NearPup

I'm sure Wust and de Jong will have a ton of fun rooming together, too

Hey there Canada (esp. intoronto)!
 
I've been in China which basically blocks everything.  Long story, but I should finally have access to this place, just in time for the lead up to the Olympics.
 
I used to live in South Korea, so disappointed that I will miss this one.  Tried to make it work, but the tickets and accommodations were just way too expensive.  I could have stayed in Seoul, but that's missing the point.  I was going to drop by the final weekend, but it didn't work out.  
 
Instead I'll be on a beach in Thailand watching instead.  Tough life, I know.  Just excited I can finally come here and elsewhere (CBC was also blocked).  

Are they going to make Bergsma a reserve again?

France Télévisions' ad for the Olympics  
 

No problem for me Bergsma missed out, especially after his coach was all cheering and shouting of happiness when Kramer came in 2nd (Bergsma went in the heat after him) 
 
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympisch_kwalificatietoernooi_schaatsen_Nederland_2018

Even if the suspension isnlifted during the Olympics the medals won under OAR will not count as “Russian” for record keeping purposes.

It currently is for alpine skiing. In snowboarding the top 16 from each course qualifies for the second preliminary round, and the top 16 combined times from both courses make it through.

Doping Scandal Rocks Athletics 
 
The Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) yesterday denied any knowledge that 400m athlete, Lydia Jele has tested positive for a banned substance
 

 
The 400m athlete, who was part of Botswana’s team to the London World Championships in London, is said to have recently tested positive for a banned substance but authorities remained cagey with information.
IAAF officials were not long ago in the country and tested the athlete out of competition.
Sport Monitor is reliably informed that the athlete, who has represented the country at world competitions including the Olympics and World Championships, had opted not to take a sample B test, effectively admitting guilt.
The country has faced increased doping cases after Amantle Montsho tested positive for a banned substance in 2014 and served a two-year ban, which ended in July.
 
Rugby was also rocked when two players, Lesedi Cherry and Emmanuel Ntshiwa, failed a doping test last year.
BAA public relations officer, Ipolokeng Ramatshaba told Sport Monitor yesterday that they have learnt about the doping reports surrounding the said athlete.
 
We are not aware that Jele has tested positive to doping and we do not even know where she was tested,” Ramatshaba said.
“At the moment, I cannot discuss the matter until we have been fully briefed on what is really going on.”
He said there were no doping tests done at the London World Championships.
A source said the matter is being kept a closely guarded secret until the results are determined.
 
Source : http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?aid=73592&dir=2017/december/11

This is what an out of shape Hirscher looks like

This is what an out of shape Hirscher looks like

Holy crap!!

Bloemen about to do something ridiculous...

If I counted correctly, these are the women whose results are good enough to be allocated a quotum for their NOC on the women's 1.500m.
Maximum quota per NOC = 3; Maximum quota for this distance = 32; Maximum quota for women for all distances combined = 80. World Cup Ranking
(20, max. 3 per country)
 Miho Takagi
 Marrit Leenstra
 Yekaterina Shikhova
 Yuliya Skokova
 Lotte van Beek
 Ayaka Kikuchi
 Antoinette de Jong
 Katarzyna Bachleda-Curus
 Heather Bergsma
 Brianne Tutt
 Roxane Dufter
 Ida Njåtun
 Jiachen Hao
 Kali Christ
 Nikola Zdráhalova
 Ivanie Blondin
 Natalia Voronina
 Yu-Ting Huang
 Britanny Bowe
 Natalia Czerwonka
Time Ranking
(max. 3 per country,
including the World Cup Ranking)
 Gabriele Hirschbichler
 Nana Takagi
 Vanessa Herzog
 Martina Sáblíková
 Luiza Zlotkowska
 Mia Manganello
 Hege Bøkko
 Yekaterina Aydova
 Qishi Li
 Ruining Tian
 Marina Zueva
 Jelena Peeters
 
Reserves (max. 6):
 Francesca Lollobrigida  Seon-Yeong Noh  Michelle Uhrig  Francesca Bettrone  Tatsiana Mihailava  Bo-Reum Kim  
Total quota:  x1,  x1,  x1,  x3,  x3,  x2,  x2,  x3,  x1,  x3,  x2,  x3,  x3,  x1,  x3
 
No one from the host country here.

The same for the men's 1.500m
Maximum quota per NOC = 3; Maximum quota for this distance = 36; Maximum quota for women for all distances combined = 100. World Cup Ranking
(20, max. 3 per country)
 Denis Yuskov
 Koen Verweij
 Joey Mantia
 Thomas Krol
 Allan Dahl Johansson
 Vincent De Haitre
 Sverre Lunde Pedersen
 Sindre Henriksen
 Takura Oda
 Min Seok Kim
 Denny Morrison
 Kjeld Nuis
 Konrad Niedzwiedzki
 Haralds Silovs
 Shani Davis
 Sergey Gryaztsov
 Tara Kondo
 Brian Hansen
 Jan Szymanski
 Bart Swings
Time Ranking
(max. 3 per country,
including the World Cup Ranking)
 Andrea Giovannini
 David La Rue
 Zbigniew Bródka
 Seung-Hoon Lee
 Sergey Trofimov
 Shane Williamson
 Livio Wenger
 Peter Michael
 Nicola Tumolero
 Patrick Beckert
 Fedor Mezentsev
 Alexis Contin
 Konrád Nagy
 Reyon Kay
 David Andersson
 Denis Kuzin
 
Reserves (max. 6):
Moritz Geisreiter  Hyong-Jun Joo  Alemasi Kahanbai  Marten Liiv  Mathias Vosté  Wei-Lin Tai  
Total quota:  x1;  x3;  x1;  x1;  x1;  x2;  x3;  x2,  x2;  x1;  x3;  x3;  x2;  x3;  x3;  x1;  x1;  x3

Gee, I wonder why Becky Scott might be suspicious of Russian athletes when it comes to doping...

This is CBC'S (Canadian tv) Olympic theme: 
 

Canada qualifies both team pursuits for Pyeongchang! 

More tragic news out of Alberta. 17 year old Max Burkhart from Germany has died due to injuries he sustained during a training run for a NorAm Downhill in Lake Louise.

More tragic news out of Alberta. 17 year old Max Burkhart from Germany has died due to injuries he sustained during a training run for a NorAm Downhill in Lake Louise.

More tragic news out of Alberta. 17 year old Max Burkhart from Germany has died due to injuries he sustained during a training run for a NorAm Downhill in Lake Louise.

More tragic news out of Alberta. 17 year old Max Burkhart from Germany has died due to injuries he sustained during a training run for a NorAm Downhill in Lake Louise.

What the fuck is "Olympic Athletes from Russia" though? Do Independent Olympic Athletes.

I mean to be honest Germans have words for everything

Nice to see Lamy-Chappuis back. He's fun to watch.