Grassmarket

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

I was mocked the last time I said this, but the end point is the destruction of women’s sport. Because where else does it stop? A transgender cyclist won first place at a female race in New York City amid ongoing debates over the inclusion of trans athletes in female competitions. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11892441/Transgender-athlete-46-wins-female-NYC-cycling-event-says-feels-like-superhero.html#comments

Former Arsenal, Chelsea & goalie Peter Čech is now playing (or probably, is back to playing) ice hockey in England. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/ice-hockey/65028727

Seemingly Tauberbischofsheim is the home town (or at least the club where he learnt to fence) of Thomas Bacholympicchampionfencing1976, so this is more than just a a meaningless gesture.

British Team for the European Championships in Ankara in April Men Max Whitlock Harry Hepworth Luke whitehouse Jake Jarman Courtney Tulloch Women Becky Downie Jessica Gadirova Alice Kinsella Ondine Achampong Georgia-May Fenton.

England & GBR field hockey goalkeeper Maddie Hinch. Almost single-handedly kept GBR competitive in the Gold Medal game against Netherlands in Rio 16, then did a hero’s job to help win the 3-3 shootout. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/hockey/65023138

In all the 25 years I’ve been watching biathlon, the second-place Norwegian woman has always stepped up when her senior retired.

Foggy shooting!

Hartweg potentially on a big day at 15/15….. And he does it 20/20!

Foggy day in Oslo, but probably not foggy enough for JTB to shoot 1/5 in 95 secs.