Nickyc707

So this was how you gatecrashed the event Hckosice?

Details of the additional spots awarded to GB. http://rio.paralympics.org.uk/news/article/additional-seven-athletes-selected-for-paralympicsgb

I'd like to echo Hckosice's comments regarding Quasit's contribution! ☺

Perhaps if you weren't so obviously ignorant you would have been aware that Armistead and Ohurougo were taken to task in both the written and broadcast media for their missed tests. Not sure why you think athletes like Farah or Froome should be attacked though. Of course, you don't want to discuss it! As the Donald Trump of this site you prefer to make outrageous and unsubstantiated attacks and then start to flail about when anyone stands up to you and exposes the patent nonsense which you propound.

So if you were being slandered or libelled you wouldn'the defend yourself? If as you imply it is somehow down to doping how do you think they get away with it given the regularity with which they are tested - and the big stars get tested even more regularly. Even if you somehow believe that the UK anti-Doping authority are in league with British Cycling, if there was anything untoward the British press would be all over it. Their priority has always been selling papers and they don't care who they upset in pursuit of a story. Because of the way UK Sport funds the Olympic sports in GB the OG's are the only thing that counts in maintaining that support. WC performances and medals only matter in so far as they contribute to winning Olympic medals. You may not like that focus but that is how the system works and it delivers success at the OG's albeit it sometimes comes at the expense of performances in other competitions. Of course, it may just be down to the "magical wheels" alluded to by the French in 2012. At least they did until it was pointed out they were produced by the same French manufacturer that they themselves use.

The athletes would argue that it was down to hard work rather than luck! I didn't expect rather than hope that any of them would win medals but all those who did were among those I had identified as being capable of doing so - I tried to identify a hundred medal possibilities before the Games on the basis that around 50% succeed. For instance both Scott and Kneale have won WC medals in double trap in the past two years and were well capable of success here.

Glad you're happier today, Quasit! 3-3-6 with hopefully a medal for Andrew Willis to add later tonight against 2-3-4 in London at the end of day 5. Starts getting a bit harder from tomorrow but I think we'll still be ahead of the game at the end of day 6. Apart from the medallists there were also good perfromances from the men's rugby 7s team - into the semi-finals - and the women's hockey team both of which maintained their 100% records.

I understand where you are coming from but regretting that 4th and 5th places weren't turned into medals is the way to insanity, especially as the margins are so small. We are not going to win as many medals as 2012 and the main fall off will be in golds. We will see a fall off in some sports in numbers and/or colour but we will likely see an improvement in others, e.g. swimming, diving, shooting and possibly athletics.

I think you underestimated Daley & Goodfellow. Although they have only been together a year they have had regular top three finishes on the World Cup circuit and were one of the favourites for a medal. By contrast James Guy has been a bit below last year's form throughout 2016, so was always going to find it difficult to repeat last year's individual performances. So far GB stand at 1-3-2 compared with 0-2-2 after four days in London. We may not get 6 golds in a day like 2012 but then realistically we were never going to get 65 medals this time, but something closer to 50. This is still very much achievable so don't be too pessimistic so early on.

Not totally unexpected. He won silver at the 2014 WC and lost a shoot off for bronze at the 2015 European Games.

You make a valid point about WADA's plans to develop reliable anti-doping controls in Russia. However, that is going to require a genuine acceptance across Russian sport including administrators, coaches and athletes as well as the country's politicians that there is a major problem if the necessary level of cooperation is going to be achieved to move forward on this. At present too many people still seem to be in denial. The McLaren Report covers the period from 2011-2015, but it is clear that the problems since the closure of the Moscow lab and the introduction of neutral testers have been significant with evasion and obstructionism in many cases as outlined in the WADA report published in June. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/36542577

It is really very simple, the relevant authorities in the UK - I can't speak for the US - simply do not condone the use of drugs and take a hardline against those who do use them. In contrast the Russian authorities apparently not only condone it but actively participate in it. It would be very difficult for a high profile athlete in the UK to getaway with doping because of the frequency with which they are tested both in and out of competition. One of the common complaints from our athletes is the frequency with which they are tested compared with many other countries and the constant need to provide the testers with details of where they will be so that they can be tested at any time. That is the frustration that British and I dare say athletes from many other countries feel when they comply with the rules but there is either laxity or complete disregard for the rules in some countries. Of course, the case of Russia, and there may be others, goes far beyond even that. I said that all British and American athletes are not clean because there are always likely to be a few bad apples. I suppose the most high profile British athlete to be banned would be sprinter Dwain Chambers who the BOC banned from all Olympic competition until WADA overruled them. As for the Americans if you've failed to see any of their high profile athletes being banned you haven't been paying much attention. I even mentioned one name , i.e. Justin Gatlin in my previous post.

The claims about Russia were made some time ago and a report on their activities has only just been delivered. Meanwhile the newspaper claims about a Kenyan doctor giving drugs to British athletes were made just nine days ago, so obviously no one has had time to do anything in terms of completing an investigation. For what it is worth UK Anti-Doping have sent two investigators to Kenya, although the Kenyans who made the original allegation now appear to be backing off the claims. In addition UK Athletics say they have never heard of the doctor in question and take their own medical staff with them to all their training camps. We'll have to see what comes out when a final report is delivered but it is totally unrealistic to expect it to be so less than ten days after the allegation was made.

