NearPup

van Zundert is now guaranteed a top 16. Hopefully it’s enough for her no fun allowed NOC to accept the dang quota.

I would be pretty angry if I was the second or third French dance team tbh.

Ice Dancing quota simulation after the rhythm dance: 3 Pairs: 1 Pair: Countries who can qualify a second pair:

I’m actually pretty sure Czechia has already locked in qualification in both men’s and women’s singles.

We can still get on the results sheet :D

I remember when people joked that PCS stood for Patrick Chan Score :P I think Sui and Han can skate better than they did today, they had a really bad preparation for these worlds, and the fact they got so close is a good sign for the Olympics imo. And they will certainly be the sentimental favorites.

The best Canadian pair is no longer behind both American pairs, at least that's some honour restored xD

The US is unlikely to be able to challenge for a third pair now. Still, at least the US is now guaranteed two spots.

Italy is now guaranteed two pairs spots at the Olympics. Edit: oh, and Canada is also guaranteed two pairs spot at this point.

Correct. I just can’t do math before I have my morning coffee.

Assuming my reading of the qualification rules are correct (they are vague enough that there are competing opinions...) Mexico is guaranteed a spot as long as Carrillo completes the free skate.

Men's single qualification after the short program: 3 spots: 2 spots: 1 spot: Countries eligible for an extra spot: Japan is basically a lock for three spots. The big questions are whether Italy and China can keep two spots. If one fail to keep two spots Germany will qualify, if both fail to keep two spots Azerbaijan will qualify.

Outstanding performance by Mishina / Galliamov. Some mistakes by Sui / Han, but still clearly number one so far. I really love their choice of music, too.

Ya, it sure took them long enough too. You now can't earn two or three spots from worlds without having qualified two or three athletes / pairs to the free skate. However, if you lose any quotas due to that rule you are allowed to attempt to qualify those spots at Nebelhorn. This rule change actually makes worlds much more important for smaller nations since it is now easier to qualify a single quota spot from worlds and harder to qualify from Neberlhorn. Pairs in particular is going to be a bloodbath...

Quick and dirty OG simulation after the ladies short: 3 spots: 2 spots: * * 1 spot: * * * countries that have the chance to qualify an additional spot at the Nebelhorn Trophy It appears that every country that qualified a skater for the long program got a spot, the question is will something weird happen near the top to allow a country that didn't qualify for the long program to get a quota. It will be pretty hard to qualify out of Nebelhorn with the USA, South Korea and potentially Canada all trying to grab an extra spot, along with France who still hasn't qualified.

I wonder if the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (not the same thing as the country of Malta) could create an NOC under existing rules. Despite having no territory it is considered sovereign, issues it’s own passport and has diplomatic relationships with many countries.

Canadian figure skating is definitively in... lets call it rebuilding mode. I’d be a little surprised if Canada can even medal at the team event in 2022 at this point. Very different from where the team was during the last decade, that’s for sure.

He barely survived against an extremely weak opponent. And he's facing the prospect of an election at any moment because of this specific scandal (since we have a hung parliament at the moment). Trudeau also has a reputation (fairly or unfairly) of being extremely soft on China, so a scandal that involves specifically caving to China could be extremely damaging. Especially when the only thing Canada would get in return for Trudeau caving is... nothing (i.e. a return to the status quo).

I think the Chinese government way overestimates how much the average Canadian cares about the two Michaels. In Canada it's perceived as China not understanding that we have rule of law and that there is nothing we can do for them, no matter how many people they decide to cruelly hurt. Trudeau is not suffering any political cost for acting the way he is, if nothing else the only attacks he is fielding is that he's been too accommodating of China in this entire process. That's a convenient attack (it's unlikely any other government would have done much more), but there is no Canadian government that would cave here. Having a reputation for having an impartial and fair justice system is paramount to getting foreign investments for a small country like Canada. If our executive starts to meddle with the judicial system the economic cost would be extremely high.

If Trudeau got involved in this case and it got leaked to the press he'd lose his job. A head of government should not interfere in court proceedings, that's extremely inappropriate. I'm not sure how it would be some brilliant chess move for him to destroy his own career in order to appease the CCP. Canadians by and large don't blame Trudeau for what happened to the two Michaels. Either they blame China or the United States. But there's no political cost for Trudeau holding the line. Caving to China, however, would be the kind of scandal that would be extremely damaging, especially since Trudeau already has a reputation for being very friendly towards the CCP.

What is the Canadian government supposed to do, add a “this person is important to the CCP” clause to it’s extradition treaties?

The top two was a massive surprise, but on the day Tatalina was clearly the best performer.

The most egregious part is that either Canada or the US is always guaranteed a team. Though as someone who happens to be both Canadian and American I can’t say I mind too much :P Though arguably no country has it easier than Australia when it comes to Table Tennis qualification.

That’s how Canada qualified in both men’s and women’s singles, too. Canada even declined their first men’s single quota to send two male athletes (since the winner of that match also qualified in mixed doubles) xD (To be fair, Mo Zhang would have qualified by ranking otherwise)

Not under current rules.