Rafa Maciel

If a nation qualifies a full team of riders they have 7 quotas - 3 for sprint and 4 for endurance. There is an option available to add an 8th rider from another cycling discipline if they want so it is not impossible that a road cyclist could take to the track (and vice-versa) I haven't been able to find the entry list for Adelaide, but I know other people here have said that he is. He is in Australia and is due to take part in the Cadel Evans Road Race this weekend so it would make sense that this would be the Nations Cup event that he would participate in. Tactically it could be a great move for GB, if he is able to help steer the team to a win because that would pretty much seal their quota for Paris. I agree that he has the potential to strengthen the squad but only if he is able to work within the team - putting together a great team pursuit squad isn't just about finding the 4 fastest riders, the technical aspects of managing the changes are equally important. Katie Archibald is an amazing rider, but we have seen on occasion that she can pull the team apart when they're not working as a coherent group. There is no point in putting a Ferrari engine in a Ford Mondeo chassis if all the parts aren't able to work together. Personally, I don't think they need Tarling to be able to beat Italy or Denmark. They showed at the Europeans earlier this month that they can beat both the Danes and the Italians. The only caveat to that win is the fact that the Italians didn't have their strongest squad in Apeldoorn so can't draw direct parallels. Initially I think the plan was for her to return at the World Champs in October but rumours started to swirl around that she was targeting Paris. Anna Henderson was 4th at the worlds last year and took silver at the Europeans so a bit harsh to suggest that she isn't a medal chance (FWIW, I think Chloe Dygert, Marlene Reusser and Grace Brown are more likely medalists than Henderson). Likewise for the road race - it's always a bit of a lottery and can throw up surprises but Henderson and Georgi will have outside chances of sneaking a medal.

I know that I am probably in the minority here but at this stage, I am not convinced she'll be in the squad for Paris. There are 4 places in the road squad and barring injury I'd say three of those places are already sewn up by Pfeiffer Georgi, Anna Henderson and Anna Shackley. For the final spot, Backstedt will likely be competing against Claire Steels and Lizzie Deignan. From a performance perspective, Steels would have the edge - purely because she is the more experienced rider - but Backstedt had a strong Simac Tour in September so she could get the nod on the basis of development for LA and Brisbane. Similarly, I see the likelihood of her getting into the track squad to be slim. Like the road team, there are only 4 places available on the endurance team and the competition to get into the team pursuit is going to be fierce. Again, barring injury, Katie Archibald is nailed on for the team. For me it is difficult to see Backstedt displacing the likes of Elinor Barker, Josie Knight and Anna Morris and there is the potential return of Laura Kenny if rumours are to be believed. GB are not going to do anything that would jeopardise the potential gold medal in the team pursuit, so if she isn't an established member of the team pursuit squad by now, then she wont be lining up with them in Paris. Likewise with Josh Tarling I am not convinced by these expectations for him to be doubling up on the road and track in Paris. He is going to be a genuine medal prospect in the time trial and likewise with Dan Bigham, Ethan Vernon, Ethan Hayter and Charlie Tanfield, they have a squad with genuine prospect of taking gold in team pursuit so it is difficult to see where Tarling would be able to break into the squad. Initially I thought that Tarling would only take part in the ITT and then Hayter or Vernon would replace him in the road race, but I don't think the schedule makes that particularly likely.

Think they may have a formatting issue with their website as it can only show 10 events on each day and there is no way of scrolling down any further, so every day is missing races from the evening session. There are definitely 4 finals scheduled for the 1st evening. All of the races are included in the pdf schedule version and the full schedule is also available on the normal World Aquatics page: Competition Schedule | World Aquatics Official

Any thoughts on why Aidan Walsh was selected ahead of Dean Walsh?

Women's draw:

The draw for next month's world team table tennis championships in Busan was made last week. The top 3 in each group progress to the knockout stages.