Are all American and British athletes clean. The answer is no, but in the case of GB - I can't speak for the US - the BOC has always taken a hardline against drug cheats and, until forced to overturn the rule by WADA, they banned them for life. Denmark was the only other country to take a similar line. If any British athlete has used drugs in order to enhance their performance then I hope they will be exposed by the testers in Rio. As has been mentioned elsewhere there is a world of difference between state sponsored doping on a mass scale as occurred in the old East Germany and now appears to be the case in Russia, and individual coaches and athletes using drugs to cheat the competition in countries like the US. Both are unacceptable but clearly the former is much more serious simply because of the breadth of it and the collusion of various organs of the state. I'm sorry to see that much of the debate has been political rather than considering the effect of doping/cheating on the athletes. Firstly, those who are being cheated out of medals and the financial benefits that may go with them, but equally those Russian athletes who have been placed under pressure to take drugs in order to pursue a political agenda and by doing so are placing their health at risk. Will Russia be banned from Rio? My guess is yes or the IOC and the Olympic Games will have no credibility left. If Russia was present each time her athletes won a medal there would be a huge cloud over both them and the event. Will there be drug cheats present in Rio? Undoubtedly, and we can only hope that they are caught no matter which country they originate from and exposed to the ridicule and punishment they fully deserve. I for one am sick of having to see proven drug cheats like Gatlin and Efimova lining up at major championships and favour lifetime bans.

According to the English language version you have rather more than 13! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile_at_the_2016_Summer_Olympics

The UK is divided not least on a generational basis with the young voting strongly to stay and older people voting to leave. However, it worth remembering that when the UK last voted on this issue in 1974, England was the strongest supporter of EU membership followed by Wales and Northern Ireland with Scotland the least enthusiastic. 42 years later and that order is completely reversed. Scotland will have another referendum on independence but only if the SNP government is certain it can win it. They would still have to leave the EU though and apply for membership. Is that guaranteed given the views of some of the other countries, e.g. Spain? As for Northern Ireland there will be no referendum on either independence of Irish unification as there is simply too little support for either. I'm sure the UK And Irish Republic will work together to try and maintain an open border in so far as that is possible. As for Gibraltar this isn't actually part of the UK but a self-governing (except defence and foreign affairs) British Overseas Territory. The same old pattern will occur with both sides maintaining their intransigent positions. This will only change when Spain starts reaching out to Gibraltarians in a positive way instead of trying to bully them. In any event Gibraltar's future will be decided by its own people not by the Spanish Foreign Minister in Madrid making inflammatory statements.

Huge day for us in the UK and I guess Europe in general as we vote in the EU referendum. I voted Remain just after 7am this morning and I hope that a majority of my fellow citizens will do likewise, but it may well be very close. 46.5m people are registered to vote including citizens of Ireland, Malta and Cyprus living in the UK or Gibraltar. The polling stations opened at 7am and close at 10pm with counting beginning immediately afterwards.

Football Golf and Tennis - Give it more time. I think an Olympic title in tennis has grown in kudos over the past 30 years and may grow to have equivalence in the mind of the top tennis players in the future. Certainly I'd take a bet that Federer and Djokovic would give up one of their GS titles for an OG singles title. Golf is only just about to return to the OG so it is no contest re the majors at the moment. Time may change it, as I think it is gradually in tennis, but it'll be a long time before we know. The signs aren't good however. Golfers, particularly the American ones, are massively pampered and reluctant travellers. In tennis the top tournaments take place in many different countries, while of golf's top eight tournaments (the 4 majors and 4 WGC events) six take place in the US. In the case of the WGC events this is because of the reluctance of the top American (and they are not alone) players to travel which doesn't bode well for their commitment to Olympic participation even without the zika virus. Cycling - Road cycling probably, although for all other forms I would say the OG are the tops. Boxing - Unless they dump the misguided introduction of professionals. Rugby Sevens - In the purely sevens format definitely the OG, but across all forms of the game it is the RWC. So football and golf unequivocally and some others with provisos.

For the powerlifting you may find this information of use. http://www.paralympic.org/sites/default/files/document/160228103504764_FINAL+MENS+PR_IPC+PO_0.pdf http://www.paralympic.org/sites/default/files/document/160228103649807_FINAL+WOMENS+PR_IPC+PO_1.pdf

The qualification period for powerlifting concluded at the end of February. At the time I identified which of the athletes from my country had qualified myself as I couldn't find a definitive list. It wasn't easy because some athletes qualify in more than one weight category and until you know which one they intend to compete in it is difficult to identify all of the final qualifiers in each event. As I said I managed to identify which Brits had qualified but I had to wait until they were officially selected on 18th April before I knew which weight they would be lifting in. The qualification period for wheelchair fencing also recently concluded but I haven't been able to establish who the qualifiers are.

I think that if you qualify four players in the men's or women's singles you can field two doubles teams from the singles qualifiers.

While the qualification period for tennis ended on 23/5/16 for fencing it does not end until today. I don't know if there is any official news on the tennis quotas yet and I'm afraid I've only worked out those for my own country so far.

Possibly not in Rio - at least their track and field athletes - at the rate their administrators and politicians are moving. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/35964938

By the way I'm surprised that a number of people think Germany won't make the top ten. As I'd have thought they were a banker I'd be interested to know why there is some pessimism about their chances.

If you add money combined with population it is difficult to look beyond the big five from Europe - France, Germany, GB, Italy & Russia - and the big five from the Pacific Rim - Australia, China, Japan, South Korea & USA. However, one and sometimes two of these countries has a poor games at each Olympics and so someone else can make it into the top ten. If this happens in 2016, NZ is my first choice and Hungary my second.