Nickyc707

Interestingly, you didn't note that she underscored four of the six British and Dutch riders in comparison with the average of the judges as a whole, while a fifth was marked in line with the average. Of the six riders she only seems to have overmarked one in relation to the other judges, namely Pearson. You may have some sort of a case but I suspect you have overstepped into the very sensationalism which you feared. The main trends I saw were that the German consistently overmarked the riders from these two countries, while the Norwegian underscored them. Meanwhile, the Italian judge seemed to have some of the oddest views of the respective performances of the competitors.

Wells scored 75.651%. Leitch gave her the second lowest score of 74.419% so if your allegations are correct the fault lies with the three judges from other countries who boosted her score rather than with Leitch.

1984 was an oddity with the event held jointly either side of the Atlantic and this perhaps partly explains why the number of events were so much greater than any Games before or since. Added to which most of the Eastern bloc boycotted the Paralympics just as they had the LA Olympics.

GB have been in the top three at every Games since 1960 bar 1976, 1980 and 1996. Repeatedly second and destined now never to be first given China's recent hegemony. Medals by Summer GamesEdit Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank 1960 Rome 53 20 15 20 55 2 1964 Tokyo 39 18 23 20 61 2 1968 Tel Aviv 75 29 20 20 69 2 1972 Heidelberg 72 16 15 21 52 3 1976 Toronto 87 29 29 36 94 5 1980 Arnhem 96 47 32 21 100 5 1984 Stoke Mandeville/New York 227 107 112 112 331 2 1988 Seoul 231 65 65 53 183 3 1992 Barcelona 209 40 47 41 128 3 1996 Atlanta 248 39 42 41 122 4 2000 Sydney 215 41 43 47 131 2 2004 Athens 167 35 30 29 94 2 2008 Beijing 212 42 29 31 102 2 2012 London 288 34 43 43 120 3 2016 Rio de Janeiro 265 64 39 44 147 2 2020 Tokyo 227 2024 Paris future event 2028 Los Angeles future event 2032 Brisbane future event Total 626 584 579 1789 2

Bit early to make any judgements after only around 20% of the programme but you've got to factor in the return of the Russians and the significant advances of countries like Italy.

Her 65th Paralympic, WC and EC gold medal after breaking her 76th WR earlier today.

I had wondered how Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh got into that side in 1998! ? Agreed they need to show intent and on the surface it sounds like they are finally singing from the same hymn sheet but we shall see. Certainly it would benefit the wider game but the most powerful nations are not known for their lack of selfishness.

No idea where they got those figures from but with more than ten million immigrants from cricket playing countries in the Caribbean and South Asia there is a significant base particularly in the big cities like New York. There are now more than 6,000 teams playing across the US and the country is the second biggest source of clicks on cricket websites after India.

Actually control falls more within a triumvirate of India, England and Australia and nothing much happens unless they all agree.

I agree pushing for inclusion in Brisbane would make much more sense. In the longer term I think giving the IOC access to the huge South Asian market is a significant advantage for the sport which will strengthen its case for inclusion at some stage.

In the longer term cricket is going to be much more attractive to the IOC as it offers the prospect of a much greater global audience and in particular access to South Asia but LA does seem an illogical choice to push for the sport's introduction. Brisbane would seem to make far more sense.

England's opposition was due to the Olympics falling in the middle of the English cricket season with the disruption this would cause. I'm not sure what India's objections were.

Netball is pushing for inclusion at Brisbane 2032. https://www.bbc.com/sport/netball/58146088

With England and India now on board the ICC is making a major push for cricket's inclusion in the Olympic programme for Los Angeles 2028. https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/2211253

I suggest you contact the British Olympic Committee who will confirm that they make no claim on these medals and do not include them in their medal tallies.

GB does not claim the Pritchard medals as being British. I don't know where you got that idea from.

