Jinzha

I genuinely don't know non-Dutch athletes well enough to make a serious prediction for any sport. Of course I would love for a 1) Anna van der Breggen 2) Annemiek van Vleuten 3) Marianne Vos in women's road race (cycling), but sadly I doubt that will happen. I'll gladly enjoy any predictions you guys make though Edit: also, with 4 more days of simulation to go, the Netherlands has already broken their all time Olympic medal record, beating the 25 tally of Sydney 2000. Tokyo really could have been the perfect storm... What a combination of experienced 30+ athletes and a new generation of world beaters. Some of the iconic athletes of the past decade going for their 'swan song' like Epke Zonderland, Dafne Schippers, Femke Heemskerk, Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Eva de Goede, Annemiek van Vleuten, Marianne Vos and Kirsten Wild on the one hand. And future icons on the other hand, like Harrie Lavreysen, Vivianne Miedema, Niek Kimmann, Sifan Hassan and Mathieu van der Poel. Let us hope Tokyo 2021 lives up to the simulation, though I fear for the older generation.

I haven't been frequenting the forums much now that all sports are on hold, but I just wanted to thank you @rafalgorka and @Gianlu33. It has been a lot of fun to read this thread. Other than a gold or silver for Mathieu Van der Poel in men's MTB and no medals for Lorena Wiebes in women's road and ITT cycling, I don't have any major suggestions. I look forward to the next days.

Random brag but Pieter van den Hoogenband grew up a couple streets behind me. So after Sydney 2000 he got a little ceremony in our town and I got to touch the medals as a 5 yo kid! Tokyo 2020 really could've broken that Sydney 2000 medal record, let's sew what 2021 brings for us... Also just finished watching Rio 2016 beach volleyball M finals, great match and a really hype Brazilian crowd!

I think my next project tomorrow is going to be the beachvolleyball finals. But I've also got W marathon and triathlon and M volleyball final on my list.

I don't usually rewatch older sports events but this thread (and the lack of live sports) inspired me. I've made a list of some Rio 2016 replays on the Olympic youtube channel. Already watched the men's marathon and triathlon and the women's volleyball final. This isn't as bad as I thought! And plenty of replays left on the official channel.

I'm all for the World Endurance Games, with every (winter or summer) sport that relies on getting from A to B as fast as possible. But this time it also includes such events as the Ironman distance triathlon, trail running (including 100km event), obstacle running and orienteering.

Wow those animations are super clean! That was a great watch. If it wasn't for the whole virus thing, I would be super hyped as well...

Yeah! Second time running the CPC, my other half was the Stevensloop. I also really want to run the Halve van Egmond once, which takes place on the beach for large parts.

I'm going to be running my 3rd half marathon in about a month, but I'm really struggling to put in training hours now that I'm working full time and commute 2 hrs a day. Last year I was super fit and ran a 1.29:30, but I fear it will be significantly slower now.

https://www.trouw.nl/sport/den-haag-is-voorzichtig-positief-over-plan-om-spelen-naar-nederland-te-halen~b38747d9/?referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F There was some national media attention for a potential Dutch 2032 bid last weekend. Two ex-athletes (former Olympic field hockey player and rower) are leading a coalition of athletes, business and other influentials to formulate the bid. Who exactly is involved remained anonymous. The title of this article is "The Hague is carefully positive about plan to bring the Games to the Netherlands". The Hague is the home of our national government. So far I don't see enough political support for this initiative, but at least 'carefully positive' is something! The financial side has gone completely unmentioned in the articles I saw so far.

You're right, if all things go right this could be a record breaking Olympics for us. Of course all things won't go right and some of the medal favorites will fail while unexpected others might surprise with a medal. It's interesting that in Sydney 2000 the record (25 medals) was set mostly due to 4 super dominant athletes: Leontien van Moorsel, Inge de Bruijn, Pieter van den Hoogenband and Anky van Grunsven combined for 14 medals. Now the medal contenders are way more spread over the cycling, rowing and sailing contenders.

https://www.gracenote.com/virtual-medal-table/ Here is the full medal table simulation from Gracenote @Benolympique

In the new Gracenote predictions/simulation the Netherlands wins 41 medals, far beyond our 25 medal record (Syndey 2000). Does anyone know whether Gracenote releases per country overviews what those medals are? 41 really does require some creativity and I'd love to see it. I am slowly growing more confident that we can beat the Sydney record as well, but let's just stick to a 26 medal prediction for that

We got beat fair and square by Germany. Really disappointing result. Interesting observation: after the rehearsed cheers of NL - GER, the stadium filled up with Turkish and Polish flags and is now an almost hooligan-esque atmosphere. Crazy transition!

Ahh just a difference in Dutch and Italian cheering policy then, no worries! Anyway, I'm about to leave home, I'll wave for you all on tv

I am an expert in fake cheers, because my gf is a volleyball player and fan. 'My block, my block' is for indoor volleyball, 'Monster block' is for beach volleyball. Don't you dare such spontaneous mixups @Gianlu33!

Yeah volleyball always has that fake athmosphere in my experience. It's all rehearsed cheers and those loud paper clappers.

Excited for the semi finals tomorrow, I'll be there live to cheer the Dutch one step closer to the Olympics!

I ran 30km to close out the year with my running club last sunday. Great end of year tradition! I was surprised at how well it went after not training as much as I'm used to the past few months.

So that PSV performance wasn't only a national embarrasment, but an international one? Shame!

Dutch delegation of 15 athletes: Icehockey Women 3x3 Sanne Claessens Kimberley Collard Iris van Houten Roos Karst Boys 3x3 Ryan Kölgen Corné van Stuijvenberg Dylan Wesseling Snowboarding (Freestyle) Melissa Peperkamp (W) Speedskating Myrthe de Boer (W) Isabel Grevelt (W) Remo Slotegraaf (M) Sebas Diniz (M) Shorttrack Michelle Velzeboer (W) Diede van Oorschot (W) Jenning de Boo (W)

Wat een prachtprestatie! Een goaltje marge in de halve finale en in de finale, maar dat is ook gewoon genoeg!

Wow that was an absolute thriller. I had to follow it by radio and even then I was on the edge of my seat. I agree that the ending was a bit anticlimatic. But what matters now is... WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

As a Dutchman two classic NOS moments sprint to mind: "Nog altijd Ligtlee. Ligtlee, waar komt de rest? De rest komt helemaal niet!" (Keirin (W), Ligtlee, gold, Rio 2016) "Hij staat, en iedereen, en ik sta! Het is ongelofelijk!" (High Bar (M), Zonderland, gold, London 2012) And the emotional rollercoaster that was the women's road cycling at Rio 2016, which was both a highlight and a lowlight at the same time. For international sports, I'm thinking of Kipchoge's Berlin 2018 world record, the incredible Triathlon (W) sprint finish at London 2012 and an equally close cross country skiing sprint finish that I don't know exactly. Then there's the many medals for Bolt, Phelps and Biles among others. There's so many incredible sports moments, I can't choose!

Ik heb alleen de nos liveblog kunnen volgen, maar holy shit dat was spannend! Wat een stunt!