Epic Failure

Jeanjean threw in some big tricks, but seemed to lose momentum late on and didn't look as clean as Reilly. At least, that's what it looked like from my eyes. I'm no expert though, just a long term viewer. In horse dancing, Fry goes into the individual final in 4th, with Hester in 7th, as well as the team being in 3rd.

What I'm saying is that if they can't split it on points it should only matter who they favour if that needs to be a tie breaker. I get that they are picking a winner technically. I just think that there needs to be a better system, especially to explain it to more casual viewers. Even if that system was giving their winner an extra point, simply because they are the winner.

Cracking competition. Thought that Kieran might grab it with that second run but fair play to Torres Gil.

We win on average, right? A fine silver.

My biggest problem with the system is that the 'draw' judges are taking priority over the positive judges. It feels like the other way around is more logical. If all five judges were to score it a draw (or 3 and the other two were split), then the current system makes more sense. At that point, they have to choose a winner somehow. Boxing just gets sillier and sillier.

Jeanjean and Martin are both dangers.

Although we already know that we're losing the BMX gold and we didn't qualify to defend one of our boxing golds.

Pretty high, probably the 2nd or 3rd best gold medal shot. Wasn't a shock that they won, although the manner was obviously heart stopping!

Oh ye all of little faith. He Pidcocked him.

Lucy Hall finishes in about 12th, 4 shots back. Never recovered from that second round yesterday but shot steadily today.

Sadly fairly clear, he went past the 15m underwater. Shame because he had put in a decent time.

Question of the Day Archery: How many MEN make at least the 1/16 final? None Artistic Gymnastics: Does JARMAN win a medal? Yes Boxing: How many Brits win today? None Canoe Slalom? Does Franklin get top 5? No Cycling BMX Freestyle: Does Reilly win gold? No Equestrian: Does Fry get top 2 in her group? Yes Hockey: Do we win? Best bloody had do...I mean, yes Judo: Does Yeats-Brown fight in the afternoon session? No Rowing: Do the MEN win a medal? No Sailing: Does Wilson finish the day on top? Yes Shooting: Does Bargeron make the final? No Swimming: Out of Stephens, Macinnes, Greenbank, and Morgan, how many make finals? One Table Tennis: How many games does Pitchford win against Jorgic? Three Tennis: Do our team win at least one set? No Triathlon: Do we get at least one gold medal today? Yes

Both Canada and the US have long histories in rugby culture. In fact the most recent Rugby World Cup was the first world cup not to feature either team. Canada had been at every WC since the inception in 1987 and the US had been at all but one (1995). On the women's side, both teams have a strong 15s team. The US were in fact the first ever women's World Cup winners and Canada have been runners up. In fact Canada are currently the 3rd ranked side in women's rugby, behind only England and New Zealand. Domestically, the US has been playing rugby since the late 1800s, primarily in universities, which is where the majority of North American rugby players find the sport, on both the men's and women's side. In the last 20 years it has received a surge in popularity and is regularly cited as one of the fastest growing sports in the US. In fact the 2031 Men's World Cup is going to be held in the States, with the women's WC in 2033 also hosted there. Women's rugby has historically received little investment and support, even in the countries where it is popular. That fact is similar to women's football until relatively recently. World Rugby has started showing support for the women's side more seriously in recent years and, sure enough, the game is growing at pace. The addition of 7s to the Olympics for both men and women is part of that. Incidentally, the 7s this week set a record for a stand alone women's rugby tournament, with an attendance of 66000 people. So it's not 'just there for gender equity reasons". It's there because people enjoy it.

Nice to see the swimming squads being right next to the podium so the teams could celebrate with them. Dunks making a point of clapping for Jack and Kieran in the announcement.

Fair play to the relay; they pushed us much closer than I expected them to.

And breathe. Fair play to the US relay. They pushed us harder than I expected. In a normal pool that would probably have been a WR as well. But the Gold is the main thing. Having that on one screen and the tennis on the other was nerve wracking. Murray and Evans don't like doing it the easy way, do they?

In fairness, he put in a 26.4. It's just that Wiffen put in a 26.9 to go with the second buffer he had built up. That tactic of Finke only works once as a surprise. Now everyone knows he is going to do it, so they try and break him earlier.

Wiffen was ready for Finke.

Considering how often and loudly you have been voicing your opinion about how badly things have been going, I'm surprised that you would need to ask that. And the answer is, no, obviously. Even if we limit medal hopeful to people who have won recently at global level (so ignoring Greenbank's Olympic bronze), we have the 2023 bronze and silver in the men's 200m IM from the World Champs.

Canada should be proud of that silver. Taking down the Aussies and then running the Kiwis that close is a hard double any time, any place, let alone at the business end of the Olympics. USA with a fine bronze as well.

Womens 7s finish on a high note, with a 28-12 win over Ireland for 7th place.

The inner 10 is there as a tiebreaker if needed, I believe.

So, I just went to catch up on the SFs after being distracted by the shooting. Presuming I would be watching serene Aussie progress... It seems that my neighbours to the north had other ideas. Well done Canada!!

another sport saved from the inevitable chopping block. Thank the stars!

Pressure is off the relay now to extend the daily medal streak. Before that from Hales, it was our only likely medal today with the postponement of the swimbikerun.