Jinzha

The draw just concluded. Women's pools: Men's pools:

You're right. Lecomte looks like almost a lock in for gold already (which is crazy considering it's her debut year at the elites). Meanwhile Fluckiger could realistically get bronze or miss out behind Van der Poel and Pidcock.

Thank you! That's good to know, starting to look like a much better option now. I never trust these subscription services... Respect to some of you considering watching in the middle of the night!

I don't think our NOS schedules more than a week in advance, so I have no clue yet what's scheduled from july 23rd. I'm probably going to rely only on their tv broadcasts and online streams. I'm considering Discovery+, but with so much of the action in the European night and early morning, that would only be worth it if there is video on demand. Also I'm not sure if they allow a subscription for just one month, I don't feel like paying for an entire year for two weeks. Even if those weeks are the Olympics.

Yeah Andreassen did great today. Decent results by the Dutch in the end as well. Vader had a rough start, but still got into 11th. I guess we can lock in Loana Lecomte and Mathias Fluckiger for medals already. What dominance!

She just keeps improving! SuperBol!

It's a shame the idea doesn't have enough local and national support, but Amsterdam could do it honestly. As for 'best' I'm thinking London, Paris and Berlin. Of cities that haven't hosted (by head) I'm thinking Lisbon, New Orleans and Toronto as three options.

There's so many! In practice I watch whatever Dutch athletes are competing at that moment, but when it comes to favorite sports I'd say: 1. Athletics (mostly track and decathlon/heptathlon) 2. Cycling (cross country > track > road > bmx) 3. Volleyball 4. Triathlon 5. Canoe slalom 6. Badminton Paralympic: athletics, triathlon, handbiking

Ohh Churandy Martina is a great choice yeah!

Purely hypothetically I'd go with two great athletes in their final Games: Epke Zonderland (gymnastics, gold in London) and Ranomi Kromowidjojo (swimming, multiple golds in Beijing and London). No idea who will go to the opening ceremony or carry the flag in practice. Other candidates would be Lobke Berkhout (sailing), Eva de Goede (hockey) or Edward Gal (equestrian).

I was scrolling through the schedule looking for our potential 'worst day' and I was actually surprised how many real medal chances there still are in the second week between track cycling, the field hockey finals, Sifan Hassan, Femke Bol and a variety of outside chances. Even the final sunday still has the men's keirin and Nouchka Fontijn (and women's football and handball if they're not eliminated). It turns out day 9 (sunday) is the 'bad day' with barely any Dutch contenders. Marit Bouwmeester (Laser Radial) is the only Dutchwoman in competition for a medal that day. Other than that it's just preliminaries, quarters and semi's for us.

I'd love to see our women's football team win! I would also love it if one of my two favorite Dutch Olympians manages to take a medal: Epke Zonderland or Ranomi Kromowidjojo. Neither of these is very likely to happen, but a man can hope

I noticed that day 5 schedule as well, that's going to be a great day to watch! I guess there is also a very small chance at a medal from the mixed archery team on day 1, but I agree that day 2 is more realistic.

I had the same picks as Phelps for the mixed relay medals. Maybe Norway, Australia or South Africa could overtake the US for bronze. As for Dutch triathletes: Rachel Klamer has been consistently top 10 in the world triathlon series for multiple years now, but never quite reaching that top 3. Kingma has mostly finished behind her, but this year she has suddenly taken a win and a podium in the world series. They could both be capable of a top 10 finish in Tokyo, but I don't expect any medals. Triathlon is an amazing sport that a lot of amateurs practice, but that really doesn't translate to any popularity for the elite level. Klamer finished 10th in Rio 2016, but I doubt many casual sports followers in the Netherlands know about her.

The final qualification tournament for beach volleyball and baseball are also 23-26th June.

I know you're exaggerating. But has Bol even faced the American 400mH runners once? I'm still not sure if she can even medal, because I never see the Americans run. And Hassan vs Gidey definitely isn't a clearcut gold either. Even if she is our best chance. If we get 1 gold in athletics I'll be happy honestly. 2 silvers or bronzes, happy as well!

Well that's a bummer, I was still busy being happy for Hassan!

De wereldbeker roeien was ik alweer vergeten inderdaad. Ook geen gekke resultaten daar. En een 'nieuwe generatie' volleybaldames doet ook mooie ervaring op in de Volleyball Nations League. Ze winnen nog verrassend veel, ookal zijn het vast niet de beste selecties van andere landen. En voor de Handbaldames is het nogal een onrustige voorbereiding inderdaad. Van Groot's blessure had ik nog niet eens gehoord. Zijn er nog meer voorbereidingswedstrijden gepland voor Tokyo? Ik zou de opstelling niet eens meer weten na de vele wisselingen en blessures.

Twee verrassende wereldbeker overwinningen vandaag met Brouwer/Meeuwsen en Maya Kingma. En dan nog die ongelofelijke 10km van Hassan!

Incredible world record by Hassan! Rarely see her so happy after a race

So Varenhorst/Van de Velde needed a 3rd place finish in the 4* tournament in Ostrava this weekend to qualify for Tokyo by ranking. Last week they showed that they are capable of a top 3 finish. Earlier today they beat favorites Mol/Sorum in the RO16. And then they lost to their own countrymen Brouwer/Meeuwsen in the QF! Just when I started to be hopeful.

I'm a bit late, but definitely a great poll! 1.Which are the 3 events ( team or individual sports) you are looking forward to watch the most? Athletics (all events), mountainbiking and track cycling (esp. men's team sprint!) 2.If you were asked to support 3 other nations at the Olympics apart from your own, what would they be? Italy and France mostly, I guess I'll pick for the third. 3.Who are your 3 favourite all time Olympians? Dutch: Pieter van den Hoogenband (swimming), Epke Zonderland (gymnastics) and Ireen Wust (speed skating). If non-Olympian athletes also counted, I would've gone with Arjen Robben (cutting inside) as well. International: Eliud Kipchoge (marathon), Nafissatou Thiam (heptathlon) and Kevin Mayer (decathlon)

Might even be examples of same-sex couples participating versus each other. I know some Dutch women's football teams have partners from different nationalities that are also active players.

Yeah it's weird that some of our most important players are now in the senior team (or injured). That's probably the case for many countries. At least we still beat France! Already an impressive result for this tournament!

Anyone read enough paparazzi media to know which medal contenders are in relationships together? I can imagine there will be couples that both win medals though. Probably even multiple. And for 1: Kiran Badloe about to win RS:X gold before you can say Medal race out loud