Can't disagree with most of what you've said. Initially GB had a target of 54-92 medals which was subsequently reduced to 45-70 due to the difficulties and uncertainties caused by the pandemic. Personally I was expecting a tally in the low 50s while secretly hoping for something in the high 50s so 65 exceeded my expectations and comfortably met UK Sport's target. Indeed but for the Covid forced withdrawal of Amber Hill and injuries to one or two key athletes like KJT they might easily have surpassed Rio which would have been a remarkable achievement and worthy of a 10/10 score. Sports like boxing (+3), equestrian (+2), modern pentathlon (+2), sailing (+2) which have always been reliable contributors to GB medal hauls stood tall, while swimming (+2) has proven a growing area of strength. Cycling, diving, taekwondo and triathlon also continued with their solid contributions which was particularly satisfying in the case of the former as there were concerns about a drop off in success on two wheels. Growth in MTB and both BMX racing and freestyle helped to prevent that. The three sports that saw significant falls were rowing (-3), canoeing (-2) and gymnastics (-4). Rowing had internal problems and there were suggestions that their high altitude training had gone wrong. It was also a hugely inexperienced squad with 80% newcomers. Margins are small and if they had turned some of their six fourth places into medals they would not be facing the level of criticism they have received. Most of GB's success in canoeing has come from slalom and in Tokyo I don't believe they had their strongest men's team. The selection process used saw the elimination of then reigning Olympic champion Joe Clarke and multiple medallist David Florence both of whom would I believe have strengthened the team. Gymnastics is an increasingly competitive sport as we see the spread of medals among different countries increase every cycle. The question facing some countries is do we concentrate on winning team or individual apparatus medals. The strongest can do both while the less strong probably aren't going to challenge for team medals anyway and should target individual apparatus. I think GB managed to fall between the two choices leaving question marks about their selections. I may be wrong but I believe they are returning to five member teams in 2024 so that should help solve some of the selection quandries. GB performed at about par in athletics with six medals although we missed out on gold for the first time since Atlanta. On the downside were the injuries to KJT, DAS and Gemili. One of my biggest frustrations in sport are the apparently never ending injuries and niggles to British track & field athletes. On the upside is the revival of British middle distance running with medals in both men's and women's 1500m and women's 800m. The saddest story of this cycle from a British perspective has been the decline of the men's 400m flat and hurdles, two events in which the country has a rich history and which also applies by extension to the 4x400m relay. More support in this area and in field events should be a priority for UK Athletics. Anyway overall it's been a great games with some outstanding performances from athletes not only of GB but of many nations who have had to overcome incredibly difficult preparations. Well done Japan and well done to all the officials and helpers for delivering something to remember and lift the spirits after the traumas of the past two years.

Is it France underperforming, other countries raising their game for the Olympics or a combination of the two? You mentioned disappointing results in athletics and swimming but I was also shocked by the results from cycling a sport in which historically France has been the most successful nation. It's difficult to believe that France won't get a bounce in Paris but what are the powers that be doing to ensure it happens? Is there anyone out there putting any pressure on them or don't people care?

The only remaining thing to be decided among the top ten countries is whether France can overtake Germany and Italy to finish 8th by winning the women's handball final.

I don't think China have ever had a clean sweep in diving. They always fail to win 1-2 of the events.

If GB win the middleweight boxing final they are guaranteed fourth spot in the medal table. If not the ROC can overtake them if they win the women's handball final.

I'm not so sure. This OG was in China's own backyard and they were always going to raise their game for Tokyo. I'm not convinced that they'll be quite so driven in 2024.

I think you're being a little unfair to rowing. As always margins are small. In 2016, seven GB crews had top four finishes. This time eight did so. The problem was too many fourths of course. Of the 41 rowers selected 33 were making their debut which helps to explain the reduction in medals but hopefully they will benefit from the experience gained in Tokyo in three years time. Incidentally rowing didn't have the biggest fall off in medals. Three sports had a reduction of more than one medal between 2016 and 2020: Gymnastics -4 Rowing -3 Canoeing -2

The women's middleweight boxing final between China and GB is likely to be decisive in determining either the 1st or 4th place finishers and possibly both. Apart from Lauren Price, GB have competitors in three other events: cycling's women's omnium (Laura Kenny) and men's kierin (Jack Carlin & Jason Kenny) and the men's marathon (Callum Hawkins, Chris Thompson & Ben Connors).

I think he resigned before he was fired.