Jinzha

Whelp, Serbia or Italy in the final tournament. That's gonna be tough. Really enjoyed watching the Dutch team today, they kept it so close with the US! I'm more familiar with the women's game, who are the other favorites in this selection?

No PBs or SBs for the Dutch runners, but most performed well with top 3 finishes. Happy for Van Hunenstein winning in the absence of Schippers!

Only 1 sub-50s in the 400m hurdles (M). Are the conditions not good or is the field a bit weak?

Looks like all of our sprinters and hurdlers won the qualifying rounds... except for 110m M who came in second to last. Bit of a discrepancy there! I hope Smidt and Bol keep improving on the 400m hurdles this tournament, both of them have had great showings in youth tournaments this year.

Hahaha, no way! I'm a Brabo, Friesland is like the other side of the world to me.

While football wins the popularity price, I'd say 1) speed skating 2) cycling and 3) field hockey, for being more uniquely Dutch. Purely personal opinion though.

Definitely agree with Heywoodu that football is the clear most popular sport in the Netherlands. Field hockey, cycling and speed skating being the next in line. It's interesting that note that even in a small country there is clear regional differences. I'd say in the south and west field hockey is the 2nd most popular, in the east volleyball is very popular and speed skating is most commonly done in the north. Korfball and handball are also pretty specific to I-don't-know-where I also wonder if the current generation of cyclists are going to make it a more popular sport to participate in. There are so many great cyclist both male and female and in all disciplines from bmx to track to road and mountainbike.

Domination by the Italians, was really hoping for a bit more resistance from our team.

What is up with youngsters in cycling right now. Van der Poel, Van Aert, Bernal, Evenepoel. They're dominating!

Comfortable first win for the Dutch ladies. It's probably going to be all about that last match vs Italy on sunday.

Tokyo gaat voor Nederland vooral de Olympische Fietsspelen worden zo te zien. Serieuze medaillekandidaten op de weg, baan, bmx en mountainbike. In het zwembad laten de opvolgers Van den Hoogenband, De Bruin, Kromowidjojo en Heemskerk nog even op zich wachten.

Incredibly dominant display by Van der Poel after falling in the first lap. This guy can do anything on a bike. Excited for Vader too, that was an unexpected bronze. He said before the race that he was aiming for top 10 and called it an ambitious goal.

Yeah definitely! I totally messed up the recovery. The 1.29 was the peak of a long training period without races, but then 2 weeks later I ran another all out 6 km race (in 24 minutes). It was an event of my former university, so I really wanted to perform. My body wasn't quite as keen on the idea though and I could barely walk afterwards due to the achilles pains.

Great to see so many people running on here! I've been running for 2,5 years now. I used to play football for 10 years, so I had pretty decent stamina to start. My PBs are 19:40 (5K), 40:25 (10K), 1.01:23 (15K) and 1.29:37 (HM). My next race is a 30K trail, I won't be going for speed but just for the experience. I've been struggling with achilles injury since the 1.29 Half, so no new PRs on the horizon sadly.

What a day! But while everyone is discussing the weather and the decisions made, I'm mostly worried that the next 5-10 Tours will be dominated by this young Colombian and a new Ineos train. Holy moly Bernal is so good already.

When the Dutch aren't there I tend to cheer for Italy, France and, when they're competing, Senegal. They are all countries I have great memories in from vacations and internships abroad. I have fond memories of the people I met and the experiences I have had there.

The Dutch Talent Team has had a rather anonymous EYOF so far. Until day 4: Judo Jelle van Teijlingen (-73kg) BRONZE Elin Henninger (-52kg) GOLD Alexe Wagemaker (-57kg) BRONZE Joanne van Lieshout (-63kg) GOLD Swimming Tim Korstanje (50m free) BRONZE The Handball team (W) has also reaches the semi finals, but I haven't seen the results yet. Edit: looks like they beat the Suisse team and progress to the final! Joanne van Lieshout had the best Dutch performance so far, with dominant victories all the way to her gold medal.

What a weird situation, why would a professional athlete smuggle drugs like that. I know little about where and with whom she trains, but this must be crazy news for her coach and training partners. And the 4x400M relay team too.

Gold for Jorinde van Klinken (shot put w) and Femke Bol (400m hurdles w) today! And both 4x100 squads ran good qualifiers. I watched some of the winner's interviews from the Dutch athletes and all of them emphasize the great athmosphere in the team. Even if Van Klinken and Bol were heavy favorites, it looks like the team is really giving each other wings.

Thanks for all your insights in these junior/youth tournaments. How do you keep up to date? Do you have any specific information sources? I've personally been following some of the Dutch 'Talent Teams', so I knew some of the names in this tournament from their good showing in the EYOF 2017 in Gyor. But I find it pretty hard still to place their performances in perspective without knowing their competitors.

Another young medal winner! 16yo Mark Heiden takes the silver in 110m hurdles! It's far too early to tell who will be succesful in the end, but it will be fun to see this generation of 16-18 year olds develop. Could be a very solid group for the Dutch.

Wonder what Hassan is gonna show in the 5K tomorrow. She has been in excellent shape. Was also very impressed by Laura Muir in the 1500m again.

Gold for Onyema Adigida in the 200m (M)! And silver for Robin van Riel in the 3000m (M), with his younger brother in 5th place! Already a better result for the Dutch than the U23 tournament, with more than a full day to go. Exciting!

Buchmann, Pinot, Kruijswijk and Alaphilippe all looked incredibly strong today. Amazing stage!

Aww, Sedney barely missed the 200M finals. She's only 17 and it's her first tournament since a hamstring injury as well, so her chances will hopefully come still! Sven Jansons is going strong in the decathlon, might be a medal contender! Would be surprise to me. I thought the slightly older Rafael Raap and Rudy de Wolff were the more talented Dutch decathletes.