Nickyc707

Is the mixed element in the relay's classification rather than gender based?

The entries for the swimming events have now been released. https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024-paralympics/entries/para-swimming/all-npc/men-s-50m-freestyle---s9 I've entered the details onto the wiki page where it is easier to see the overall picture. Unfortunately I don't know which of the relay events GB will be competing in yet. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Britain_at_the_2024_Summer_Paralympics

If you can access any of their platforms Channel 4 are covering it daily continuously from 8am to 1130pm UK time. Full details are provided here. https://paralympics.org.uk/articles/where-to-watch-the-paris-2024-paralympic-games

I seem to recall watching some of the road racing at London because it was actually relatively easy for the broadcaster to cover as it all took place on the motor racing circuit at Brands Hatch. We've subsequently had coverage of the road racing at more recent Games. Certainly in Tokyo where some of the events took place in absolutely torrential rain.

Which 3-5 of these countries that participate in the highest form of cricket, i.e. tests are you referring to? Afghanistan Antigua & Barbuda Australia Bangladesh Barbados British Virgin Islands Dominica Great Britain (England & Wales) Grenada Guyana India Ireland Jamaica New Zealand Pakistan St Kitts & Nevis St Lucia St Vincent & The Grenadines South Africa Sri Lanka Trinidad & Tobago Zimbabwe Or are you referring to the considerably larger group that play the T20 format to be used at the OG?

A lot of young people start rowing while at university so they do provide many of the rowers we see on the international stage. However, there are lots of rowing clubs that are happy to take in members of all ages and backgrounds and most if not all make their equipment available to them. They don't expect you provide your own boat although I'm sure you can if you want. My local club are content whether you want to be a recreational or competitive rower, whether you're a junior or a veteran. Most of the costs are associated with international rowing teams but that applies across many of the Olympic sports. You mention the issue of venues but presumably this also applies to sprint Canoeing which invariably use the same courses.

How much does it cost to row in the Netherlands? You can become a recreational rower at my local club in the UK for £16 per month (£192 pa) which would not seem to exclude all but a "super low number" of people from being able to afford the cost of participation. Indeed there are always people to be seen out on the River Soar rowing for much of the year. P.S. If you haven't rowed before you can do an eight week training course for £40.

There's always the team sprint.

For sporting purposes. He's always had British nationality as he was born in the UK.

It does seem a little crazy that they're asking crews to qualify for the Olympics over 2000m only to reduce it to 1500m when they get to LA. The other interesting thing in the next cycle will be the mixed double sculls event if approved by the IOC. I guess it's designed to pander to them and would potentially give rowing a 15th medal event together with the twelve traditional open weight and two new beach rowing events.

We'll see but I'll be genuinely surprised if you're right. Personally I won't miss them and I'd be happy to see T20 embed itself as the bat and ball sport at the OG.

I'll be very surprised if it isn't as Australia has supported the inclusion of baseball/softball in the Games in the past. They have existing facilities with Brisbane having their own professional team and Oz has a good medal record particularly in softball. I'd love to see both netball - is the men's game developed enough? - and lawn bowls in the programme. Not so sure about RL 9s. Too similar to Rugby 7s I would have thought. There would be scope to include at least two of these sports with flag football and lacrosse likely very vulnerable. In any event we shall see. P.S. For what it is worth the record crowd for a baseball game in Australia is 114,000 at the MCG before the ground capacity was reduced to 100k.

Baseball's presence in Japan and Australia is really down to WWII. The US military was present in Oz, particularly the Northern Territory and Queensland after 1941 and some locals picked up on it. Even cricketers like Richie Benaud dabbled in it. With the Games in Queensland it couldn't have worked out much better for the sport's continued presence in the programme in 2032. Cricket also has a presence in South America, principally Guyana but the sport also has a long history in Argentina like rugby union.

The thing about rowing is that over the years listening to the rowers themselves it really does seem to be just about gold with a belief that every thing else is failure. I don't agree with that view but that appears to be their ethos which is why I think they took Tokyo so hard. As an outsider, while the results were disappointing with just two medals and no golds, it didn't seem like the end of the world to me. They had six fourth place finishes and with rowing's capacity to switch crews between boats it didn't seem like they were that far away from success. Still the review seemed to work for them whether it was needed or not. I'm not sure that our other sports operate in quite the same way so I hope that the reviews will be done with positivity in mind. For example boxing has churned out success for us in every other cycle over the past twenty years but with a high turnover as boxers turn Pro we were bound to have a cycle in which the talent available was weaker at some stage. Add to that the capricious nature of Olympic judging in which every bout in which a GB fighter was involved was a split decision - almost all of which went against us - and the outcome was perhaps inevitable. I don't think GB Boxing is doing anything wrong that won't be corrected by the advent of a more talented group in the coming cycle assuming boxing get's the go ahead for LA in 2025.

