Monzanator

I bet on the pizza

If Almaty was given the WOG none of the current prostests would have happened IMO. Hell, Nazarbiev would still be the President and would delay all the backlash until after the Games. Anyway, it's another PR win for China as suddenly they can point to other countries having major internal issues. And obviously the liberal democracy lobbyists won't do anything about people shot dead in Kazakhstan. This country isn't important enough to fight a political battle over it after all

For lying to the FBI

Australia is a mess. Their hard lockdowns measures look more desperate & unsuccessful the longer the pandemic lasts (and it will last for some years yet IMO). Meanwhile French sport minister says French Open will allow unvaccinated players (including Djokovic himself of course) https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/33011964/novak-djokovic-allowed-play-french-open-even-unvaccinated-france-sports-minister

I've been watching alpine skiing since Saalbach WC in 1991 and I don't give a damn about the team event. I've given up on the mostly unfair parallel races in general.

He will be available soon I won't be surprised if Poland fires him even before they leave China. We're set for the worst ski jumping Olympics since Nagano

Czech Republic still without a point in World Cup this season

Nobody knows how many 'others' were there and what are their names. It could all be a lie not to give an impression they bend the rules for ONE person. George Orwell is having a field day in his grave

Probably nobody cares anymore

Yeah, vs Radwanska in AO 2013 QF. Her English back then wasn't exactly sharp either.

The women's qualifying is basically done since Sapporo & Zao won't be replaced. Therefore this nation list should be more or less official. The places are not for specific names but it's easy to guess Daniela Haralambie & Frida Westman will be the and nominations. Nicole Konderla & Kinga Rajda should be the two selections.

The women ski jumping World Cup rounds in Sapporo & Zao will not be replaced so the next round will be held in Willingen in the last weekend of January. This also means the Olympic qualifying for women is basically done.

The ski jumping FIS Cup in Zakopane scheduled for the upcoming weekend has been cancelled due to warm weather. There is more rain than snow in Poland right now. I'm pretty sure the ski jumping World Cup will use artificial snow.

I suppose Australian politicians realized this Novak exemption could cost them at the next elections so are trying to save face now. There's two weeks until the tournament starts, I think he will play anyway.

Artificial snow? I wonder if everyone picks the early numbers to avoid the mud

Did he qualify at 5k? Or just a default selection based on his name?

I have to say I won't be watching much ice hockey with no NHL players. The same way I don't usually watch men's football at the Olympics with U-23 squads.

The Mass Start at Alpe Cermis is pure trash. I liked the pursuit version better. Just another reason to completely ignore cross country these days.

So, Kramer will only compete in Mass Start?

Kubacki going back to his old habit of an extremely high take off and dropping like a sack of potatoes clearly indicates it's a technique issue. The thing snowballed from there. After the Oberstdorf failure Dolezal blamed Stoch's result on the new boots he was using, they got back to the old ones in GaPa and Innsbruck and it only got worse. It's clear Dolezal has no idea what he did wrong in the pre-season and with four weeks until WOG shit will hit the fan very soon. Zyla is basically a lost cause, he usually does his own thing, only when Horngacher threatened to kick him out of the team if he didn't ditch the awkward in-run position he finally came around. Dolezal doesn't have such authority whatsoever.

The popular theory is that Michal Dolezal did something different to Horngacher and completely destroyed the jumpers' technique. Possibly too much gym before the season. It doesn't help our core is the oldest on tour, Stoch turns 35yo in May, Zyla 35yo in two weeks and Kubacki 32 in March.

Don't forget there will be two other rounds (individual + team) in Bischofshofen over the weekend (replacing Sapporo).

Australian Open caved in and will allow Djokovic to play while unvaccinated. As usual, some animals are more equal than others

Poland has given up on this WOG fallacy few years ago (the last genuine bid was for 2006, the 2014 bid was quickly shot down in public vote). There is literally one road from Krakow to Zakopane so it would be insanely jammed if OG ever came around. Not to mention we don't have cross country loops long enough even for Junior World Champs right now. And there is no way we'd build a bobsleigh track so that would have to be hosted in Sigulda most likely. A 50 second shortened Super G or Downhill in Are would be a travesty. It was the only reason I supported the Italian bid. Cortina rarely has weather issues compared to Are.

Vienna to Krakow by train is like 8 hours? After that there is literally ONE road to Zakopane. Should take way over 2 hours in winter. By train it's maybe close to 3 hours.