Squad announced for the Olympic Qualifier in Busto Arsizio: Men: Men's Flyweight (51Kg) - Kiaran MacDonald Men's Featherweight (57Kg) - Jack Dryden Men's Light Welterweight (63.5Kg) - Patris Mughalzai Men's Light Middle Weight (71Kg) - Lewis Richardson Men's Light Heavyweight (80Kg) - Bevan Taylor Men's Heavyweight (92Kg) - Patrick Brown Women: Women's Light Flyweight (50Kg) - Savannah Stubley Women's Featherweight (57Kg) - Elise Glynn Women's Lightweight (60Kg) - Shona Whitwell Women's Middleweight (75Kg) - Chantelle Reid

With the field now set, the head to heads for competing nations across 23/24 is: The men seem to have had a significantly higher number of games compared to the women and most of the nations seem reasonably well matched. Hopefully Ireland will have opportunity to arrange a couple of test matches against the higher ranked nations because outside of this week's Olympic Qualifiers, they haven't competed against any top competition since the start of 2023.

With the lineup for the Olympic tournament complete this is the head-to-head results for the participants since the start of 2023. It's difficult to see beyond taking the gold but likely to be close battle between and for the minor medals.

To be fair, GB's top team pursuit squad has always relied heavily on their road cyclists so it was never likely that they would be made available to take part in the full track season so they would never be in a position to put their strongest team out across the three Nations Cup events. However equally, I think most people would agree that a "second tier" GB team should be able to out-score both Belgium and China. Far from being cocky, I think the fact that Vernon is suggesting that they will be competing in Milton is a sign of how seriously they are taking the challenge to qualify - if GB haven't done enough in the first two rounds, then the top squad (or at least some of them) will take to the boards for that final push. Looking at the 2023 Nations Cup results: Jakarta - Wood / Tidball / Britton / Tanfield: GB 3rd Belgium 6th Cairo - Tidball / Giddings / Gill / Hobbs: GB 5th China 10th Belgium 11th Milton - Wood / Bigham / Charlton / Gill: GB 1st Belgium 6th China 7th If GB can get a top 4 position in Adelaide, that will likely deliver around 300-point swing to GB which would be more than enough to overtake both China and Belgium. The biggest risk to them securing a quota would be if they failed to finish in Adelaide as that would ramp up the pressure going into the final 2 events.

Think that may be an outdated version of the qualification document - the latest version dated January 2023 is different and includes results from Fukuoka. Paris2024-QS-FINA-Swimming.pdf (olympics.com)

I always thought it likely that Putin would ultimately tell Bach to shove his quotas but had thought he would time it to cause maximum embarrassment.

US Olympic Team Trials The US Olympic selection regatta across 5 events took place in Miami last week. Athletes Confirmed as Selected for Team USA: Women's iQFOiL - Dominique Stater - Stater confirmed in the quota that she secured in taking silver at last year's Pan-American games Men's 49er - Ian Barrows & Hans Henken - The US quota was won by Andrew Mollerus and Ian MacDiarmid when they finished 5th at the World Champs with Barrows and Henken finishing in 9th. At the selection trials, Barrows and Henken won the event by 3 points. Other Event Winners: Mixed 470 - Stu McNay & Lara Dallman-Weiss Men's iQFOiL - Noah Lyons Men's Kite - Markus Edegran For these 3 boats, USA do not currently have a quota so these athletes need to secure their tickets to Paris via the 470 World Champs or the last chance regatta.

1st day of the World Boxing Cup in Sheffield hasn't quite gone to plan for GB Boxing with Delicious Orie losing in his first-round bout against Germany's Nelvie Tiafack.

