dodge

The push comes from Russian money. Nobody is bribing them to ban Russians, but they sure get a lot of money if they cancel the ban. Fencing is a small sport where Russians have a ton of influence as they are one of the three top European nations besides Italy and France. I am sure certain people in FIE got their bribes. It's very important for Russia to have their athletes at the Games, they know it very well that it would be a big win for them on the international stage as it would be a sign that the world doesn't care enough about the war or Ukraine to sever ties with Russia and its people for a longer period of time.

I’m OK with the Dutch federation doing this. Most federations have rules in place that effectively mean boxers have to abide by what they say/do.
 
As has been said she can still compete in boxing without going near the Olympics 

Decisions have consequences. She is entitled to follow her own reasoning and ignore the decision of the national federation. The federation subsequently is wholly in its right to remove her from the team and cut her financing. What signal would they give to other athletes: that it’s OK to ignore the federation at your convenience, and suffer no negative consequences? 

The official Olympic rankings are now live on the UCI site. Only the 2023 Europeans count for now
 
 

I think that if France finish in the top 4 of the World Series then the 5th place team gets an automatic place at the Olympics

I’ll have a go for  
 
Athletics - 15
 
Quietly optimistic about Irish athletics. I’m hoping Rhasidat Adeleke continues her development at 400m. We’d need at least one relay team to reach 15 but I think we can do it
 
Badminton - 1
 
Just Nhat Nguyen in the mens
 
Boxing - 8
 
5 women and 3 men. Amy Broadhurst has moved to 66kg and I’m predicting she’ll win gold in Paris. 2 medals in Tokyo, we will surpass that
 
Canoe Slalom - 1
 
We have 3 decent C1 paddlers and they’ll get one of the quotas and fight for it between them
 
Cycling Road - 3
 
2 men and 1 woman for the first time. Mia Griffin is a world tour rider this year and I’m putting her down in hope more than expectation
 
Cycling Track - 4
 
the women’s pursuit team will qualify and compete in the madison too
 
Diving - 2
 
Hopeful that Tanya Watson will return and Jake Passmore graduates from the junior ranks
 
Equestrian - 7
 
show jumping and eventing are already in. We’ll add a solo dressage competitor. The show jumping team will win a medal. 
 
Golf - 4
 
Any number of men could join McIlroy. Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow will go to their 3rd games. Medal chances in men’s and women’s 
 
Gymnastics - 2
 
Rhys McClenaghan in pommel and an all round woman, probably Emma Slevin. Hoping our world champ can get that Olympic medal 
 
Modern Pentathlon - 1
 
Natalya Coyle is rumoured to be on the comeback trail. Sive Brassil may qualify too 
 
Rowing - 18
 
Mens and women’s fours. Men’s and women’s lightweight sculls. Men’s and women’s pair. Women’s double. 2 medals with McCarthy and O’Donovan retaining gold. 
 
Rugby 7s - 24
 
Initially I was pessimistic about our chances to qualify but I now think our men will win at the Euro qualifier and the women will get in at the last chance qualifier. Medal chance for the men (outside)
 
Sailing - 3
 
49er and Laser Radial. Laser is a possibility too. Going young Eve McMahon gets the nod at radial 
 
Swimming - 6
 
No relay this time but 6 individual with Daniel Wiffen being an outside chance of a medal in the distance events in the pool
 
Taekwondo - 1
 
Jack Woolley will make his second games and anything could happen. 
 
Other sports were we have chances to qualify include Hockey (very much a down year for men and women), Triathlon (our Olympians effectively took 2022 off), weightlifting (because the qualification rules are insane) and shooting (men’s and women’s trap are somewhat competitive).

The small countries with half decent 400m runners, one of which I live in, will probably have to concentrate on the mixed. 
 
very odd scheduling though

Thank you @vinipereira for all the hard work here! The video is amazing. I'd share it widely but fear the IOC etc would take it down!!#
 
The awards are an interesting reminder of how wrong many of you about sport too*
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
*just kidding  

The year in sports brought us a lot of joy, tears and excitement, not only for the athletes competing, but for Totallympics members around the world. As we say goodbye to the returning edition of our annual awards, here's hope that 2023 can also be a memorable year for all sports fans. For now, we'll remember the moments that united us in 2022, presenting the theme song for this edition: TISC winner "Superheroes", by Irish band The Script.
 
 

 
Thank you all! Have a great year and until the next Totallympics Awards!
 

