out to lead an amazing comeback by his team vs at the Cricket World Cup #3: Team Europe winning the Ryder Cup in style (Golf) #4: Femke Bol losing a Relay Gold already in the pocket after a dramatic fall just before the finish line at the World Champs (Athletics) #5: Molly O'Callaghan breaking the women's oldest rubber suit World Record in Swimming (ITA icon Federica Pellegrini's women's 200m Freestyle) #6: the 4 most important Baseball Leagues all having the most unexpected new champions in the same season (MLB, Texas Rangers, 1st title in history; NPB, Hanshin Tigers, 1st title in 38 years; KBO, LG Twins Seoul, 1st title in 29 years; CPBL, Wei Chuan Dragons, 1st title in 24 years) [#7: Italy winning the Davis Cup (Tennis) after a 47-year drought, with Sinner's matches breaking all the TV viewership records] (personal bias I couldn't resist to)

Stage 14 in Courchevel (FRA) Women´s Slalom: 1. Petra Vlhova 1:48.14 2. Mikaela Shiffrin 1:48.38 3. Katharina Truppe 1:50.20 Full Final Results HERE Petra Vlhová 71st careers WC Podium, 30th Win (30-22-19), Season 2023/24 WC 5th Podium, 2nd Win (2-2-1) 44th Careers WC Slalom Podium, 21st Win (21-14-9), Season 2023/24 WC Slalom 3rd Podium, 2nd Win (2-1-0)

I'll try to think of my votes tomorrow, although...yeah, insanely difficult

So Israel is officially rejected for hosting of UOQT1. Instead, FIBA 3x3 gives its right to ...... HONG KONG What the heck is this decision to give the host right to the weak country in terms of national teams?

I plan to vote tomorrow

Thank you for the reminder, I was definitely intending to vote but I've been very busy at work, so most evenings I'm too tired to sit down for a proper list of all the categories. I hope to get to it tonight or tomorrow!

I do plan to vote. I can do it today, but an extra few days might be nice. I’m sure a lot of people are busy preparing for the various end of year holidays this week.

BEST MALE ATHLETE for sportsmen in Olympic sports #1: Leo Marchand - France - Swimming #2: Noah Lyles - US - Athletics #3: Johannes Thingnes Bo - Norway - Biathlon #4: Matthias Gidsel - Denmark - Handball #5: Joseph Clarke - Canoe Slalom - UK #6: Alvaro Martin - athetics - Spain2 BEST FEMALE ATHLETE for sportswomen in Olympic sports #1: Kaylee McKeown - Swimming - Australia #2: Mollie O'Callaghan - Australia - swimming #3: Iga Świątek - Poland - tennis #4: Hanna Oberg - Sweden - Biathlon #5: Maria Perez - Spain - Athletics #6: Lotte Kopecky - Belgium - Cycling BEST PARALYMPIC ATHLETE for athletes with a disability #1: Stefano Raimondi - Italy - Swimming #2: Catherine Debrunner - Switzerland - Athletics #3: Alfie Hewett - UK - Tennis #4: Jesper Pedersen - Norway #5: Kendall Gretsch - US - Biathlon/ Cross Country Skiing #6: Luca Ekler - Hungary - athetics BEST YOUTH ATHLETE for athletes up to 18 years old (born after January 1st, 2005) (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Dominika Banevic - Lithuania - breaking #2: Ezra Freich - Para Athetics - US #3: Kaylia Nemour - Algieria - Gymnastic #4: Sommer Mcintosh - Canada - swimming #5: Daria Varfolomeev - Germany - rhythmic gymnastic #6: Maximilian Maeder - Sailing - Singapur BEST MEN'S TEAM for national men's teams or groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Denmark - men's handball #2: Germany men's basketball #3: Poland - men's volleyball #4: Canada - mens ice hockey #5: Hungary - men's waterpolo #6: UK - men's eight - rowing BEST WOMEN'S TEAM for national women's teams or groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Spain - Football #2: Italy - Biathlon 4x6 #3: Handball - French #4: Basketball - Belgium #5: Netherlands - women's waterpolo - gold world championships #6: Israel - women's gymnastic rhythmic - gold world championships BEST DOUBLES/PAIR OR MIXED TEAM for doubles and pairs or mixed teams and groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Perusic/Schneider- Czech - beach voleyball #2: Ana Patricia Ramos/ Eduarda Lisboa - Beach voleyball - Brasil #3: Flores van de Werken / Bart Lambriex - sailing 49er - Netherlands #4: Ancuta Bodnar / Simona Radis- Romania - Rowing #5: Fin McCarthy/Paul O'Donovan - Ireland - Rowing #6: Seo Seung-jae / Chae Yoo-jung - Korea - badminton BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR for the most improved athlete (aged 19 or over) or national team (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Cassino Rousseau - Australia - Diving #2: Ethan Katzberg -Canada - athetics #3: **** #4: **** #5: **** #6: **** COMEBACK OF THE YEAR for athletes or national teams who made a comeback performance in 2023 (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Simone Biles - U.S Gymnastic #2: Ruta Meilutyte - Lithuania - Gymnastic #3: Katarina Johnson-Thompson - UK - athletics #4: Danielle Williams - Athetics - Jamaica #5: Caroline Marin - Badminton - Spain #6: Nino Salukvadze- shooting - Georgia (winning olympic spot) SPORT MOMENT OF THE YEAR for any sport moment from 2023 #1: Cassiel Rousseau - Australia - Diving - winning gold in Diving at WC #2: Belgium winning basketball gold at EC #3: Spain winning world champs 2023 #4: Femke Bol falling near finish at World Champs #5: Italy winning gold in Biathlon relay #6: U.S basketball lost at World Champs

