NearPup

Yes and now France doesn’t want to build a speed skating oval (even a temporary one). Like to be clear, I have no problem with France winning a winter Olympic bid. I think Nice is a great city to anchor a Winter Olympic. My issue is that the bid that won 2030 was basically “ya we want to host the Winter Olympics and we’ll figure out stuff later”. To a degree every Olympic game is a work in progress but that one took it to the extreme.

This plus the relative organizational mess that is French Alps 2030 makes me wonder in who’s cornflakes Sweden pissed to be passed up twice (losing to Milan I thought at the time and still do think was reasonable, but losing out to a French bid that wasn’t even half baked was such a joke).

https://www.youtube.com/live/vuMES6ziwFI

Gymnastics: Gymcastic is good, a bit on the ireverant side but they do cover women's gymnastics in particular quite thoroughly (they also cover men's, but not as closely). It's def from an American point of view. They get a lot of access during big events and usually travel on location for Worlds and the Olympics. Curling: Inside Curling does a lot of interviews with curlers and with people otherwise involved in Curling. Has a Canadian (and North American) POV. Co-hosted by Kevin Martin. More of a narative podcast, but Broomgate is absolutely worth a listen. It covers, well, Broomgate. Hockey (NHL specifically): 32 Thoughts.

Chloe Kim injured herself in Laax and is doubtful for the Olympics.

I paid €450.00 for a category A tickets each of the two sessions I'm going to 😅

Lots less importance on the continental quotas.

And oh so close to a win

I'm very excited. These will be the first Olympics I'll attend in person, the first one with NHLers since 2014, and also to me it feels like these are the first winter Olympics since 2018 (I was going through a really bad time in my personal life in 2022, so that combined with how muted the Beijing games felt because of the pandemic means I have very little memories of Beijing 2022 - felt more like a series of world championships than the Olympics).

There was, but only Hall and La Rue were eligible for the spot

The Olympic team will be as followed: Ted-Jan Bloemen, Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu, Daniel Hall, Laurent Dubreuil, Anders Johnson, David La Rue and Cédrick Brunet on the men's side, Isabelle Weidemann, Valérie Maltais, Laura Hall, Ivanie Blondin, Béatrice Lamarche, Rose Laliberté-Roy, Carolina Hiller-Donnelly and Brooklyn McDougall on the women's side. Final selection matrices: Women Rank Event Athlete # 1 3000m (1) Isabelle Weidemann 1 1 5000m (1) Isabelle Weidemann 1 3 3000m (2) Valérie Maltais 2 3 5000m (2) Laura Hall 3 3 Mass Start (1) Ivanie Blondin 4 6 Mass Start (2) Valérie Maltais 2 7 1000m (1) Béatrice Lamarche 5 8 1500m (1) Ivanie Blondin 4 9 3000m (3) Laura Hall 3 10 500m (1) Béatrice Lamarche 5 10 1000m (2) Rose Laliberté-Roy 6 12 1500m (2) Béatrice Lamarche 5 13 500m (2) Carolina Hiller-Donnelly 7 14 500m (3) Brooklyn McDougall 8 14 1500m (3) Valérie Maltais 2 16 1000m (3) Alexa Scott Carolina Hiller-Donnelly 9 7 Men Rank Event Athlete # 1 10000m (1) Ted-Jan Bloemen 1 1 5000m (1) Ted-Jan Bloemen 1 3 Mass Start (1) Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu 2 4 Mass Start (2) Daniel Hall 3 5 500m (1) Laurent Dubreuil 4 6 500m (2) Anders Johnson 5 7 1500m (1) David La Rue 6 8 500m (3) Cédrick Brunet 7 8 1000m (1) Laurent Dubreuil 4 8 1500m (2) Daniel Hall 3 11 1000m (2) Anders Johnson 5

