JoshMartini007

That's so random. Did someone from Taiwan get hit by a car before the Olympics?

Those places gained admission before the IOC made stronger rules (because colonization was coming to an end). It's one of the reasons why Curacao couldn't compete after the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles.

Likely not since the IOC has rather strict requirements. Unless a new area declares independence and gets international recognition the most likely place to become a member right now would be Western Sahara and that's quite unlikely. Still it's always fun to see smaller regions compete. The Commonwealth Games will have a bunch and the Central American and Caribbean Games will include a few places for the first time this year.

Aviron = rowing. I have no idea why it says equestrian. The FEI has already confirmed all the quotas Doing a quick look, both archery and rugby sevens don't say it's at the African Youth Games, but both events are in Algiers during the same time period. Also rugby sevens has a TBC so it isn't confirmed yet.

Equestrian is already done Africa's qualifiers are Egypt, Mauritius, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Also sailing is already spoken for in other events. I didn't know about beach volleyball, that's helpful. Also the following sports are also listed as giving quotas to the Youth Olympics: archery, rowing and rugby sevens. Athletics is also likely to provide quotas (though not confirmed)

I feel it will be one of those rules that will be broken and very little will be done. Which is a good thing. Legit athletes shouldn't be punished.

It more has to do with South Africa, Fiji and New Zealand being so good. Of the 51 tournaments between Australia's wins 40 of them were won by one of those three nations.

I never had to run in the snow for cross country, but mud was quite common if it was rainy. Also big hills, rocks and tree roots are a must or else it isn't any different than road racing with a bunch of trees.

Here is the qualification manual (website has a Spanish version) for the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games if any one is interested. Some events will act as qualifiers to the 2019 Pan American Games.

Cross country is already extreme relative to road/track racing. You can reuse the mountain biking course if you want to make things more interesting.

I was curious here's a quick "world series ranking" I've made. It uses the last four completed seasons (not the 2017-2018 season) and weighs the most recent season (2016-17) more heavily (in a 100%-75%-50%-25% way). 1. South Africa - 435.25 2. Fiji - 403.75 3. New Zealand - 376.50 4. England - 332.50 5. Australia - 302.50 6. United States - 281.00 7. Argentina - 238.00 8. Scotland - 234.00 9. Canada - 184.00 10. Kenya - 180.50 11. France - 177.25 12. Samoa - 169.50 13. Wales - 157.25 14. Russia - 50.00* 15. Portugal - 36.25* 16. Japan - 30.50* 17. Spain - 5.00* * Nation did not participate in all 4 seasons.

Australia is good, but not the best. You are correct that just with the sheer number of World Series events that they should have won more often. Since their last win the following weaker nations have won. x2 Samoa has won a couple of times, but they were as good as Australia a few years ago (now not so much)

According to the file they are competing in men's 5000m and women's team pursuit in speed skating. Wikipedia must be outdated.

The United States will send a team of 242 athletes It is the largest delegation of any nation ever for a Winter Olympics.They will also compete in 97/102 events. Here is a list of athletes and the events they are expected to compete in

I assume these athletes have been tested in other labs for over a year now, were they positive? Sure there's the issue of long term effects of doping, but two seasons is a long time and you'd have to draw a line somewhere.

I know most people are focused on the Winter Olympics, but I've been collecting qualification dates and results for the Youth Olympics. Overall I'm up to date on most things except for the continental quotas for athletics and an official word as to the top 16 nations in swimming (though that's less important). I also don't have the quotas for BMX freestyle, but the qualification event was such a flop I think the UCI has to recreate something different. I'm also still looking for the qualification dates for the following continental qualifiers. * Athletics (Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania) * Beach Volleyball (Africa, Asia/Oceania) * Boxing (Africa, Asia) * Futsal (Africa, CONCACAF, South America) * Rhythmic Gymnastics (Asia) Boxing should be little trouble, I'm just waiting for AIBA's calendar to update. I suspect Asia's rhythmic gymnastics qualifiers will be revealed soon. I think Africa's athletics qualifiers will be at the African Youth Games.

It is an open event afterall...

Ignoring the max quota the following nations would be excluded from the following events (men's ski cross) (women's slopestyle) (women's half-pipe) (men's aerials) Hungary is a big one to miss out, while the others just makes the event more diverse.

Yeah, it would be a real choke if Russia didn't win. Of course it's a best of 1 so anything can happen

And in other events the bottom ranked nations would be pushed out to fill more Canadian/Americans, how is that suppose to help the sport?

I can't find the article, but I remember reading that the coach was planning to use the North Korean players as fourth liners. I don't think that's fair, the North Korean women aren't that much worse than South Korea.

The reason for the limit is to increase participation of smaller/weaker nations. Just filling the spots with more Canadians and Americans (the only nations where the limit hurt) doesn't help things. I can see the IOC reducing quotas for the sport.

So what happens to the extra quotas in ski cross and men's half-pipe? Will they go to other events?

Just three more quotas to go. is hoping someone declines.

They declined the quotas which means Peru won't be going to the Olympics