Nickyc707

Ireland definitely beginning to build up a little bit strength in depth now. Maybe the New Zealand of the 2020s.

They finally developed a lycra cassock then?

Tahiti? They do know its bicycles and not surfboards don't they? 🏄‍♂️

It might be some consolation that there may be hope for the future. At the U23 European Championships earlier this month Poland finished in second place in the medal table with seven medals including three golds.

Which begs the question why target the eights if you have a shortage of suitable athletes? I always think of two and four-man boats as being Italy's speciality.

Very good results from the Netherlands so far. Romania confirming they are on the way back while Germany seem to be going in the opposite direction. Not sure where NZ are at the moment but not as good results as we've come to expect. Retirements after Tokyo a factor I guess. Disappointing from Italy and I can't help wondering why they are putting so much effort into the non-Olympic classes where they won five golds today albeit against limited opposition with one exception. Funding perhaps?

So he was after some athletic tips then. 😊

Why on earth were you watching Baywatch? 😎

crews rowing well again this morning. Unlike their gymnastics programme they really seem to have begun to turn things around over the last year or two.

The lightweight fours in particular, often provided great races because the crews have such similar physiques.

Laurie Mains and other senior AB officials claimed the players had been poisoned by Suzie the waitress prior to their defeat in the RWC final. Turns out Suzie never existed. https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/rugby/arid-10128478.html

You've clearly never tried rowing through sand! 😊 Apparently its about 500m plus the running to and from the boat. https://www.rowingnews.com/2021/06/22/rowings-expanding-frontier-beach-sprints/

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