Grassmarket

Emma Raducanu unsurprisingly wins in https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/sports-personality/59687576

Doing well enough in the ladies - got the top three just now.

Will be nice if there is one fan.

Breezy Johnson, again! Gets close, going to be second.

Sofia Goggia once again dominates. Starter 7 & will take something great to beat her.

Do we have a theological thread here? Anyway, Mariah Carey graciously concedes that the Virgin Mary, and not she, is indeed Queen of Christmas. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10321715/Mariah-Carey-humbly-confesses-not-Queen-Christmas.html

Am starting to wonder if I had omicron. About two weeks ago had a sore throat, sneezing fits & runny nose, which people now say are classic symptoms. Probably infected dozens, like Typhoid Mary.

Let justice be done though the heavens fall! Take away the trophy & confiscate the Swiss francs, even if they have to send in the Commandos!

I’m guessing partly COVID, partly the expense of a globe-trotting season.

JT Boe with his first 0 0 of the season.

More on this. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/africa/59685407

Something I did not appreciate before about this story until I read it somewhere else. It seems Thomas-in-female-races is deliberately sand-bagging a la Carsten Semenya. That is, winning by just enough to get records, headlines etc, but not by such huge margins as to make the whole thing farcical and killing the goose that lays the golden egg.*. See the sidebar to this story comparing Thomas-in-male-races’ best times to the recent ones, and to the absolute NCAA records held by Kate Ledecky & Missy Franklin. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10314225/UPenn-parents-pen-poignant-letter-demanding-NCAA-change-rules-trans-swimmer-Lia-Thomas.html * As to the golden egg. The NCAA is no longer 100% amateur. Athletes can make money from personal endorsements. So Thomas can indeed cash in, & very likely is.

Like the legendary all-Singh* Indian Field Hockey Teams from years gone by. *Singh just means they are Sikhs.

At last! Even as a small boy I felt swindled by the names centipede & millipede. Where else but Australia, Mother Nature’s retirement home for failed experiments? Millipede that really does have 1,000 legs is discovered in Australia: Previous bugs only sported a maximum of 750 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10316757/First-millipede-1-000-legs-discovered-Australian-mine.html

qualify for the Olympics by 6.88cm! To the uninitiated. There's three teams with a 6-2 record. beat beat beat So all three teams absolutely tied. In that case only, the result is decided on a measured throw which all teams must make before the Round Robin starts. If it had been a simple two way tie, the result would be decided on the result of the matches between the two teams.

And she does it.

And she’s got it: beats Hauser. Roeisland going to spoil it.

Le Grand Bornand looking absolutely gorgeous today, . Usually looks a bit Stalinist when the TdF visits. Bescond 0 0: fans go spare.

& all qualified for the play-offs. or for the final place, & will be watching from home on TV.

Thailand also have three places (will only take two) just by virtue of turning up every week.

South Korea & Japan qualified out of the round robin for the four team play-off. The winner of the Round Robin gets an auto Q for Beijing, then 2-4 must play-off in a curling Cage Match of Death!!! For the remaining two places.

Happened at the Vancouver Olympics in biathlon. Canadian coaches hadn't understood the points system properly, so they ended up at their home Olympics with just a single place for both men & women.

I believe she has had try-outs & offers from other sports, so there may be more to come.

Three British sailing gold medallists at Tokyo retire after their classes are removed or changed for Paris. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/sailing/59636320

First medal for 27 years in Sarah Davies, and first ever category gold.