Very much so and why it's future is potentially much more secure than baseball/softball not to mention the other team sport additions in LA. The other thing it brings is the opportunity for smaller countries from areas like the Caribbean and southern and eastern Africa to compete in team sports from which they are largely excluded at the moment. Rugby 7s is an example of this with the success of Fiji. I doubt this was a factor in the IOC's collective money driven mind but it will be a beneficial side effect.

Page says she still loves competing so I don't think it's certain that she won't be back for LA after a spell outside the sport. Daley has officially retired but he does live in California now and he does have a second son who might want to see dad compete at the Olympics so they may be a slim chance he'll be back for one final go. Jade Jones and Helen Glover are a couple of others who won't be back. I'm also wondering if we've seen the last of Emily Campbell as she's now in her thirties.

Can't help but think it's an exercise in futility. I just don't see what he or even FIFA could do to reassure the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish FAs that their future is secure. Some kind of agreement signed in the blood of the signatories perhaps but I doubt even that would be acceptable. The politics of nationalism would also likely be at play.

Istanbul sits at a latitude of 41° N which coincidentally is the same as Rome (1960) and Barcelona (1992). It's also a fair bit further north of the equator than LA which is located at 34° N so I don't think the heat problems would be insurmountable given modern technology.

Baseball/softball is safe for Brisbane but outside of Australia, Japan and North America most hosts don't seem interested in including it in the Olympic programme so that will potentially be vulnerable in 2036. If the best players turn up cricket may have the chance to embed itself if you're correct about India. Mind you my own hunch is that Istanbul will finally succeed with its atrempts to host the Games. We shall see! Ultimately squash may have the best chance of survival of the new sports as it is relatively cheap to put on with portable courts available to locate on any site the host chooses. Sorry Egypt but watch out for the coming Chinese domination of the sport.

I agree eight teams are warranted in the cricket competitions. Assuming, pretty reasonably I think, that flag football and lacrosse won't survive beyond LA hopefully that'll be the case in Brisbane.

Too busy breaking?

Rating: 8.5/10 The team maintained the London levels of success in terms of medals and range of sports in which they were won. 2012 - 65 in 17 sports 2016 - 67 in 19 2020 - 64 in 18 2024 - 65 in 18 To keep performing at this level is very satisfying but was offset by a fall in the number of gold medals won, although in fairness in many cases there were tiny margins between gold and silver. Still first is first and second is second. Surprises and heartaches: The biggest surprise was the performance of the women's gymnastics team who finished fourth. Although they had medalled at the last two WC they had been decimated by injuries prior to the Games and yet somehow managed to get within 2/100ths of a medal. The heartaches were seeing two distinguished Olympians in Jade Jones (taekwondo) and Max Whitlock (gymnastics) go home without medals in their final Games. Issues beyond the power of the athletes such as the wind or lack of it in Marseilles and tyre punctures in the men's time trial also cost medals that would otherwise have been won. Goals achieved: UK Sports' target of 50-70 medals was achieved but not their aim of a top five finish due to the fall off in golds. They can make themselves feel better by looking at the American version of the medal table which has them in third place on total medals won. Future investment: Wealthy sports like cricket, football, golf, rugby and tennis are self-funding. For the others it will be a matter of reviewing their performances and adjusting funding accordingly. They'll also have to take into account the changes to the programme with baseball/softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse and squash coming in. Of the 2024 sports my guess is that sport climbing will do particularly well while judo may be one of the sports that sees a reduction in funding. Stars of 2028: Who knows at this stage! Four years is a long time in sport. I'm sure Keely Hodgkinson (athletics) will be a poster girl for GB while guys like Tom Pidcock (cycling) and Alex Yee (triathlon) will feature. If some of the big names in English cricket are there they'll also feature prominently.

I believe he was a character in The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

A reflection of the innate modesty of Lancastrians compared with their neighbours on the dry side of the Pennines, perhaps!

If you don't keep up the training results are bound to drop off.