Grassmarket

So Angry Birds is out?

They also are afraid to upset their key voters, who love guns, but are not organised into an actual lobby group.

Well, he keeps winning elections so…..

Maybe biathle, the UIPM running & laser pistol shooting variant? Or bike/run triathlon?

Was a very good one - usually it’s all over after the first 10 strokes.

Is there a phrase in French that means “sang froid”/ Diners shared a romantic glass of wine by the fire as demonstrators rallied across France in protest over President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform. A video posted on TikTok shows couples dining at Place de la Victoire, in the southern wine-growing region of Bordeaux on Thursday, as rioters set fires in the streets. The diners, chatting away and scrolling on their mobile phones, seem unfazed by the violence erupting near the restaurant. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11903791/Unfazed-French-diners-enjoy-glass-wine-protesters-set-fires-background.html

Had a couple of good chances for decent scores, even a chance at a game winning two in the final end, but didn’t take them so the streak continues.

Worth watching - two mass starts today & a Club Relay tomorrow.

There is always a bit of controversy. By default we use an established team, like Bruce Mouat in the men's. When it's an emergency - like Muirhead last season when she had to go to the last chance Olympic Quals - the authorities insisted on picking the team.

Think Rhona Martin when she won Olympic Gold started even worse than that.

Ah yes, that ferocious grammatical rule which refuses to accept that any non-Slovak woman has the right to her own name.

Still don’t think that’s enough, truly. What happens to tennis or snooker players or boxers who throw a match? Long ban, perhaps lifetime. Now it would be unfair to ban Ilar, but I think the should accept the ruling that ALL their results from the Women’s Sprint Lahti 25/03/23 are annulled and then recalculate on that basis.

Oi oi oi! Controversy in Lahti! Dahlquist was heading out in the first round after a crash, but her team-mate Ilar slowed down & let her pass, Formula 1 style. Wonder what the judges will say. We in don’t like that stuff! At the very least, it’s match-rigging from the Bookies point of view. TU Weng knocks Diggins out, so that’s it for the Big Globe. Heroic effort from Jess after the TdS mess-up, but always a very slim chance.

Hey, if a lazy incompetent like me can do it….

Fans of 50km Race Walking with Slovak language commentary are in for a treat this weekend.

Sweet moment when Ito did not realise she had won & then saw the scoreboard….

Just a bit of a cross post to biathlon - the Norwegian Alpine Nationals are on streaming this weekend. That link should work without gb ing. https://tv.nrk.no/serie/alpint-nm/202303/MSPO40150523

You can retire earlier than that if you have a private pension of course.

Norwegian Champs on streaming! Remember, the Direkte page does not work, but the skiskyting-nm page does. Sprints today. https://tv.nrk.no/serie/skiskyting-nm/2023/MSPO40130223/avspiller I notice that Russian Biathlon’s heroic refusal to meet reality continues - after the Russia Cup Series (in Russia), the Friendship Cup series (in Belarus), the International Championship races (2 countries) they are rounding off the season with the Russian Domestic Championships. So plenty of variety there, kind of marketed to fans of Gibraltarian football.

Strange but true fact: the pensions system the French are rioting to defend was created by……..Marechal Petain in 1941!

It is probably something unobvious like available space for Commentators. It’s like the Tour de France - there are all sorts of potentially brilliant stages, but unless the finish is near a town with 6000 hotel rooms, they don’t get included.

More details on the / ban: The Good News! Your doping suspension has been lifted! The Bad News! Your war suspension is beginning! https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/65055933

I’m guessing there’s specific requirements for Championship venues that not many everyday venues can meet

Hopefully it will remove the biggest problem, which was that there was a suspicion that certain federations were searching these individuals out as a policy.

World Athletics reaches a strong position on protecting women’s athletics. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/65051900