Epic Failure

Citta Di Savona (tomorrow) has a sizeable GBR contingent entered 100m - Eugene Amo-Dadzie, Oliver Bromby, Jeremiah Azu 400m - Charlie Dobson, Lewis Davey 1500m - Archie Davis 110m H - Andy Pozzi, Josh Zeller 400m H - Alastair Chalmers Shot Put - Scott Lincoln 100m - Amy Hunt 200m - Ama Pipi 400m - Keely Hodgkinson 400m H - Jessie Knight Dromia International Sprints (tomorrow) has Adam Gemili entered in the 100m and Josh Faulds in the 400m H. Rabat Diamond League (on 19th May) has the following GB entries: 400m H - Jessie Knight Discus - Lawrence Okoye 100m - Jeremiah Azu 1500m - Jake Heyward, Elliot Giles, George Mills 800m - Ben Pattison, Dan Rowden HJ - Morgan Lake There's plenty of others I'm sure but those are some of the ones I could find with a quick trawl of the interwebs. The LA GP happens this weekend. They don't seem to have announced entry lists yet though Katie Snowden is advertised.

Turner had the SEC Champs last weekend so probably not that surprising that he is missing here. I'd say that he had the Euros as well but I can't imagine he will go there, given that they are the same week as the NCAA Champs. I'm assuming that he'll be at the NCAA finals that is, although we don't officially find out until Thursday.

In fairness, if everyone in sport simply performed to their previously established best times, sport would be very dull. Great swimmers can perform well at their trials and then get their taper wrong. It's not unheard of. Andrew in the 200IM is a prime example that a fast time is not a guarantee of a championship performance when the pressure is on. On the other hand, who predicted Hafnaoui would win the 400m free title in Tokyo? Of the 900 people who entered Swimswam's prediction competition that year, nobody had him even finishing in the top 4. So whilst some of your points are correctly identifying where are not a medal favourite, none of the predictions the other poster made are beyond the realm of possibility. The women's 4x200m free, for example, would only require a poorly timed takeover for GBR to be in with a shot of the podium (although they probably would still be fighting Canada for that spot). I said the following after the trials in April, and I stand by it.

It certainly wouldn't be a shock but shooting is a sport that - at least from my experience - has always been relatively unpredictable and prone to somewhat unexpected performances 'on the day'.

Yeah, like others, I'd say that's an absolute best case scenario performance for . In isolation none of the predictions are inherently *that* unreasonable but the chances of all of them coming off together are pretty astronomical. If we match our performances in the last 3 Summer Games and come away with around 65 medals with a roughly even split of each colour, I'd be delighted.

Also, the dislike of Froome outside GB (I presume you meant there rather than Kenya) is interesting. Because he was never that popular *in* the UK either. The BBC actually wrote about it back in the day - https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/33539511 Again, I totally get disliking him/Sky. I just was a bit surprised that someone put him in Armstrong levels of dislike. That was all.

What does everyone have against Kenya? Also, it's Ineos Grenadiers, thank you very much. I don't know who this "Team Sky" is. I don't dispute for a second that Froome/Sky are disliked. I just don't get putting him and Alberto in the same category as Armstrong. Froome is kinda boring as a person. Armstrong was genuinely mean.

Bit harsh on Froome and Contador. Both are much more likeable than Armstrong ever was. Even ignoring anything to do with drugs, Lance was a bully in a way that neither of the others were. Froome's attack in the 2018 Giro is still one of my favourite rides in a Grand Tour ever. Heck of a gutsy ride.

Yeah, Sjoestroem has 6 times which are quicker than any other active swimmer in the 50 free. Cam, as great as he is, isn't even the fastest on paper if Dressel qualifies. It would be much more of a shock if Sarah lost than if Cam did. That's true of many of the other strong Aussie gold chances on the men's side. As great as they are, they are often matched by a couple of other greats - the 100 free has Pan and Popovici, the 200m breast has Qin, the 400m free has Lukas Martens, the 4x100m free has the USA. And so on. Obviously the Aussie men are absolutely still gold medal threats. But the women's side has more "nailed on" Aussie favourites for me.

If he's skipped the Davis Cup the last 2 years, he might not be eligible anyway. Part of the eligibility criteria is the following: The ITF can waive that if they want to and declare him eligible but if your NOC doesn't want to nominate him anyway it might be a moot point.