Tactically it may not be a bad call for them actually. I think it mirrors their approach from 2023 season where they missed the first round and appeared in rounds 2 and 3 (but could be wrong on that) As it is, they can only count 2 Nations Cup results and with round 2 being in Hong Kong it is safe to assume they will be there and I think the expectation is that Milton will the weakest round of the three as it is the last in the series and by then nations who rely on their road cyclists as part of their squad may not be putting out their strongest teams. Realistically, unless something goes horribly, horribly wrong, GB will finish above both Belgium and China but by playing smart, I think China believe that they can sneak ahead of Belgium.

The Olympic track rankings on the UCI website were a bit of a mess towards the end of last year too so we shouldn't be too surprised that they are wrong again. haven't dropped to 13th - not only have the UCI not added the 2024 European Champs points, but they have also removed the 2023 points so all the European nations have dropped back. I ran the new points totals during the European champs and put them on the European Championship thread but basically GB would move up to 9th but that will only be until the Asian champs are done at the end of Feb. When you factor in the likelihood that China will be 2nd in Asia, GB will drop back down to 11th but will have reduce the gap on both Belgium and China ahead of the Nations Cup.

The men's sprint squad are fast becoming the weak link in an otherwise pretty impressive Cycling team. I think there is a strong chance that the women's sprint squad will bring back 2 medals from Paris - likely silver in team sprint but with a decent chance of gold in individual sprint. I don't think Finucane will medal in the Keirin but the event is always a bit of a lottery and can easily throw up a surprise medalist. The women's endurance squad are probably marginal favourites for gold in the team pursuit. I am guessing Archibald will be selected for the Omnium and if she is, she should be in the mix for a medal but probably wouldn't go in as favourite. The squad will have plenty of options when it comes to the madison - I think Neah Evans is likely to be picked and probably with Elinor Barker in a repeat of the pairing from Glasgow. They would go into the competition as serious medal contenders but again the event often owes more to tactics and luck than form. On the men's side, the team pursuiters are back on track to qualify for Paris after crashing out in Glasgow and all things being equal, they should come back with a medal. I certainly don't think we will see a repeat of Tokyo where they were caught and crashed. The biggest issue for them is likely to be the fact that they will probably be quite early in the starting order so wont be able to react to the performances of and . For both the omnium and the madison, will have strong team to select from and will be medal contenders in both events but not necessarily favourites. Then we come to the men's sprint team, and at the moment, you would have to say it does not look likely that will win any medal across the men's team sprint, individual sprint or keirin - that is something that has not happened since Athens in 2004. In the team sprint, realistically the best they could hope for is a bronze but to do that they will likely need to overcome France. They have one of the best lead out riders in Ali Fielding and Hamish Turnbull is able to hold his own as second man. The question will then be whether they stick with Jack Carlin as the 3rd man or opt for Jo Truman. Neither Carlin or Truman were anywhere close to medaling in the individual sprint at this week's Euros and we've seen nothing to suggest they will perform any better in the keirin. At this stage, the only unknown is going to be the impact that the new tech will have. I don't think the new bikes are being used in Apeldoorn this week so the only outing it had was in qualifying for team pursuit in Glasgow and it ended up in a heap on the floor after the crash.

Apologies you are right - each Nations Cup event is worth a maximum of 1600. I was looking at the column for continental champs which are only worth 1200.

I think so - there are only 2400 points available from Nations Cup so not enough points left for them to be able to overtake GB.

Olympic Ranking - Women's Team Pursuit 1.) - 7590 2.) - 6655 3.) - 6550 (CC) 4.) - 6200 5.) - 5960 6.) - 5240 (CC) 7.) - 4870 (CC) 8.) - 4830 (CC) 9.) - 5125 10.) - 3970 (CC) -------------------------- 11.) - 4075 12.) - 3470 (CC) For the outstanding Continental Champs, as with the men, it will be close between New Zealand and Australia. I'll just assume that last year's result is replicated giving Australia 900 points and New Zealand 810. In Asia, Japan should win and gain 900 points whilst China will get 810. Finally I expect Canada to take top spot for the Americas ahead of USA. Adjusted points total would therefore be: 1.) - 7590 2.) - 7360 3.) - 6655 4.) - 6200 5.) - 6140 5.) - 5960 7.) - 5770 8.) - 5640 9.) - 5125 10.) - 4870 -------------------------- 11.) - 4280 12.) - 4075

1st part of the job safely done for the men's pursuit team taking the European championship. Just need two solid performances in the Nations Cup and they will be back in a quota spot. Just makes you wonder what they could have achieved in Glasgow had they not crashed out in qualifying.

