NearPup

Presumably there is no scenario where can qualify for the Olympics now that they have lost to . Realistically, if there a chance the qualifiers will not be ? I don't know how swingy the world ranking system is and how realistic it might be for the top 10 to change between now and June.

Isn’t Italy virtually guaranteed to qualify regardless of the results of the qualification tournament?

What a brave prediction, really going out on a limb.

So, err, an update of sorts about Eric Lamaze's health: https://horsesport.com/horse-news/lamaze-submits-forged-medical-documents-court/

Article without a paywal: https://horsesport.com/horse-news/lamaze-submits-forged-medical-documents-court/ (Allegedly) faking a terminal cancer diagnosis to delay a lawsuit is low...

So, when is the whole leadership of Rowing Canada going to be replaced? The results at worlds were absolutely dire.

It’s suspicious he made seven finals in a row, only people who’ve made eight in a row usually win Olympic medals :P

Ya, even if Cricket had no global reach and no potential for growth and it was a case where were the only countries where it was popular… genuinely so what? The Indian subcontinent is a huge market that is massively underserved by the Olympics. There are plenty of Olympic sports that cater to much smaller niches.

Oh ya don’t get us wrong. We love the jokes (not jokes) about 4th place. But just qualifying for the Olympics is a big deal, and so is making the semis at worlds. We’re all really happy about that here, even if we are also grumpy grumps :P This is the best state Canadian men’s basketball has ever been in, and the first time the team was a real contender since the Nash-lead team. Also, honestly, if you told us before these championships we’d finish 4th we all would have taken it xD

will finally win 4th at the FIBA worlds

I think this is very much a case of the NFL lobbying the organizing committee. It doesn’t make much sense otherwise.

As a spectator sport? No. As a participation sport it is fairly popular in North America.

Flag football is... a really weird sport. It's a super stripped down version of American Football where only four positions from "regular" American Football are actually represented - quarterback, wide receiver, defensive back and safety. There is a center and a rusher in flag football too, but those positions bear very little resemblance to their American Football counterparts. So if you're an end, a tackle, a linebacker, a guard, a center, a tight end, a half back, a full back, a kicker or a punter there is simply no place for you in Flag Football. The best analogy would be Rugby 7s, except Rugby 7s is more similar to Rugby Union than Flag Football is to American Football. I think most NFL players would struggle here, outside of the four positions I mentioned above (and even then, there would be a big adjustment). If Rugby 7s had a smaller field, no lineouts, no scrum and no kicking game then what Rugby 7s is to Rugby Union would be a good analogy for what Flag Football is to American Football IMO.

Not just more. A lot more.

Genuinely shocked to see Modern Pentathlon survive once again. Very glad, however, that Weightlifting is safe. Given so many media reports from various sources (and reading the tea leaves somewhat) it seems quite certain that Breaking, Cricket and Flag Football (ugh) are in, with Baseball/Softball being on the bubble.

Does anybody know if this rule is per gender or overall?

There has been no indication. We don’t even know if the 10500 athletes cap is still real.

That can’t be right, Canadians are the best in the world at finishing 4th!

Rubiales may now face criminal charges in Spain over the incident. https://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/jenni-hermoso-sexual-assault-accusation-luis-rubiales-spanish-soccer-1.6957834

The women’s qualification system is designed so that the final Olympic qualification tournaments double as preparation games for the national teams that will qualify for the Olympics, hence why the host and the world champion both participate. It’s a very odd system, but apparently the national federations themselves pushed for it. That desire didn’t exist on the side of the men’s teams, apparently.

Thomas Bach, Olympic champion, Bridge, Brisbane 2032.

I would love to be a fly on the wall for those negotiations, it must be fascinating.

There are two reasons golf being in the Olympics makes sense. The first is that (except in very limited cases *cough* Rio *cough*) there is a championship qualify golf course in every major city, so hosting an Olympic golf tournament is very cheap. Given that, golf does not need to provide much value to make sense. But maybe the biggest reason: by having golf in the Olympics it ensures the PGA and LPGA will never schedule an important tournament at the same time as the summer games. Dito with tennis and the ATP/WTA. If you want to watch golf during the Olympics the biggest tournament is… the Olympics. It’s completely fine if more Olympic fans don’t like golf. Golf isn’t in the Olympics for people like us.

I’m won’t be happy to see modern pentathlon dropped, but it’s just hard to justify it being an Olympic sport at this point imo, and I think it has the weakest case for inclusion among every sports that are in the Olympics currently, have been optional sports or are considered as optional sports for 2028.

Modern pentathlon is a sport that has almost nothing going for it other than it’s legacy (bonus points for it being Egypt’s best Olympic sport). It’s a sport that adds so little value it had it’s own tier the last time the IOC did a cost-benefit analysis.