AsensioWillemsen

I'm always curious what it takes to get the job at the official Olympics site.

Most of the morning sessions are not on BBC1 or BBC2, sadly.

My combined forecast sheet is revved up, I'm good to go for this championships now.

It was pretty close, really, which was also seen in the lines drawn afterwards. England, Germany or France to win this show. Sweden, Netherlands and Spain just aren't it. Portugal is fun to watch, but also concedes too much. Austria has been bland but can put up some decent defense.

It hasn't been the most spectacular tournament, really. Maybe the semis will spark just a bit.

Spain missing a striking force. Germany playing solid. With a bit of luck they might just win it. Spain probably will lose to England in the QF. At least I expect them to beat Denmark, although that might be a bit of wishful thinking I don't see Denmark able to fight this force.

Miedema also tested positive. This spells only more trouble. Losing the two best players in preparation doesn't help, even though Portugal and Switzerland shouldn't be problematic.

Poor game from both sides. Still writing off the Dutch, it just doesn’t look stable and while that was also the case in Tokyo, there they were really dangerous on the offense which doesn’t really seem the case now. But the Swedes also didn’t impress me at all.

No Scantling on Dec? Hoped he could take the fight to Warner alongside Mayer. Now it is really hoping Mayer is good or Warner isn't for a serious battle (let's hope the latter is not the case). Don't see Garland coming close to a 'good' Warner/Mayer, unless he takes a big step forward now.

I just don't know how to feel about this. Ben O'Connor having poor luck crushing his top 5 hopes severely. The problem is not only the puncture, but that you just can't close a gap due to the small roads and positioning of team cars. Then, the Jumbo-Visma antics almost costing Vingegaard severely, but he was a bit lucky with that crash. Speaking of which, the crash with the straw bale is absolutely horrendous and should not be happening in the most important race of the year. And this is just courtesy of the nervousness in the peloton. I mean, I love Paris-Roubaix, it is the race of the year for me, but should this be in the Tour, where way more riders have an intention to not lose time instead of winning the race. It is just a recipe for disaster. In spite of that, television-wise, this is probably the best stage of the race.

No Hermoso nor Putellas would be a crushing blow to the Spanish title chances. And with the Dutch probably quickly out, these days won’t be too great for me. A home win looking more and more likely by the minute.

Finally the WC break for Sharon van Rouwendaal. As per usual, salvaging what little is left in the marathon tournament. Happy to see her on top form on the Olympic distance again. She was a bit helped by Cunha and Beck battling it out together, but that's what can happen in a three-way race to the finish.

It’s always during the World Cup, which is one year before the games. This tournament is usually in the post-games year, but has been rescheduled due to the men’s tournament being in 2021 and the men’s worlds being in november/december for reasons we all know.

If Yvonne Coldeweijer and her “spies” are discussing it, then it is the next hottest thing in the Dutch media. I guess it is her who is bringing that up? Definitively this goes back to the whole problem with the accusations surrounding Vincent Wevers. And definitely, the Wevers family are key figures in the sport for quite some time. The gymnastics team is ready to completely split in two this way. Doesn’t seem good.

The “unnamed teammate” seems to be Vera van Pol.

I mean, I find Nordic Combined kind of boring these days because of so few nations actually showing interest, and I'm not a huge fan of jumping, but it is again an interesting traditional combined sport slowly being pushed towards the imminent shredder. Apart from the NC being butchered it isn't that bad at all.

I agree. Although the main reason for me to watch the morning sessions in athletics are the combined sessions. The fact that there are 16 swimmers through on most events also doesn't help with the surprise factor. That's why I feel the only heats that are really worthwile are the 400 Free heats. At 800/1500 the competition is too small, the relays rarely see USA or AUS out, and the 400 IM is just not as competetive, although it is surely second best.

Luckily it is the 21st century in which watching on demand is way easier than before. However, combining work and my wish to watch the “morning” sessions makes it a bit harder. I also don’t really watch the morning sessions for the swimming these days, which I did when I was back in University. Growing old and being responsible, I bet. It also didn’t help that Dutch TV wasn’t showing them, although I could have used the EBU. Maybe that was the reason I rarely saw the Spanish flag these days..

Hope to see perform well in this tournament. Would be really happy if they can finally make that big step on a major tournament. With the men we also always were there with the favourites, but never delivered until ‘08. Hopefully here the big break comes earlier. I’m not thrilled by though. Miedema is the only weapon. Yesterday was luckless but still horrendous, such a performance would even give problems against

Well-deserved victory for This champs haven’t been the best, but great last day for the indoor tournament.

I don't feel the thrill for this worlds that I usually do. Maybe it is because of the absence of some top tier swimmers because of stuff like the CWG, but I just don't feel it after the eight win for another swimmer from . It just doesn't help. Besides Popovici, Milak, Marchand and maybe McIntosh there is little for me to remember. Ceccon had a nice WR and that was a fun change of pace, and the 100 Breaststroke W was a GREAT race, but there have been too many duds and swims where I just don't really know part of the field even in a final.

I agree, but it still would be better than the current mess..

Hopefully can make it to the semis. It won't be easy. Hope they will televise their group stage games in some way on the Dutch TV. Unlikely though, as Tour de France (a late-night talkshow discussing the race) probably has higher priority.

Some graphic showing the start orders in terms of gender would really help. But we all know that's not going to happen. I still don't understand why the Medley Relay and not the Freestyle Relay is included on the Olympic program..

I don’t think this was a silent ban. She seemed to have issues with the fact that she was not on the level she used to be. The prize of her early and sudden success. I’m happy to see her back here, also happy to see Italian swimming totally shine. Obviously the edge over Australia and GB can also be contributed to them having the commonwealths as their main goal this year.