Olympic Ranking - Men's Team Pursuit 1.) - 7685 2.) - 5850 (CC) 3.) - 6560 4.) - 5550 (CC) 5.) - 6170 6.) - 5220 7.) - 4930 (CC) 8.) - 4840 9.) - 4593 10.) - 4310 (CC) -------------------------- 11.) - 4025 12.) - 3840 (CC) For the outstanding Continental Champs, it's difficult to call for Oceania and will probably depend on how seriously Australia and New Zealand take it. I am going to give the nod to NZL even though they finished in 2nd last year. So I expect New Zealand to gain 900 points and Australia 810 points. In Asia, Japan should win and gain 900 points whilst China will get 810. Finally I expect Canada to take top spot for the Americas. Adjusted points total would therefore be: 1.) - 7685 2.) - 6750 3.) - 6560 4.) - 6360 5.) - 6170 6.) - 5830 7.) - 5220 8.) - 5210 9.) - 4840 10.) - 4650 -------------------------- 11.) - 4593 12.) - 4025

Olympic Ranking - Men's Team Sprint 1.) - 5880 2.) - 5100 (CC) 3.) - 4987.5 4.) - 4601.25 5.) - 4113.75 6.) - 3997.5 (CC) 7.) - 3937.5 (CC) 8.) - 3750 ------------------------- 9.) - 3300 (CC) 10.) - 3112.5 Needless to say, I am expecting Australia to win the Oceania championship next month to pick up 675 points and Canada will probably do the same for America to also gain 675 points. Japan and China will finish top 2 in Asia to gain 675 and 607.5 points respectively. If that is the case, then the adjusted ranking would be: 1.) - 5880 2.) - 5775 3.) - 4987.5 4.) - 4672.5 5.) - 4601.25 6.) - 4545 7.) - 4113.75 8.) - 3975 ------------------------- 9.) - 3750 10.) - 3112.5 So @rybak, although this was a great result for Poland, it will probably see them fall further behind their nearest competition for the final Olympic Quota when all of the continental championships are complete. They can still qualify, but they would likely need to replicate this result in at least 1 of the Nations Cup events.

Olympic Ranking - Women's Team Sprint 1.) - 5880 2.) - 5100 3.) - 4755 (CC) 4.) - 4507.5 5.) - 4128.75 6.) - 4117.5 (CC) 7.) - 3843.75 8.) - 3465 (CC) ------------------------- 9.) - 3442.5 (CC) 10.) - 2880 (CC) (CC) refers to countries who still have their 2024 continental championship to come. FWIW, I expect China to pick up 675 points in Asia, Mexico should also pick up 675 with Canada and New Zealand gaining 607.5. If that is the case, then the adjusted ranking would be: 1.) - 5880 2.) - 5430 3.) - 5100 4.) - 4792.5 5.) - 4507.5 6.) - 4128.75 7.) - 4072.5 8.) - 4050 ------------------------- 9.) - 3843.75 10.) - 3487.5 After the continental championships, there are a maximum of 2400 points available across the Nations Cup so whilst I think the top 6 are pretty safe, Canada, New Zealand and France are all in the mix for quotas.

Last event of afternoon session just wrapped up with finishing just ahead of in Men's Team Pursuit with finishing in 3rd. finished in 5th place and will ride against in the 1st round. GB could do with them being a bit off the pace tonight as they look to close the gap on the Olympic quota spot.