The RTE sports personality of the year was awarded tonight. The main award for Irish sport  
 
Sports personality of the Year : Katie Taylor (boxing)
 
Team of the Year : Men’s Lightweight double sculls - Paul O’Donovan/Fintan McCarthy (rowing)
 
Young SPOTY : Rhasidat Adeleke (athletics)
 
Manager of the year : Vera Pauw (football)

The RTE sports personality of the year was awarded tonight. The main award for Irish sport  
 
Sports personality of the Year : Katie Taylor (boxing)
 
Team of the Year : Men’s Lightweight double sculls - Paul O’Donovan/Fintan McCarthy (rowing)
 
Young SPOTY : Rhasidat Adeleke (athletics)
 
Manager of the year : Vera Pauw (football)

Obviously I agree with number one but I’m not even sure Harrington makes the squad. I think Amy Broadhurst will win gold at either 60 or 66kg
 
Rhys can win gold. Or win nothing. Such is pommel. 
 
bizarre as this may sound. I also see a path for the men’s rugby 7s to win gold even though I could see them struggling to qualify! The sport is very unpredictable but our lads have beaten all the top teams. 

Basically we're talking about the TV age because nothing before that is "remembered" but for a long time, Ronnie Delany winning gold in the 1500m in Melbourne 1956 was Ireland's last gold medal so it was very high up in the sporting consciousness 
 
Anyway, here's my suggestions for  
 
1) Katie Taylor winning gold in 2012. In the views of Irish people, and supported by plenty outside of Ireland, there would be no Olympic boxing without her. She is still Ireland's most popular athlete as she tops the pro ranks too
 
2) Sonia O'Sullivan's Olympic roller-coaster. 4th in 1992, she was red hot favourite in 1996 having overcome the Chinese wave. Some thought she just had to show up to win. Illness ruined those chances and it took a while for her to recover any form. Her silver in Sydney in 2000 was a national relief and she absolutely deserved at least one Olympic medal for an amazing career. Irish people *love* a redemption story and Sonia wore every bit of her omtion on her sleeve
 
3) Paul O'Donovan (and friends). Paul and Gary O'Donovan gained worldwide recognition for their after race interviews in 2016 on their way to Silver in Rio. 5 years later, Fintan McCarthy had replaced Gary and the Irish lightweight double was unbeatable. Paul is a star and one of only 3 Irish men to win medals at two games
 
4) John Treacy winning silver in the Marathon in 1984. Mainly because of an amazing piece of commentary from RTE's JImmy Magee who listed every Irish medalist until then as Treacy ran the final 100m. The clip was used a lot when I was growing up and still pops up all the time on sporting montages
 
 
5) Michael Carruth wins gold in 1992. Boxing has always had a special place in the Irish consciousness and it has been our most successful Olympic sport 9and continues to be so) but Carruth winning gold was the first time for boxing and indeed the first time since 1956 for Ireland in any sport.
 
Michelle Smith winning 3 golds in 1996 was obviously massive at the time but she's rarely mentioned now...
 
 

Australia as an asian country, Israel "expelled" to be an European country, not sure if I would classify that as normal haha

England are the worlds best. So it is still an upset 
 
Great stat put out earlier though
 
 
 
4 games v Netherlands and Ireland. 3 defeats and a no result  

England are the worlds best. So it is still an upset 
 
Great stat put out earlier though
 
 
 
4 games v Netherlands and Ireland. 3 defeats and a no result  

The IBA has banned Ukraine’s federation and all their boxers
 
Boxing, one of my favourite Olympic sports, is done 
 
 

The IBA has banned Ukraine’s federation and all their boxers
 
Boxing, one of my favourite Olympic sports, is done 
 
 

The IBA has banned Ukraine’s federation and all their boxers
 
Boxing, one of my favourite Olympic sports, is done 
 
 

Finalists in Olympic class events (14 max)
 
11
10
8
4  
3
2  
1
 
China and Austria have no men's qualifiers. Italy, Czechia, Estonia, Moldova, Norway, Poland and Serbia have no women's qualifiers. Figures includes the women 8 where there were no qualification races
 

Final Medal Table (Olympic events only)
 
 4 / 1 / 3
 3 / 0 / 0
 1 / 7 / 1
 1 / 1 / 0
 1 / 0 / 2
 1 / 0 / 0
 1 / 0 / 0
 1 / 0 / 0
 1 / 0 / 0
 0 / 2 / 0
 0 / 1 / 4
 0 / 1 / 1
 0 / 1 / 1
 0 / 0 / 1
 0 / 0 / 1

Finalists in Olympic class events (14 max)
 
11
10
8
4  
3
2  
1
 
China and Austria have no men's qualifiers. Italy, Czechia, Estonia, Moldova, Norway, Poland and Serbia have no women's qualifiers. Figures includes the women 8 where there were no qualification races
 

Finalists in Olympic class events (14 max)
 
11
10
8
4  
3
2  
1
 
China and Austria have no men's qualifiers. Italy, Czechia, Estonia, Moldova, Norway, Poland and Serbia have no women's qualifiers. Figures includes the women 8 where there were no qualification races
 

I'm not sure. Possibly it could mean they have declared for individual classes as well, but that's just a guess.
 
At any rate, the entries are still provisional with Morocco still missing (so far) and some riders not having their horse picks listed.

Magnus quick to point out he's the only one without a world championship medal in the family. Megan won bronze at track as a junior