Final speed skating matrices: Women Rank Event Athlete # 1 3000m (1) Isabelle Weidemann 1 1 5000m (1) Isabelle Weidemann 1 3 3000m (2) Valérie Maltais 2 3 5000m (2) Laura Hall 3 3 Mass Start (1) Ivanie Blondin 4 6 Mass Start (2) Valérie Maltais 2 7 1000m (1) Béatrice Lamarche 5 8 1500m (1) Ivanie Blondin 4 9 3000m (3) Laura Hall 3 10 500m (1) Béatrice Lamarche 5 10 1000m (2) Rose Laliberté-Roy 5 12 1500m (2) Béatrice Lamarche 6 13 500m (2) Carolina Hiller-Donnelly 7 14 500m (3) Brooklyn McDougall 8 14 1500m (3) Valérie Maltais 2 16 1000m (3) Alexa Scott Carolina Hiller-Donnelly 9 7 Men Rank Event Athlete # 1 10000m (1) Ted-Jan Bloemen 1 1 5000m (1) Ted-Jan Bloemen 1 3 Mass Start (1) Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu 2 4 Mass Start (2) Daniel Hall 3 5 500m (1) Laurent Dubreuil 4 6 500m (2) Anders Johnson 5 7 1500m (1) David La Rue 6 8 500m (3) Cédrick Brunet 7 8 1000m (1) Laurent Dubreuil 4 8 1500m (2) Daniel Hall 3 11 1000m (2) Anders Johnson 5

Turns out only athletes qualified for another distance are eligible for the second mass start spot, so only La Rue and Hall are in contention for it.

Bro there’s at least two ways that pizza isn’t kosher xD

That would be kinda devastating for the athlete who has been told they are qualified and ends up not going…

I’m starting to wonder if I’m missing something, because Skating Canada is talking about Brunet and Hall as if they have qualified (and they show them on their matrix as qualified) even though mass start # 2 takes priority, and unless I’m really bad at counting there are already seven unique names on the matrix.

is a super serious speed skating country, which means we have our own matrix too! The women's matrix has been fully filled out, and we now pretty much know the eight women who will be named to the team. The men's matrix still has a couple question marks (who will be the second starter in the mass start, and assuming it's a new name whether the 3rd 500m spot or the 2nd 1500m spot will have priority). Men Rank Event Athlete 1 10000m (1) Ted-Jan Bloemen Q 1 5000m (1) Ted-Jan Bloemen Q 3 Mass Start (1) Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu Q 4 Mass Start (2) Q 5 500m (1) Laurent Dubreuil Q 6 500m (2) Anders Johnson Q 7 1500m (1) David La Rue Q 8 500m (3) Cédrick Brunet ? 8 1000m (1) Laurent Dubreuil Q 8 1500m (2) Daniel Hall ? 11 1000m (2) Anders Johnson Q Women Rank Event Athlete 1 3000m (1) Isabelle Weidemann Q 1 5000m (1) Isabelle Weidemann Q 3 3000m (2) Valérie Maltais Q 3 5000m (2) Laura Hall Q 3 Mass Start (1) Ivanie Blondin Q 6 Mass Start (2) Valérie Maltais Q 7 1000m (1) Béatrice Lamarche Q 8 1500m (1) Ivanie Blondin Q 9 3000m (3) Laura Hall Q 10 500m (1) Béatrice Lamarche Q 10 1000m (2) Rose Laliberté-Roy Q 12 1500m (2) Béatrice Lamarche Q 13 500m (2) Carolina Hiller-Donnelly Q 14 500m (3) Brooklyn McDougall Q 14 1500m (3) Valérie Maltais Q 16 1000m (3) Alexa Scott

This is academic, but here is the women's matrix with the rankings corrected: Rank Event Athlete 1 3000m (1) Isabelle Weidemann Q 1 5000m (1) Isabelle Weidemann Q 3 3000m (2) Valérie Maltais Q 3 5000m (2) Laura Hall Q 3 Mass Start (1) Ivanie Blondin Q 6 Mass Start (2) Valérie Maltais Q 7 1000m (1) Béatrice Lamarche Q 8 1500m (1) Ivanie Blondin Q 9 3000m (3) Laura Hall Q 10 500m (1) Béatrice Lamarche Q 10 1000m (2) Rose Laliberté-Roy Q 12 1500m (2) Béatrice Lamarche Q 13 500m (2) Carolina Hiller-Donnelly Q 14 500m (3) Brooklyn McDougall Q 14 1500m (3) Valérie Maltais Q 16 1000m (3) Alexa Scott

