Epic Failure

So I think that we might have missed celebrating a qualification in Men's Skate Park. My maths (not guaranteed) has MacDonald scraping through in 20th place, once the 3 per nation aspect comes into play. He would get knocked out by the African Continental Q, which would go to . *But* i believe that the host nation quota goes to the next ranked athlete, so he would get back in from that. Not bad for a 50 year old!

So, taking one for the team, I'm trying to work out the chances of our B-Boys getting to Paris. I can explain my working if required (I doubt anyone cares), but B-Boy Sunni is still in with an outside shot. Probably would need a top 10 spot here to be sure, although 11th or 12th might make it depending on other results.

should (and I say should, because this is sport and you never know) be a win for . in the SF is likely to be a much tougher match. We're favourites but it will be a challenge. And then my worry is that whoever wins that SF will be knackered before facing a slightly more well rested in the final.

Kenya are not that far from RSA on current form. Kenya got promoted back up into the top tier of the 7s series this year, having been relegated last year. So it was a shock, but not a crazy shock.

Sounds like poor conditions in Geneva, which might have hurt Alastair Chalmers chances of getting the Q - as it was he won the race in 48.98, but is still frustratingly away from what he needs. Lots of other Brits there, but nothing that really stands out as being close to a Q.

Desperately unfortunate for Jude Jones. 6th at the Worlds and 7th in this OQS but still missing out. Sport can very cruel at times.

Sofi has a roof.

Brown already had a Q sorted, as I don't believe that she could be caught no matter what the results here because of the points from her world ranking. The following is guesswork based on a brief look at the results/rankings, but I suspect Tambling is actually probably still in a Q. The vast majority of the people who finished ahead of her were those already in the rankings above her. Once the 3 per nation is worked out, I think she'll still be in the top 20. My guesswork is that she'll be in 18th.

The difference is that Dickinson and Brownlee had a literal H2H shootout in Poland, which Dickinson won, over the distance that the relay will take place. If British Shooting have done something similar, fine. But I'm unaware that has happened.

The difference is that the divers at least had a straight fight to decide who got spots AND some of that was decided after multiple competitions where we won spots ie had Cheng not got the 10m spot at the Euro Games, Spendolini-Sirieix would have got a quota at the worlds this year with her performance. The men's 3m is slightly harsher, I'll grant. There's also the complicating factor that only 2 divers could compete at a WC, so there wasn't equal chance for the divers to earn the quotas. But Bale has had his own chances for to get a quota and hasn't got them. Feels really harsh to ditch Bargeron.

Oh, that makes sense. I was thinking that both might be trying for the OQT so that if Penny didn't get it then MSH could instead...

If I were Tkachuk, I'd be pissed that Ekman-Larsson is just daydreaming as McDavid slots it away... Happy for Hronek to get his payday. Right now I think all parties are happy with how that deal has worked out.

Interesting to see Oleksiak and Harvey are entered in Sette Colli this weekend. Presumably trying to take care of the OQTs, as there doesn't seem to be a wider Canadian team out in force?

The entry lists for the other "European Champs" this weekend (Sette Colli) are out - https://www.federnuoto.it/settecolli-2024/settecolli-2024-documents/9471-settecolli-ip-2024-entry-list-elenco-iscritti/file.html Between the various national competitions, the actual Euros and Sette Colli, we'll see most Europeans swimming this week. Who wants to be in charge of creating a spreadsheet to amalgamate the times into one super Euro-Colli-Trials result?

I think Angharad is less likely, simply because there are other nations/swimmers in the mix with proven repeated fast times done in recent years. King, Meilutyte, and Tang have all been sub 1:05 in the last 12 months, and then there's the likes of Aoki, Smith and Efimova who have fast times historically. Without Kaylee though, Freya goes into the IM as the fourth fastest in recent years and the non-Summer two ahead of her have only done that time on one occasion. Doesn't mean that Angharad *can't* medal, just that it would be a slightly bigger leap for me.

I know. My post was in defence of him (and others) using the surface change reason.

I don't dispute that. My point was in the context of people discussing getting more players to the Olympics. I'm relatively fine with the system as is myself. I was just discussing the potential ways of increasing Olympic turnout if that's what people wanted.

I'm not pointing the fingers at anyone in particular, or any sport. I was talking in relation to the existing discussion in the thread about the topic of 'imports' and helping nations grow. Often ex pats and children of expats help the first wave, and if the sport is developed properly, that can encourage subsequent generations of locals. It's rare that a sport will just start gaining roots in a country without that outside influence.

Importing on its own never works. But it can work if there are other structural improvements made. That second point is the bigger issue in regards to league. It's barely a functioning sport anywhere outside of Australia these days. Union has done a better job growing. We'll see which example cricket follows. I will say that cricket has seemingly done a reasonably solid job in recent years, especially in T20. Even Scotland and Ireland are leaps and bounds above where they were only 10-15 years ago.

I agree that the game between them should have been the deciding factor but in the absence of that being possible, RR is the least bad alternative. They both played the same opponents, England's performances in those games collectively was stronger than Scotland's. It's no different than going through a group in football on goal difference.

I hope they take advantage of this opportunity and...sizzle in Paris.

I agree about the ranking points issue but I think the bigger issue is the fact that the tours themselves continue to hold events during the Olympics. If we want tennis players to treat the Olympics as more important than normal events, then we should treat them as more important. Don't schedule a hard court event in DC the same week. It's literally tempting players to make the 'professional' choice.

I think the mixed is one of the great games of call my bluff in athletics this summer. Outside of the US, no team is strong enough to guarantee a final spot with a weakened team. So it comes down to who values what and which athletes want to take what risks vis a vis their individual events. We'll know a bit more when the teams are selected but I still think there'll be some last minute 'shock' decisions.

I mean, the change of surface aspect *is* a thing and happens sometimes in non-Olympic years, especially for those who are grass or clay specialists. Hell, Rafa Nadal is doing the opposite - he's skipping grass this year precisely because he wants to do the Olympics without changing surface. I'm sure some of it is because the Olympics might be less special for some tennis players than it is for other sports. But the change of surface thing is a real phenomenon.

The results of the Aussie and US trials should give Freya confidence that she can mix it with them. Obviously Summer will be away and gone but neither Forrester nor Grimes looked that threatening. Obviously there is time for them to get back to their 2023 form but I'm more optimistic about Freya's chances than I was a month ago.