Grassmarket

Have just had an email from Recast who were the PPV outfit used by ICF Slalom & World Curling……they’ve gone bust! So I guess we are back to YT for now.

One of the lobby's arguments is that they "just want to do the sport they love". Well...

Easy enough to detect them it’s eradicating them that’s the problem.

Usually at a Major dope tests are done for all medal winners & a sample of others. Then of course samples are kept for later re-testing as technology develops.

I think we could have predicted this one. World Aquatics’ plans to debut a new open category for transgender athletes at this week’s swimming World Cup in Berlin have been cancelled after no entries were received. Swimming’s governing body, which last year voted to ban transgender women from the elite female category, had promised to stage the “pioneering pilot project” to promote its “unwavering commitment to inclusivity, welcoming swimmers of all sex and gender identities”. Swimming World Cup category for transgender athletes cancelled after no entries received (msn.com)

Nothing much can be done to develop these sports by an outside agency like lottery funding. The way to grow them is to do what ice & field hockey have done - have a strong domestic league & club sides capable of winning matches in European Cup-type competitions. There’s no chance of having a strong national team without strong club teams.

Dramatic finish to the final stage Tour of . Race Leader Aular - Caja Rural - crashed with 200m to go, had to get help from the doctors & then walked to the line with his bike to finish - just managed to get back on in the last few metres, an ambulance ominously following behind like a shark’s fin.

Best thing about Lausanne is that you go in under a high jump set to Sotomoayor’s World Record. WTF! There’s no way__

In what sense is a Government-subsidised NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) an NGO? If Government subsidies are their only or main source of income, then they are a GO, like the Bundeswehr.

British middle-distance runner Laura Weightman also has to quit after a long sequence of injuries. https://www.instagram.com/lauraweightman1/?img_index=1

I disagree, the desire of Thomas Bacholympicchampionfencing1976 to appear as the International Champion of Peace will always win over any so-called rules.

We all know that the IOC are going to make an exception here.

I do recommend Lausanne.

Season already underway in the US - US Champs last weekend on YT. https://youtube.com/@USSpeedskating?si=7l1AvH0BazvV_8tc

We have the inaugural World Road Running* Championships from Riga this weekend. 3 distances involved: 5000 metres (whatever those are) The Proper Mile Half Marathon. Broadcast details in your country here https://worldathletics.org/news/news/how-follow-watch-world-road-running-championships-riga-23 British team\ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/66863750 * Incorporating the World Shoe-Making Championship

Good for him, he has at least one thing to be proud of! And he didn’t false start, which we have seen a lone runner do before.

Doping Control not getting much cooperation from athletes. ONLY ONE participant in the final of the men’s 100 metres; a steeplechase athlete who kept running after crossing the finish line to evade dope testing; several winners skipping the medal ceremony as they were worried about being asked to give samples. The final day of the Delhi State Athletics Championship (September 23-26), at the warm-up track of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the national capital, turned into a cat-and-mouse game between athletes and doping control officers on Tuesday. https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/sport-others/dope-testers-show-up-at-delhi-state-athletics-meet-most-athletes-bolt-only-1-in-100-metre-final-8957732/#ln2p6zh0agp1yc5tz

2024 World Cross Country Championships will be in Belgrade, Sunday 30th March. https://worldathletics.org/news/press-releases/2024-cross-country-championships-serbia

A world class sprinter will always improve all the other sprinters in the national squad, because all the slightly-above-average sprinters know that they’ve suddenly got a chance of a good medal if they work at their event. Kim Gevaert is the classic example.

Just tell them it's like a mantra for horses, they'll understand.

Yeah, but MPs are elected on the basis that they are supposed to be smart!

There is still some kind of economic embargo, but very easily broken. Sports embargo for teams still exists although I guess any individual athlete just represents sometimes attempts to negotiate but always vetoed by the Eurovision voting double act.

Yeah, it is like the Latin American sides in baseball: they export huge numbers of pros to the big leagues.

Also, the season is not quite over - two more Super League races to go, which most of the big names will be doing. Not your classic triathlon, but definitely relevant for relay legs.