Monzanator

Apparently this happened last August but the French federation swept it under the rug yet Braisaz filed a criminal complaint. So now the cat is out of the bag. I guess it's known why Simon is training alone

@BelleElena Rybakina, the defending women's champion

This is the official 2023 Wimbledon poster. Yikes. At least Alcaraz has won a GS already

In case TF people don't know, it's Pete Sampras on far right

Justyna Święty-Ersetić will not compete this season anymore due to Achilles inflammation.

It's to be expected she retires after the Paris Olympics IMO.

Alistair Overeem (K-1 legend) has announced his retirement.

Yeah, US media jumped on Gauff as the "next Serena' after she beat past prime Venus in 2019 and she has like the worst record versus Top 50 ranked players in the Top 10. She is Kirk Cousins of WTA and not Joe Montana but she's regressed enough even ESPN can't really pretend she's anything close to a GS winner. The fact Wimbledon put her on all the posters besides Serena & Steffi Graf is mind-boggling but the hype ain't gonna win you matches. Not to mention Gauff's forehand is tragic and anyone who can play to that side will eventually break it down.

Anyway, major rain delay today, several matches have been cancelled already including Sakkari vs Kostyuk @Makedonas

I doubt Venus Williams retires anytime soon and she will always receive Wimbledon WC if she wants it. The pairing between two wild cards was always suspicious as it's clear AELTC tries to remove the stench from last year's no ranking points fiasco and also portait a pro-Ukraine stance.

Over in the men, Felix Auger-Alliassime is doing his best "poor man's Milos Raonic" impression with another early GS exit.

The somewhat suspicious draw of two Wild Cards ends with Elina Svitolina beating Venus Williams 6-4 6-3. I still think Wimbledon made this pairing on purpose and also put it on Center Court as the only women's match on Day 1

Multiple V8 Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen wins the NASCAR Chicago street race in his first start in the series. That is a historic achievement

Main draw starts in 12 hours time!

Nick Kyrgios has pulled out tonight due to a wrist injury but he's barely played all season and his comeback would have probably been a short one anyway. One less reason for TV drama though...

What can you do? They got rid of gravel for the video game generation drivers and now they're stuck with track limits. It's a clown show. FIA claims Red Bull Ring wants tarmac for the bike races but it sounds like a cheap excuse.

Katharina Komatz (nee Innerhofer) is also pregnant

Three Russians who live in the USA will be allowed to compete in the US National Championships

https://www.reuters.com/article/ukraine-crisis-fencing-us/fencing-three-russian-fencers-to-compete-at-u-s-summer-nationals-idUSL1N38M3BQ

Last grass events before Wimbledon (which included many tactical withdrawals in the process):

Eastbourne 500

Madison Keys def. Darya Kasatkina 6-2 7-6(13)

Bad Homburg 250

Katerina Siniakova def. Lucia Bronzetti 6-2 7-6(5)

10 qualify for the final. Some high-profile names like Kauzer & Aigner missed out

43 minutes ago, Olympian1010 said:

Well, it was one of the nine sports shortlisted for potential inclusion by LA28, so it’s very much in the conversation.

 

I mostly meant my post as a joke though.

Kickboxing missed their window 30 years ago with the Van Damme hype and the K-1 breakout in the late 90s/early 00s. IOC is like 20 years behind the curve if they want to make it happen as Olympic sport. The juice ain't worth the squeeze anymore. One might argue the sport recruits poor boxers at this stage in most areas and it' quite clearly a pariah sport compared to where it was 30 years ago.

Nika Kriznar wins the LH competition by almost 30 points! Nika Prevc and Selina Freitag on the podium.

Tamara Mesikova in 30th place but I don't think many people expected her to make the 2nd round

@GrassmarketNo, he was apparently taking pictures of infrastructure buildings of "safety & military" importance and passed them over to Russian intelligence. There were more arrests made of people involved with this ring.

Sosnowiec lies within the most industrial region in Poland so there's plenty of objects he could have focused on in bordering cities & the region itself.

20-year old ice hockey player Maxim Sergeev has been arrested by our counterintelligence agency (ABW) as alleged member of a Russian spying ring

He played 23 games for Zagłębie Sosnowiec last season.

https://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114883,29925154,rosyjski-szpieg-zatrzymany-w-polsce-media-to-hokeista-i-ligowego.html

Milena Todorova is also pregnant

The whole lottery is still fishy as hell. The whole fear of tanking is a mirage, some teams are perenially bad and it doesn't have anything to do with trying to acquire #1 draft pick. That's the downside of having no relegation system, you can suck for decades and you still play against all the top teams. Moreover NHL is not NBA, two or three players won't make you a contender overnight.

Not a single run without penalties in either M or W events? That looks weird unless many teams entered some back-ups?

Zoinks. Wozniacki suggests she's coming back

1-2 in men's ski jumping. Daniel Tschofenig wins ahead of Jan Hoerl. Gregor Deschwanden with bronze medal.

Fatih Arda Ipcioglu in 11th place

A quick look at the #1 draft lottery in NHL suggests it always goes to a big market or historically successful franchise amid a slump. Columbus in 2002 got their #1 via a trade, other than that it's always the big markets. In the last 15 years the #1 pick went to New York area or Edmonton Oilers like 90% of the time And of course Maple Leafs won the Auston Matthews lottery. Columbus? Anaheim? The Coyotes mess? Neah, they are the Grizzlies or Timberwolves of NBA. They will never win a lottery when a hyped prospect comes around. Timberwolves only "won" the lottery in one of the most anonymous NBA drafts in recent memory