Nickyc707

At the moment Rowing is offering up a mixed double sculls event as one of the replacements for the two lightweight events but what you're suggesting may have a horrible logic to it. I suppose it would be better than no eights at all. 🙄

I'm more sanguine about the lightweights. I think the IOC wants them out and Paris will likely be their last hurrah. Rowing is looking at beach sprint rowing/coastal rowing as alternatives. https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1113562/coastal-rowing-la2028-rolland-olympics And see the proposed programme including a mixed event at the end of this article. https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1128099/ioc-satisfied-rowing-la28

Good point. I'm not sure which is the more vulnerable the lightweight double sculls or the eights, probably both. I guess another problem is that if you have 6-8 really good rowers it makes more sense to put them in a pair and a four to optimise your medal chances rather than gamble on one boat given that doubling up is often not a realistic option given the schedule.

You mean like when the All Blacks lost to the Springboks in the 1995 WC final?

Disappointed that GB didn't enter a women's eight and the same goes for NZ. With only six entries on the women's side I do worry about the future of this boat - and by extension the men's boat - in the Olympic programme. For me the eights are one of the blue riband events of the Games but I'm sure the IOC would be more than happy to get rid of an event involving so many athletes.

In fairness to Izzy, who was competing at her first ever major championship (European, World or Olympic), it wasn't awarded it was earned with a brilliant performance throughout. Amazingly close finish with seven riders covered by a fence. Ditto the team event with teams 2-4 within 0.6 pts of each other and less than 6 pts covering the top four. Another equestrian event where you end up almost jumping with the riders! 😊 P.S. Useless fact - She's the sixth British woman to win the world title after Mary Gordon-Watson, Lucinda Green, Virginia Leng, Zara Tindall and Ros Canter but we're still waiting for our first male individual winner.

First thing to say is the madness of Brexit hasn't made anything better but that's a political issue. So far as eventing goes I don't see that it has been a positive for GB, rather its been neutral. Until the last twenty years or so continental riders didn't seem to compete in any depth in Britain even at events like Badminton and Burleigh. It was largely British riders in a sport in which we have great depth, together with riders from Ireland and Oceania. If it has had a negative impact on continental riders - and I don't know that it has - then I suppose that has benefited GB but I guess we"ll have to wait and see.

Pretty impressive shooting from Sam Gowin to be four clear of some high quality opposition at this stage.

A really successful championships for who shared all ten gold medals in the senior events and the majority of those in the junior events.

Good to have got quotas in both women's events but frustrating to miss out in both men's events by just one place.

So I guess God save the King gets played at a sporting event for the first time in over 70 years.

Women's Skeet qualification update 1 Nadine Messerschmidt 2 Danka Bartekova 3 Diana Bacosi 4 Konstantia Nikolaou 5 Barbora Simova 6 Amber Hill 7 Lucie Anastassion There is a six way shootout for the remaining spot between

Men's Skeet qualification update 1 Eric Delaunay 2 Ben Llewellin 3 Jesper Hansen = Luigi Lodde 5 Georgios Achilleos There is a six way shootout for the remaining three spots between

The GB squad. Rosalind Canter - Lordships Graffalo Laura Collett - London 52 Yasmin Ingham - Banzai Du Loir Tom McEwen - Toledo de Kerser Oliver Townsend - Ballaghmor Class Reserves: Sarah Bullimore - Corouet Rosalind Canter (2) - Pencos Crown Jewel Kirsty Chabert - Classic VI William Fox-Pitt - Little Fire Kitty King - Vendredi Biats Oliver Townsend (2) - Swallow Springs https://www.britishequestrian.org.uk/news/british-equestrian-announces-definite-entries-for-fei-eventing-world-championship?s=09

As has been mentioned by others many of your facts are wrong. Your assumption that athletics is the only interest of African and Caribbean nations for example when team sports like cricket, netball and rugby sevens are also played in many of these countries. Indeed you decry lawn bowls even though it is played in the southern and eastern African countries as well as the small Pacific nations. It was noticeable that when India hosted the Games it promoted its own intetests by including sports like archery and tennis which have little following in Africa, the Caribbean or the Pacific. Not a good example to set. Again as others have said wrestling has not been removed and 14 titles will be at stake in Birmingham. The number of weightlifting medals has been reduced to bring it into line with other multi-sport events but there will still be more medals available than at the Olympics, say. Shooting should be in the Games but it is an optional sport and Birmingham were perfectly entitled to exclude it just as other hosts like Delhi have been to choose the sports programme for their Games in the past. In any event, Indian "domination" of the sport at the CWG is a myth as British shooters have won more medals than India at each of the last six Games, albeit the home countries compete separately. While I can accept an argument that the inclusion of triathlon is orientated towards the five dominion countries and bits, I think the inclusion of judo is a positive thing. It is one of the Olympic sports in which medals are most widely distributed and is a relatively cheap investment if you are seeking to develop a programme. The CWG is an opportunity for countries to improve their performances in the sport. Overall the programme does lean towards the five dominion countries but that in part reflects the fact that they are largely the ones who host and invest money in the Games. They want a programme of sports that will attract spectators and viewers which I guess is one of the aims of any sporting event. When other countries like Malaysia and India have hosted the event they have not chosen to vary the programme hugely although they have had the opportunity to do so.

It's complicated though isn't it. Rugby and hockey are run on an all-Ireland basis but players from Northern Ireland are not permitted to compete for Great Britain even if they consider themselves Northern Irish and British unless they switch to competing from Ireland to England, Scotland or Wales as 4-5 players have had to do in recent years.

Meanwhile, in unrelated news, the Belgian team has announced they will 'boycott' the next European Championships to be held in due to fears of flooding. 😎

Surprised they haven't suggested a mixed eights as an alternative given the IOC's love of such events.

Wasn't aware of that! Would not be happy at what I think of as one of the blue riband events being discarded.

Checked through the records and the GB/Sweden aggregate score of 23 appears to be a record since the sport returned to the OG in 1998. The best previously appears to have been a couple of 21 point matches. However, at the sports only previous appearance in 1924 - only France, GB and Sweden competed - the matches were played over 18 ends rather than the current 10 and produced aggregate scores of 28, 45 and 50.

In a sense I agree with you but I wonder if GB really were the underdogs against Sweden. Last November the same Scotland/GB team beat the same Swedish team 8-5 in the round-Robins and 7-4 in the final of the European Championships. They then followed that up with an 8-2 win in the round-Robin in Beijing so the form line actually favoured GB.

Four years ago lost to in the semi-final and in the bronze medal match. This time they beat in the semis and play in the final.

I'm predicting 12-11. You heard it here first!

You spoke too soon! 11-11

The two experts helping with commentary on the BBC both said that picking up a four on the first end might actually cause Sweden to make the mistake of changing their tactics in order to defend their lead from too far out. They did and it looks like they're going to pay the price.