Grassmarket

Looking forward to the Dutch return to top-level gymnastics at the 2032 Olympics, then.

Bah, Orangers out on the randan clubbing, so COVID19 tests for all! Sheer irresponsibility.

Actually that’s a good idea. Lets’s have a descent time-trial for once! Down an alpine ski-slope! Sadly, would be ruled out by all the safety complainers.

Agree with Federer: in some Western countries there is a lot of funding for big (number of medals available) Olympic sports like athletics, rowing, gymnastics & swimming. Competitors in their teens & early 20s get paid much more than their non-athletic friends. Unfortunately here in GB some of them have recently developed a new mentality that just because they are being paid big money & belong to a top Olympic nation then success is their right, and if they are not successful then it is someone else’s fault. Also the media here is very forgiving, so athletes don’t often hear the criticism they deserve.

I’m afraid there’s a bit of a contradiction here. On the one hand the media is constantly bombarding us with images of strong, confident, do-anything kick-ass women. On the other we’re being told Olympic athletes can’t perform if someone says they’re overweight.

This is exactly what happened to British track cycling: one of the world’s mist successful programmes in any Olympic sport has been practically destroyed by allegations from a mediocre athlete who failed to meet minimal expectations (ie get an Olympic qualifying place). Bad headlines in the press, great coaches got fired, bureaucrats micro-managed, medal-winning athletes quit, results declined, sponsorship money dried up......

Wish I could say I was surprised. We have seen the same thing in several sports in Britain with successful programmes being destroyed because some athletes are unwilling to subject themselves to the kind of discipline your average army recruit would accept as normal.

In 7s you can easily restart by a tap off the ground. But the problem for RU is that the game without scrums would basically be Rugby League....

it is mysterious. My mother had it - five weeks in hospital, recovered - but neither me, my father, my brother or my sister-in-law got it even although we were in contact for several days.

Hoping that can repeat in the 7s. Sadly will not be maintaining our record in the cycling TTs - all of our best riders go straight to the road now without serving time in the track squad, so the quality is not there anymore. Rowing will be another disappointment for us.

Well, there’s no chance of the FIG investigating China or North Korea, so there’s not much reason for any other nation to continue funding or promoting women’s gymnastics programmes at this point.

Good luck, but please do not panic. The odds are overwhelmingly in you & your sisters’ favour.

Vuelta a Burgos is a confirmed start today! Although it’s in , the Burgos region has not been affected by the recent CV spike, since it is mostly rocks & herds of goats. Attracts a better field than usual. https://www.vueltaburgos.com/es/ TV coverage https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/more-sports/how-to-watch-the-vuelta-a-burgos-–-live-stream-tv-results/ar-BB17f0go

A great achievement for a player from a country with very few areas flat enough for a full-size snooker table.

Women’s triathlon should be a very rare gold medal chance for (That’s Bermuda, btw). First since 1972, I think. Also strong chances for & .

You don’t know many Australians, do you?

I’m guessing there’s no active minor leagues going on, are there?

it’s not just individual players: some European nations seem to buy in the complete package: individuals, doubles pairings & even coaches. But I’m not an expert, so you can tell me I’m wrong.

Afraid so. Being tough is the only you are getting out of Magadan.

New Season already hitting problems. https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/07/baseball-season-already-in-jeopardy.php

But won’t Qatar have a one person automatic spot?

Yeah, that’s why the map’s misleading. They already understand figure skating. They’ve got to research bobsleigh.

You might be right. Perhaps the Olympics will have to move to a model other Multination, Multi-Sport events have where you have a fixed core group of events that appear in every Games, then a flexible fringe group that appear at different hosts depending on facilities, local popularity etc.

What’s preventing most sports now is the complexity of travel arrangements between different nations. So for a non-professional international sport like gymnastics, I don’t think we’ll see many events this year.

Team Archery is always good. The fact that Korea always gets Gold makes everyone else more relaxed. Mountain bike can be a bit dull with the winner obvious after one lap. Men’s triathlon will be wide open after the Brownlee Brothers dominance. I’m tipping . Table tennis mixed doubles will be China Chinese mercenaries playing for someone else Chinese mercenaries playing for someone else