Monzanator

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?

Wait, someone confused Slovenia with Slovakia again?

Well, you posted the Slovakian media version first so if you want to blame anyone for wasting time it's actually you and nobody else One thing that has come out of it is that Livio Magoni is definitely a liar and shouldn't be trusted anymore. I don't blame him for his methods, I blame him for being a liar, period

I don't trust the Italians to keep up to their promise. The other luge track in St. Caterina went belly up in less than 10 years since the Turin OG. And now you say 25 years guaranteed? No way. Paperwork can be easily rendered useless. It will require some public money and well, Italy seems to have public funding issues every other year? Kamil Stoch said it's a miracle the big hill in Predazzo is still standing as it's in terrible shape especially the in-run (hence why they held the two ski jumping rounds at the normal hill last weekend). This speaks of bigger problems with overall maintenance of these venues. And luge might be somewhat popular in Sud Tirol but I just don't see how the new track lasts beyond 10 years without a regular spot on the World Cup schedule.

Women's slalom simply needs a new winner. Just anyone! Can't trust Holdener though so I have no idea who's gonna be the next winner not named Shiffrin or Vlhova. Fact is, if Vlhova wants to even think about the overall challenge, she needs to add some SG and DH starts. Shiffrin is no Vonn with regular 5-6 DNFs across the season.

Luge & bobsleigh track is the single most expensive and most useless thing required for the Olympics. The old Cortina track is basically ruined anyway, right? It's in IOC interest for the host nation to have a successful Games to boost the attendance and other such stuff.

I see you're into the conspiracy theory full-time now. Okay, this means every slalom that Vlhova loses from now on will be because those damn coaches want her to fail and deliberately set a pattern that doesn't suit her. You've got a good excuse whenever she loses now. You're the one making all these phoney accusations and consipracy theories. I said from the start that no coach can influence his skier or some other skier by setting a specific pattern of gates. But you disagree and play to the conspiracy tune yet accuse me of spreading crap? Who fucking cares where Vlhova crashed out 2 years ago? Shiffrin has enough slalom wins not to bother where Vlhova crashed out but nope, she needs a specific pattern of gates to make sure Vlhova crashes out again in the same place just to prove some looney Slovakian theory

I have no clue about water polo so these standings are somewhat shocking

Only 4 countries ever won medals in Natural Track Luge World Championships: Italy, Austria, Russia (Soviet Union) and Poland. And every Polish medal has been won by the two guys in doubles I mentioned earlier. Hell, this could be the most exclusive sport in the world, more nations have won World Cup medals in rugby & cricket https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIL_World_Luge_Natural_Track_Championships