LDOG

It's the same with the swastika which is a centuries old symbol yet many just call it "the nazi symbol".

Yes, IMO only Brazil, Poland or USA can think like that. The rest have to take it game by game, even Italy or Russia who are normally considered big teams.

Not 100% sure. If Iran finish this world cup 9th place, you'll lose 20 points and France can overtake that place in the ranking. If that happens and Canada and France also qualify, then Iran goes to group B.

What's up with the nazi salutes though?

@Dunadan Canada about to lose their 6th place in world ranking if they don't win the last match, right?

Brazil will be the champions. After winning their first 2 games Egypt lost 7 in a row even lost to Tunisia. Japan are great but it's not a surprise to me since they are taking the cup very seriously. And in the middle there are 5 teams tied with record 4-5. I think our team will probably finish 5th, which is a lot better than I expected.

What was the reason to accept this in the olympics? It's too new and underdeveloped, there barely are any 3x3 specialists. It took rugby sevens like 20 years of having an established world series to be accepted in the games. FIBA invented this trash in one day and the next they are accepted by IOC???

Please, don't count the cancelled games in rugby.

Well done, fuck those that take dirty money for silence. The NBA stance on the other hand is embarassing.

What a weak javelin final.

Lol these brazilian girls live injured.

I'm 100% sure that if this Starc guy gets an injury of some kind the headline of all media outlets will be "Bran the Broken".

Eh I remember last time we didn't even list here the jordanian medalist and also that a universality shot put athlete from Congo was 4th, so... I don't think I should tighten the criteria. Otherwise the list would be 7 people and this thread would be boring. As for Mali, are you certain they have no chance left to qualify? Like, there aren't any more events to earn ranking points? (How far away are they from a place at the OQT btw?).

I can only speak for the city I live in: In some neighbourhoods there are those different bins like olympian1010 described, but in most neighbourhoods (in particular the lower income ones) there is just one giant bin with all the trash together and the truck just comes and picks it up. I don't think there is a specific norm regarding the use of plastic bags either, as far as I know you can throw the garbage like you want as long as you put it inside the bin. Yeah, overall this isn't an eco-friendly country.

Details? Doesn't ring a bell to me.

I'll include the first two since they have both achieved OQ mark. Has the aruban made a top 8 in WCh or a World Cup Stage at least?

There are 7 south american nations with legit olympic medal chances next year. Would be historic if it happens. Maybe 8 if Uruguay can qualify in football. Time for Bolivia and Paraguay to step up

I guess I should now add the gambian 200m girl.

Yes, I just noticed after looking at the box score (I didn't watch this match). I said that because of what Blengini said in the presentation press conference: We want to develop them for the Olympic Games and make the composition of the team stronger. They will be getting a different experience here compared to the usual matches Italy play. I want the young players to experience playing alongside the likes of Massimo Colaci and Simone Giannelli in an event like this.”

IMO Russia is the top team with the most depth and with the smallest difference in level between starters and substitutes. In fact, looking at the different results they had in VNL and Euro, I'm starting to doubt which should be the A team...

Italy is here with almost B team. Only their setter and libero are the starters. Some other teams are also here with weakened squads: Russia, Canada, Argentina. Poland will play the first few matches with substitutes as well before the starters arrive from France. I think only Brazil, Iran and USA are here with almost best team. They are missing only one starter player each.

2 - 3 A-MA-ZING

My criteria for inclusion here will be the following: Individual sports that qualify by mark: anyone that has already achieved OQ time/score/height/distance or that we think is likely to. Other individual sports: anyone that has had a top 8 result at a Wch or OG over the last 4 years (since 2015). If there is a particular world-level event in the sport that isn't WCh or OG but gathers most of the world's best athletes, I'll also consider those results. Team sports: any team with a top 8 result at the latest world championship. I'm taking only the latest because there are always retirements that can greatly affect the level of a team over time. Exceptions: Men's football, since U23 has no World Championship and Basketball 3x3 since it's new and doesn't seem like very organized to me yet (no african or american nations at latest women's WC for example).

Yeah, looking at her times it seems like quite the stretch but LIE doesn't have anything better and it's still a OQT after all.