I don't think Keely would get in our relay squad without a substantial drop anyway and you would think she's probably more focused on her main event this summer. I'd be surprised if we didn't see her at trials though, she's always seemed a "racer". And it's not far from Leigh to Manchester. My comment about Phoebe wasn't specifically directed at you, it was just a general thing that I always worry about young athletes that make this kind of breakthrough. Obviously we (and the rest of British sport by the headlines etc) are all super excited about her. I just hope that she's got a good group around her. Similar to Blocksidge in the pool - obvious talent but giving them time to develop without pressure will hopefully bring long term rewards for both them as an athlete and us as fans. If that is Paris, great. If it is Rome or Lima, also great.

In other news, various Euro Champs qualification times achieved today including: 100m - Louis Hinchcliffe - 10:16 800m - Callum Dodds 1:44.79 and Tom Randolph 1:44.91 Steeple - Phil Norman - 8:21.09 Obviously all will hope to go faster and get Olympic Q times. But Euro Q's shouldn't sniffed at, especially for some younger runners.

Not just a PB but she's gone to #3 all time behind only Christine Ohuruogo and Kathy Cook. Only a tenth away from breaking Christine's British record.

Yes and no. All athletes are supposed to be at trials, barring injury or illness. But the selection policy basically guarantees Keely the 3rd spot, as a WC medalist. So if she's not feeling 100% that week, she has an out more than most. That being said, it is less likely that someone like Keely is going to go too crazy at trials. She doesn't need to go full throttle to still make the top 3. Also, it's important to remember Phoebe is still only 17. She may well not yet have the consistency. If she doesn't match this time again this season, it wouldn't be the end of the world for her.

It's been an exciting day for with just turned 17 year old Phoebe Gill running 1:57.86 in the 800m in Belfast earlier today. Assuming that the time is ratified it would be the 2nd fastest time in the world by any age group this year, and the 2nd fastest by an U18 ever.

Surprised that nobody has mentioned it yet but the performance of the weekend (so far) from a GB runner has come over in the sunny climes of....Belfast. At the Belfast Irish Milers Meet, Phoebe Gill ran the 800m in 1:57.86. Phoebe only turned 17 last month. Assuming the clock etc are accurate, it's hard to overstate how amazing that performance is. To put it in context, it's the second fastest U18 ever, behind only a very suspect Chinese athlete from the 90s. It's the second fastest European U20, behind only Keely. And Phoebe has several years more eligibility in that category. It's quicker than Mary Moraa won the Doha DL yesterday. Obviously, goes without saying that it is an Olympic Q time. Phoebe has been on the radar for potentially being one of the future stars of GB athletics for a while, but I don't think anyone expected her to achieve a time like this quite so quickly. I was hoping that she could drop below 2m this year. That would have been a perfectly good improvement! Race is at the 4h 06m mark: - Astonishing.

Molly is a huge talent and a genuine medal threat in Paris. But 5m has only been done 12 times in history and 8 of those were Isinbayeva. She's not quite at that level yet. Anything over 4.90 is very likely to get her on the podium in Paris.

