Wumo

Well after her performance today, I think Gontier could be available. I have heard that Italy is not so interested to keep her anymore.

Hammerschmidt is still recovering from an ankle injury. She was operated back in October. She is now back in the gym, but there is still a bit to go before she is back in the World Cup. She could miss the whole WC season. From Biathlonworld  This is the latest update from her Instagram.

I hope this will not be last time we will see Veith in WC, but I fear a second knee injury could make her decide to end her career.

Start confirmed at 14:15 CET.

Next decision for the race start will be taken at 14:00 CET.

Two new events have been added to IAAF World Relay programme. A mixed 2x2x400m relay and mixed shuttle hurdles relay. The mixed 2x2x400m, a form of an endurance relay event, requires both members of the team to run two 400m legs of a relay. Each team can choose to start with a man or the woman. The athletes then take it in turns to run their two legs of the relay. Inspired by a mixed relay event introduced to biathlon in recent years, the 2x2x400m replaces the 4x800m relay, which proved to have limited appeal at previous editions of the World Relays. The men will run 110m hurdles in one direction and will then hand over to the first woman on the team, who will run back up the straight to hand over to the second man, and so on. To account for the extra distance, women will run out an extra 10 metres at the end of their leg. https://www.iaaf.org/news/press-release/world-relays-2019-shuttle-hurdles-2x2x400

17-year-old Monika Skender has qualified for the sprint finals in Dresden.

Swimming: I would suggest a max quota of 50 swimmers on each distance. (That would cut about 80-90 quotas) If we could cut some distances, the 4x200 m relay for both women and men, and of course, the mixed 4x100 m medley. (48 quotas)

You are probably right. She has not registered any time on 6.4 km split yet. She has probably been disqualified. Edit:

What happened with Drndic? How can she be faster?

Well, not the first Croatian who switch to the Nethlerlands. (*cough*...Obratov sisters. )

Stephanie Brunner's season is over. She injured her left knee during giant slalom training in Pozza di Fassa on Friday ahead of the Kronplatz World Cup. An MRI in Innsbruck revealed a torn ACL and meniscus damage.

What a victory for Angola! This also increases Egypt's chance of qualifying to the main round. Good African team work.

It's sad to see Schempp can't even qualify for the pursuit. He is currently 64th.

Apparently this is breaking news. I thought corruption and bribery were standard procedures in IOC?

Try this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjkOt4Im6YI&feature=youtu.be

https://competition.ihf.info/competitions/mens-world-championships/308/2019-ihf-mens-world-championship/147/news/401 I can't see anything yet. But maybe it will appear when the first match starts in hour.

Women's cancelled Downhill in St. Anton will be rescheduled to Cortina d'Ampezzo 18th of January. Program for Cortina d'Ampezzo: Downhill, Friday, 18th January (Replaces St. Anton) Downhill, Saturday, 19th January Super-G, Sunday, 20th January https://www.fis-ski.com/DB/general/event-details.html?sectorcode=AL&eventid=42909&seasoncode=2019 It's still unknown if the Super-G from St. Anton will be replaced.

The saga continues. @Griff88, I know you are interested in this conflict, so here is a new chapter to the ongoing saga. January 25th can become a landmark date for Danish badminton. This is the ultimate deadline that Badminton Denmark has given the players to sign the individual agreements if they will be part of the elite program until 1st of July 2019, explains the leader of Badminton Denmark, Bo Jensen. - Does that mean you are out of the elite program forever? We have not decided on that yet, but what we have said is that if you have not returned positively before 25th of January, we consider it a rejection of the offer which we have presented, and then you are not included in our plans, Bo Jensen explains. During the summer of 2019, Badminton Denmark will review the future plans for the elite program, as it takes place every year, explains Bo Jensen. The offer sent to the players is no longer negotiable. - We have been discussing for two years, more than two years in fact, and we feel that we have now reached a point where some clarification must be taken, says Bo Jensen. - Much of what we have presented is, in many areas, a continuation of existing practice. We have also accommodated the players in several areas, so it is relatively simple to relate to. If the players do not put their signature on the agreements that Badminton Denmark has offered, it could affect Danish badminton in the short term. - It is logical that if the current players, collectively or a majority of them, do not accept the offer, then it is the second best players who get the offer to enter the elite center. In the beginning, of course they will be at an internationally lower level, but all experience shows that we have a history of developing players to an international level in a relatively short time. So it may well be that in a year's time we will see Danish players internationally at a slightly lower level than we have been used to for the past many years. But we have developed world champions before, and we will do so in the future, Bo Jensen says. Badminton Denmark has aligned with Team Denmark, which every year sends millions to the elite program, that the international level of Danish Badminton could take a dive in the coming years. - Of course, we have an ongoing dialogue with Team Denmark on the consequences for our entire elite program, but Team Denmark is 100% behind Badminton Denmark's position. If it gets a direct impact on the support in the future, I can't say yet, adds Bo Jensen.

Luitz and the German Ski Association argue that they did not know that the ban on inhalation of bottled oxygen is still in the FIS rules. WADA has allowed the use of oxygen since 2018. However, FIS has not adjusted its 2016 regulations to those of WADA . FIS, on the other hand, emphasizes that Luitz's offense is not considered a doping case, but a rule violation. Thus, the use of oxygen by the World Anti-Doping Agency is not prohibited, but "certain scientific and medical equipment" in competition is forbidden, according to FIS's rules.

The Anti-Doping Commission of FIS has decided to disqualify Stefan Luitz because of unauthorized inhalation of bottled oxygen. He will lose the GS victory he won in Beaver Creek. His lawyer told the German press earlier today that Luitz wants to challenge the decision.

An organised crime group involved in manipulating professional tennis competitions was dismantled in an operation led by the Spanish Civil Guard and coordinated by the National High Court of Spain (Audiencia Nacional), supported by Europol. In total 83 suspects were arrested, 28 of them are professional players. One of them took part in the last US Open. https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/fraud-tennis-court-criminal-network-gained-millions-fixing-professional-matches

Here comes a list of my top 20 guilty pleasures How I define a guilty pleasure; A song you enjoy, but it’s hard to admit to others you like it. If you listen to my top 10 songs of the year 2018, you will find out I prefer a certain genre of music. These songs are not from the same genre as those on my top 10 favourite 2018 songs list. Some of the criteria for the list: 1 song per artist. The ranking of the list is a combination of personal taste and the amount of times I have listened to the song on Youtube or Spotify. Enjoy! 20: 19: 18: 17: 16: 15: 14: 13: 12: 11: 10: 9: 8: 7: 6: 5: 4: 3: 2: 1: