Monzanator

Nope, the European Championships in January 2017 was the grand opening of the upgraded Duszniki Arena under the "B" license. It's a miracle the funding came through since we did NOTHING to upgrade the cross country courses during the Justyna Kowalczyk golden era. Thankfully biathlon was more lucky and Duszniki can host IBU Cup & Euro Champs now.

It's called tradition And baseball isn't diverse enough, Japan would wipe the floor with all of Asia while in Oceania rugby is the king (and rugby sevens getting the Olympic nod proves this esp. with Fiji taking gold medal). Rugby sevens basically took baseball's Olympic spot for the non-European-centric team sport (which unlike baseball actually has a significant following in Europe). Case closed.

Obviously I know there are a ton of Latinos playing in MLB. Hell, baseball is more popular than football in Venezuela but this sport is non-existent in Europe, Africa & 95% of Asia hence it got bounced from the Olympic line-up already. Nobody would value the Olympic Gold medal over World Series title either

I know who Scottie Pippen is, thanks Well, you don't have to be a junior to compete in the University Games but the "B" license is sufficient to hold every youth/junior IBU event so Lake Placid doesn't really have to hold an "A" licence here. Those licenses come & go and it's not set in stone, I read somewhere about the 8 year period that is the maximum for any "A" license. Sjusjoen received the "B" license in November 2015 and it expires at the end of 2021. Like someone mentioned earlier Osrblie in Slovakia lost the "A" license after 2009 and it's been downgraded to "B" ever since. I seriously doubt Fort Kent is anywhere near the "A" license these days. It hosted the World Cup in 2011 but Presque Isle probably took over all the funding neccessary for "A" license IMO.

Western Asia? I have never heard someone use that term. The Western-most point of Asia is basically Middle East and Kaukaz (since Turkey belongs to European region despite the fact the actual Asian western-most point is in Anatolia) Artistic Swimming is such a niche sport nobody really cares about that. Baseball is very popular in Japan and in Korea but other than that it's nowhere compared to cricket (due to the British Empire influence over the decades).

Well, we have the South & Central Championships about to begin tomorrow so the safe bet is, there will be no Pan American Champs this year 4 of 6 entered teams from this tournament will qualify for the 2021 WCh in Egypt. The North & Carribean Championship will begin on March 31st and the winner of that will also qualify for World Champs.

There will never be equality in pro sports. I hope you complain so much when we have 4 Americans & 3 Jamaicans in the 100m dash final again

It's not Europe's fault team sports are not as popular in Asia or Oceania (other than cricket or rugby)

Too much bickering. There are only FIVE Olympic rings in the damn IOC flag If you want 10 qualification regions or sth then better change the damn flag! Other than Israel competing from Europe let's leave all this Middle East, Southeast Asia crap aside. Most popular team sports have a strong presence in Europe and that's unlikely to change.

[hide] Women's Tournament - Knockout Round January 21th - January 25th, 2020 8 Nations, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Third Place Match and Final Quarterfinals Date & Time (GMT +1) Nation 1 T1 T2 Nation 2 January 21th 2020, h. 14:30 Slovakia 23 Netherlands January 21th 2020, h. 16:00 Russia 7 Italy January 21th 2020, h. 17:30 Greece 12 Spain January 21th 2020, h. 19:00 Hungary 14 France [/hide]

One part of the course will always be more favored IMO so it's down to what FIS wants. These one-run events could be more unpredictable, a two-run thing would probably result in a Shiffrin vs Vlhova final 9/10 times. Question is whether FIS is okay with someone like Direz being a World Cup winner?

Can't have both. Either two-run format or 32 racers instead of 16. However you'd think a two-run format for 32 racers would be doable in a single-gender event like this. But they'd have to get rid of the qualifying stage.

Technically speaking Wilhelm Orange was a German, right? Same shit as Poland's most famous epic poem that starts with: "O Lithuania, my homeland" The poet who wrote this was Polish but simply lived in Lithuania then under Russian Empire rule but currently his birth place is actually within Belarus borders Nothing like the geo-politics of centuries gone by!

Well, the Polish anthem's lyrics were written in 1797 in Reggio Emilia so it's obvious Italy has a prominent place in the lyrics Even though that part of Italy was under French rule back then

Btw, it's funny, there is a reference to Poland in the Italian anthem and there's obviously a reference to Italy in the Polish anthem

[hide] Men's Tournament - Knockout Round January 20th - January 26th, 2020 12 Nations, Play-Offs, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Third Place Match and Final Play-Offs Date & Time (GMT +1) Nation 1 T1 T2 Nation 2 January 20th 2020, h. 14:30 Montenegro 13 Turkey January 20th 2020, h. 16:00 Germany 9 Spain January 20th 2020, h. 17:30 Russia 4 Georgia January 20th 2020, h. 19:00 Romania 6 Greece [/hide]

The spare rounds in biathlon can make a lot of difference too but that's old news. The men's Japanese 4x100 relays always profit from great baton exchanges. CC relays are immune to outside influence unless someone has a really bad day in office or the waxing goes all wrong (hello, 2018 WOG).

Well, the ultra-official version of the Polish anthem has two stanzas + two choruses. It's only played during national days and some political occassions. The entire anthem has 6 stanzas but most people remotely remember the third one and hardly anyone even knows the last three that are never played in public. Actually the two stanza version anthem has been played during some sporting events but it's rare indeed. Most organizers play the short one stanza version. The ultra-official version has been used during 2018 World Cup for instance - first stanza, chorus #2, second stanza (from 0:54) and chorus x2. This is the longest version of the Polish anthem you will ever hear in public Due to the somewhat fast up-tempo tune (which is actually also correct!) this version is less than 80 seconds.

Some teams are better than the sum of their parts. It's the joy of the relays

Sometimes the shorter versions are in use and the organizers don't even realize they made a protocol mistake. For instance the Polish anthem has the chorus repeated twice but over the years I've heard a ton of versions where it was only repeated once. Hell, I saw our athletes surprised that someone actually played the longer one, it's actually the lesser used version even though officially it's the correct one.

Khanty-Mansiysk made hosting the WC races in Pyeongchang even remotely possible, now with the Russian venues banned there's no point in going to Korea for a one-off event. Everyone would probably skip it anyway

Nozawa Onsen was only the back-up biathlon venue for 1998 OG and it's a ski resort first and foremost. I don't think the range is still there, the official site shows all kinds of skiing slopes and half-pipe which is far more popular in Japan than biathlon. The "A' license is up for renewal every 8 years at most. I doubt whether third string US venues still have the 'A' license when for example the second Norwegian venue in Sjusjoen only has a "B" license. Presque Isle has probably rendered Lake Placid pretty moot in the NE area. Local events can be hosted at "C" license venues tbh. There are some new venues in Latvia (Madona) and Estonia (Haasja) that are on the "B" license as well. Duszniki Arena in Poland have been upgraded to "B" in 2017. Well, it will obviously get one but probably on a temporary basis. I seriously doubt IBU stages a World Cup round there except for the pre-Olympic test and the WOG.

Tessa Worley is not on the Sestriere GS start list. Did I miss something?

You can't really find any list AFAIK but there are the usual World Cup suspects that are automatically 'A' listed. Raubichi and Otepaa have been granted the 'A' license as they will host World Cup races in the Olympic season (I assume they are long-term replacements for the banned Russian vanues in Khanty-Mansiysk & Tyumen). The only IBU 'A' licence venue that is unlikely to host any World Cup races soon in Lenzerheide but they are more focused on the alpine skiing anyway. So the way I see it the 'A' list is: Ostersund Hochfilzen Le Grand Bornand Oberhof Ruhpolding Pokljuka Anterselva Oslo-Holmenkollen Kontiolahti Nove Mesto Canmore Presque Isle Soldier Hollow Pyeongchang Minsk-Raubichi Otepaa Lenzerheide

Any news on Adrian Smiseth Sejersted?