It’s almost like funding youth sports programs in sports with generous qualification systems pays off

Not a fan of some of the categories. Would like to see categories like "best athlete over 40" or "best athlete by continent". Nominations: Male: 1st choice: Djokovic 2nd choice: Marchand 3rd choice: Boe 4th choice: Odermatt 5th choice: Stolz 6th choice: Vingegaard Female: 1st choice: Kipyegon 2nd choice: O'Callaghan 3rd choice: Biles 4th choice: Shiffrin 5th coice: Vu Youth: 1st choice: McIntosh 2nd choice: Lebrun 3th choice: Zaire-Emery 4th choice: Lee Chae-un 5th choice: Brookes 6th choice: Qiyuan Breakthrough: 1st choice: Haiyang 2nd choice: Stolz 3rd choice: Gauff 4th choice: Malinin 5th choice: Loutitt 6th choice: Tebogo Comeback: 1st choice: Biles 2nd choice: Meilutyte 3rd choice: McEvoy 4th choice: Johnson-Thompson Men's team: 1st choice: Germany basketball 2nd choice: Denmark handball 3rd choice: South Africa rugby Women's team: 1st choice: Spain football 2nd choice: Australia women's 4 x 100 m free relay 3rd choice: Australia women's 4 x 200 m free relay 4th choice: France handball

Today was pulled the very last ever cart with brown coal in main coal mine. https://spectator.sme.sk/c/23259294/news-digest-final-coal-mining-cart-pulled-from-novaky-mine.html The last coal-fired power plant in the whole country, will be definitely shut down early next year.

Or Guri Hetland, born Guri Knotten, for her 7th place in the cross-country skiing World Cup in Engelberg in 1999 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guri_Hetland

Singular If I can manage to double my average speed (I'm not training, so that'd be a challenge), I'd almost be slightly competitive in a national competition

@phelps great picks overall but I’m not sure Camryn Rogers is a great pick in the “most improved” category, she won a bronze medal at Worlds last year and had a PB of 77.67m (now 78.62) Instead, I’d switch her with the other Canadian hammer thrower World Champion Ethan Katzberg, who wasn’t even in the medal conversation before this year (much less gold)

Ski Cross WC Innichen, Italy Men Gold- Jared Schmidt Silver- Nicolas Raffort Bronze- Youri Duplessis Kergomard First career WC podium for Raffort! Women Gold- Sandra Naeslund Silver- Fanny Smith Bronze- Hannah Schmidt Full Results

We should recognize some of the athletic achievements of members during these awards at some point. We've got people chasing Olympic qualification, running half marathons, setting PRs in the pool, etc. It might be fun to have a more inward category/honor at some point (maybe not even voted on, but just some acknowledgment during the ceremony for those bothering to turn off the livestreams and go do something)

@rafalgorka "The Winter Youth Olympic Games will be filmed for live television and digital streaming on Olympic Channel via. Olympics.com and our app, with full session replays and highlights also available." - from an article posted recently on Olympics.com

Male sportsman of the Year - Josh Kerr (athletics) Female - Katie Archibald (cycling)

@vinipereira I can vote but I need two more days. I was going to vote when the voting was open. But my friend’s elderly mother was brutally killed by a psychically ill person. I was shocked and is shocked and sad. I forget about this voting. Would be happy if you can give me a couple of days.

Mass shooting in Prague 11 people died in the shooting, including the suspect. About 30 people are injured. Nine people are in serious condition, five to six with moderate injuries and ten lightly injured according Czech TV

Yep, only & are allowed to be coal-fired now. The good news is they are building lots of new ones.