*"Double-the-points" distributed as follow: Each user will have 5 during the Group stage. Each user will have to mark their matches with "Double-the-points" with an "*". Group Stage May 10th - May 21st, 2024 16 Nations, 4 Groups, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th-placed Nations from each Group will qualify for the Quarterfinals. Group A Date & Time (GMT +2) Nation 1 T1 T2 Nation 2 May 10th 2024 h. 16:20 Switzerland 2 Norway May 10th 2024 h. 20:20 Czechia 1 Finland May 11th 2024 h. 12:20 Great Britain 6 Canada May 11th 2024 h. 16:20 Austria 3 Denmark May 11th 2024 h. 20:20 Norway 2 Czechia May 12th 2024 h. 12:20 Finland 4 Great Britain May 12th 2024 h. 16:20 Denmark 5 Canada May 12th 2024 h. 20:20 Austria 3 Switzerland May 13th 2024 h. 16:20 Norway 2 Finland May 13th 2024 h. 20:20 Switzerland 2 Czechia May 14th 2024 h. 16:20 Denmark 2 Norway May 14th 2024 h. 20:20 Canada 5 Austria May 15th 2024 h. 16:20 Czechia 2 Denmark May 15th 2024 h. 20:20 Switzerland 4* Great Britain May 16th 2024 h. 16:20 Finland 3 Austria May 16th 2024 h. 20:20 Canada 5 Norway May 17th 2024 h. 16:20 Great Britain 2 Denmark May 17th 2024 h. 20:20 Czechia 2 Austria May 18th 2024 h. 12:20 Denmark 2 Switzerland May 18th 2024 h. 16:20 Canada 3 Finland May 18th 2024 h. 20:20 Czechia 5* Great Britain May 19th 2024 h. 16:20 Norway 2 Austria May 19th 2024 h. 20:20 Switzerland 4 Canada May 20th 2024 h. 16:20 Great Britain 2 Norway May 20th 2024 h. 20:20 Finland 3 Denmark May 21st 2024 h. 12:20 Austria 1 Great Britain May 21st 2024 h. 16:20 Canada 3 Czechia May 21st 2024 h. 20:20 Finland 1 Switzerland Group B Date & Time (GMT +2) Nation 1 T1 T2 Nation 2 May 10th 2024 h. 16:20 Slovakia 2 Germany May 10th 2024 h. 20:20 Sweden 1 United States May 11th 2024 h. 12:20 France 1 Kazakhstan May 11th 2024 h. 16:20 Poland 3* Latvia May 11th 2024 h. 20:20 United States 5 Germany May 12th 2024 h. 12:20 Kazakhstan 2 Slovakia May 12th 2024 h. 16:20 Latvia 2 France May 12th 2024 h. 20:20 Sweden 8 Poland May 13th 2024 h. 16:20 United States 4 Slovakia May 13th 2024 h. 20:20 Germany 5 Sweden May 14th 2024 h. 16:20 Kazakhstan 2 Latvia May 14th 2024 h. 20:20 Poland 3 France May 15th 2024 h. 16:20 Germany 3 Latvia May 15th 2024 h. 20:20 Slovakia 5 Poland May 16th 2024 h. 16:20 Kazakhstan 6 Sweden May 16th 2024 h. 20:20 United States 4 France May 17th 2024 h. 16:20 Germany 2 Kazakhstan May 17th 2024 h. 20:20 Poland 8 United States May 18th 2024 h. 12:20 Latvia 5* Sweden May 18th 2024 h. 16:20 Germany 3 Poland May 18th 2024 h. 20:20 France 3 Slovakia May 19th 2024 h. 16:20 United States 6 Kazakhstan May 19th 2024 h. 20:20 Slovakia 4* Latvia May 20th 2024 h. 16:20 Sweden 5 France May 20th 2024 h. 20:20 Kazakhstan 3 Poland May 21st 2024 h. 12:20 France 2 Germany May 21st 2024 h. 16:20 Latvia 5 United States May 21st 2024 h. 20:20 Sweden 3 Slovakia Top 3 Place 1st 2nd 3rd Nation Sweden USA Canada

Also fulfills the UKA "current form" requirement. So I'm willing to say he's 99% on the train with that throw, if fit.

Think you've mixed up the conferences there a bit.

So that means definitely no in Paris in the women's single sculls, men's double sculls or the lightweight men's double, right?

I guess my worry is that with that setup the Olympics will always greatly overshadow everything else. I think that is somewhat supported by the fact that Dupont and Hooper want to get into their Olympic teams - I don't remember either rushing to get in the WC team. Obviously the 7s skillset isn't quite the same but I think that shows the mentality in the sport about how the various comps are perceived. I think at heart, I'm just an advocate for bigger fields in any sport. I realise that isn't practical but it just feels more romantic to have more teams having a shot. I can't really explain it any better.

In fairness, this is the first season of it being 12 teams. It's been 16 teams until now. And there's the 12 team Challenger tour as well.

Urgh. I hate injuries. Can't we wrap all the athletes in cotton wool until Paris?!?

I mean the 7s world cup has literally been a 10 match tournament (in 1993). It then went to 7 matches in 97, 8 matches in 2001 & 2005, 6 matches in 2009 & 2013 and finally 4 matches in the last 2 editions. So there's absolutely no reason it couldn't be different in the Olympics.