Baring a major, major upset (there are still some low ranked pairs to go), David La Rue wins the men's 1500m and qualifies for the Olympics. Daniel Hall is second, but is ranked low on the matrix and is likely to miss out. Edit: just realized there are some ties on the matrix, so edited to address that. Assuming the second mass start spot goes to someone not already on the matrix (like Jake Weidemann) then the last spot would be decided between Cédrick Brunet and Daniel Hall. I personally do think Hall would lose out to Brunet in that situation, since Gélinas-Beaulieu can pretty easily takek over the 1500m spot. Rank Event Athlete 1 10000m (1) Ted-Jan Bloemen Q 1 5000m (1) Ted-Jan Bloemen Q 3 Mass Start (1) Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu Q 4 Mass Start (2) Q 5 500m (1) Laurent Dubreuil Q 6 500m (2) Anders Johnson Q 7 1500m (1) David La Rue Q 8 500m (3) Cédrick Brunet 8 1000m (1) Laurent Dubreuil Q 8 1500m (2) Daniel Hall 11 1000m (2) Anders Johnson Q

Connor Howe wasn't saving something for the 1500m :< Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu also fails to qualify in the 1500m, though obviously he's on the team for the mass start (but it looks like that will be his only start)

I was expecting one of Scott or Pearman to miss out, Laliberté-Roy is certainly the biggest surprise at these trials (pending the men's 1500m of course)

Rank Event Athlete 1 3000m (1) Isabelle Weidemann Q 2 5000m (1) Isabelle Weidemann Q 3 3000m (2) Valérie Maltais Q 4 5000m (2) Laura Hall Q 5 Mass Start (1) Ivanie Blondin Q 6 Mass Start (2) Valérie Maltais Q 7 1000m (1) Béatrice Lamarche Q 8 1500m (1) Ivanie Blondin Q 9 3000m (3) Laura Hall Q 10 500m (1) Béatrice Lamarche Q 11 1000m (2) Rose Laliberté-Roy Q 12 1500m (2) Q 13 500m (2) Carolina Hiller-Donnelly Q 14 500m (3) Brooklyn McDougall 15 1500m (3) 16 1000m (3) Alexa Scott

Rank Event Athlete 1 10000m (1) Ted-Jan Bloemen Q 2 5000m (1) Ted-Jan Bloemen Q 3 Mass Start (1) Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu Q 4 Mass Start (2) Q 5 500m (1) Laurent Dubreuil Q 6 500m (2) Anders Johnson Q 7 1500m (1) Q 8 500m (3) Cédrick Brunet Q 9 1000m (1) Laurent Dubreuil Q 10 1500m (2) 11 1000m (2) Anders Johnson Q

Nine unique names on the matrix so someone is missing out. Rank Event Athlete 1 3000m (1) Isabelle Weidemann Q 2 5000m (1) Isabelle Weidemann Q 3 3000m (2) Valérie Maltais Q 4 5000m (2) Q 5 Mass Start (1) Ivanie Blondin Q 6 Mass Start (2) Valérie Maltais Q 7 1000m (1) Béatrice Lamarche Q 8 1500m (1) Ivanie Blondin Q 9 3000m (3) Laura Hall Q 10 500m (1) Béatrice Lamarche Q 11 1000m (2) Rose Laliberté-Roy Q 12 1500m (2) Q 13 500m (2) Carolina Hiller-Donnelly 14 500m (3) Brooklyn McDougall 15 1500m (3) 16 1000m (3) Alexa Scott

I think he’d probably be able to make the team now, but it was probably not obvious he’d be able to when he decided to represent Poland. It’s a pretty hard team to crack even for people who are really good. Brendan Corey (who is from my hometown!) is someone else who could maybe make a Canadian team, but obviously much easier to qualify with Australia. Courtney Sarault actually could have represented (like fellow skater and Olympic medalist Travis Jayner) but luckily she picked Canada 😅