rajiv

I heard that GB actually finished . The 3rd GB rider was smart enough to get on his bike and finish The Danes walked off without thinking Painful for Denmark but why isn't this a GB victory especially when it is quite normal to pass the other team's riders after all the lead Danish rider is 100% at fault It's not like the Australian equipment failure-this was totally a rider error ( and I much prefer Denmark to GB in everything )

That Australian goal by Kerr looked OK to me But I'm very cynical and suspect that the officials were instructed that all 50-50s go to Sweden as it's their turn

Track cycling just seems a matter of who is willing to spend the most money Spending on technology for one team only may be appropriate for Formula One or America's Cup but I think is totally inappropriate for the Olympic principle of universality Like every non Brit I really dislike their values If you look at the UK media you will see that even many Brits are very cynical about their cycling especially with the wide spread doping suspicions . Sure the individuals may be good athletes but it's DDR all over again This sport hardly exists outside the Olympics ( the Brits openly say they couldn't care less about non Olympic events for track cycling ) I know track cycling has a long history but that was when equipment was standardised It should be high on everyone's list of events to be dropped

Exactly fancy losing to a 3rd rate team like Australia

I'd be in favour of only having only one specialty stroke event ( the longer one -200m for the novelty strokes and 400m for IM ) Freestyle is to swimming as straight running events are to athletics All the other events are really novelty events . Races are about who is the fastest over a certain distance . Not about who is fastest with one hand tied behind your back

Well I'd say you are wrong USA has always done a lot better on Gold medals measures than Total medals measures . Go and check out historic medal tables Usually about 40% of their medals are gold ( China is similar ) If you are suggesting that USA only uses the Total medals measure when that measure favours them then you are also wrong in that . They have always used that system I'm second guessing here but I think USA prefers Total medals as it may ( and probably does ) measure better the overall strength of sport in a country ( eg 6 medals but none gold indicates a country is better at sport than a country with one sole gold medal ) ( Canada does the same but ,heh, Canada always follows Big Brother )

I'd say that countries who are excessively obsessed about the medal table like GB and China have long given this event a huge deal of thought and planning whereas I bet USA and Australia probably first really focused on this event yesterday But if this event stays I'm sure it will be different next time Yes I know all teams have an eye on the medal table but I'd say some more than others . Both USA and Australia don't really do all sports and all events whereas others like China and GB are always looking for low hanging fruit where money could mean medals

The captain of the Australian women's football team Sam Kerr is Anglo-Indian by origin

The hatred of Jessica Fox here is quite palpable

Japan seems to have eligiblity rules for it's rugby team similar to those that seem pretty standard in baseball and softball Although to be fair I expect that they are all fluent in the national language I know rugby is a pretty big sport in Japan and I guess they want to be competitive but just generally lack the big bodies required in home grown players ( although this doesn't seem to be a problem in sumo )

I expect that plenty of people here who don't come from countries with ocean coastline beaches and an accompanying surfing culture ( that includes all but about 4 European countries ) don't approve of surfing being on the programme But I'm sure they have no problem with snow sports especially mountain snow sports being Olympic events and don't give a thought to those from countries which don't have the climate and terrain for these sports Just an observation

The best leg by far in that relay was the final Australian leg by Chalmers

I'm only second guessing the Japanese public . Maybe I'm wrong -think there will be a lot of comment about this in the next few days I very much doubt that those sackings of key people would be Japanese initiated -they were leaned on by Westerners especially the Americans . I'm sure the Osaka choice will be applauded by the New York Times , NBC and all that crowd ( the ones who love "Imagine " ) What the people here think is neither here nor there Yes I do have a problem with Eurocentrism and European condescension towards others . ( I didn't know the abbreviation of Japan was JPN )

I bet there are very mixed feeling in Japan about Osaka . Sure they like having a Major winner with JAP after her name but many Japanese would not consider her really Japanese ( -I don't know how many ) But wokeness and NBC especially are very powerful and Diversity rules

Well that's your view Yes cricket has English origins Just like about half the sports at the Olympics Imagine saying that about football/soccer or water polo Although the inventor of basketball was a Scottish born Canadian both basketball and volleyball have American origins

Cricket is played at a high level in every continent . Now rather like the Israeli baseballers and the Italian softballers many countries can field a so called national team which really isn't ( ie composed of the South Asian diaspora )but there are 12 + senior or Test countries where the national team is full of genuine nationals ( unlike here ) (I say 12+ because the West Indies is a composite side of various independent Caribbean nations )

That's because they are mainly American born and bred

I note Australia has won a medal in this ridiculous minor sport every time it has been in the Olympics ( look it up ) The Gold medal game was always going to be between USA and Japan I note that Italy has a similar selection policy to that of the Israeli Baseball team ie look for foreigners who somehow can qualify Lets hope that these not very international sports are not seen again

Well it's true that Brisbane was a fait accompli but it is a very good choice . By far the best Olympics in my lifetime was Sydney so I 'd say they are very good at these things The major Australian cities already have great sporting infrastructure Brisbane is sub tropical so their "winter " is like a Northern European summer

I think India will get quite a shock how few medals they will win in Tokyo . I'm certainly not wishing this but performance in secondary events in non mainstream sports is a very poor indicator of Olympic performance . Some relatively unknown competitor from one of the Big Gun nations often appears and wins -all they care about are the Olympics not the world cup circuit

There are always a number of athletes who represent Ireland at the Olympics and then Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games . I saw somewhere that it is not unknown -but not much publicised -for some to actually be living on the Republic's side of the border . Only temporarily of course . An interesting issue is now Ireland is competing in Olympic team sports -hockey and rugby 7s . Which -unlike association football - have always been All Ireland teams There have always been Northerners who wouldn't want to join in the singing of the Republic's national anthem . Guess they just have to glare and look grim faced

Women's water polo has been in the last 5 Olympics Australia has 3 medals - a Gold and two bronzes plus a 4th and a 6th from these 5 games What is it with you eastern europeans and your anti non european stance . It's a constant meme here

I just saw this and am assuming you are talking about me . If not read no more I've played a bit of golf ( result of many years in Australia - wouldn't have happened in India ) and figure that unlike just about everyone else I've read here I actually know something about the sport . I very much doubt for instance many here would know one club from another . Indeed I had the golf bug for a few years . Most here have a golf knowledge limited to just looking at the flag next to a player's name -just as they do for many sports The no 300 player is pretty ordinary by pro standards and plays on a minor Tour because he wouldn't qualify for the US Tour and then the European Tour . ( Unless maybe he's just starting out as a pro ) ( actually there are probably many dozens of amateurs who are better ) Just check out say the Asian Tour which is regularly dominated by no name players from real golfing countries Much better to have 4 golfers from GB . South Africa , Australia etc than anyone from China , Malaysia , Finland etc if you want a serious competition . But maybe this is all theoretical as I expect few top 60 players to turn up for this mickey mouse tournament . (And these guys ranked above 200 will be lucky to break 80 )

All I can say is I do find it amazing that any non American would be cheering on an American . Or maybe a Russian or Chinese too Because : These countries win more than enough medals as it is and They are countries which have a more than an average chance of having dopers get medals

And well over a chain