OlympicsFan

I don't agree about throwing out the 400 free, also pretty absurd take to have 2 butterfly/IM events and only 3 individual freestyle events, despite the freestyle being far more competitive and popular, but for a hungarian this take isn't too surprising. My program for individual events would be: 100/200/400/1500 free, 100/200 back/fly/breast, 200/400 IM Not sure what to do with the relays, i think i would have the 4x100 free relays and a mixed medley relay. The longer the distance, the bigger the gaps and therefore the less interesting the relays. The 4x200 free relays usually have 4 medals contenders at best. It is pretty much the same with the 4x400 m relays in athletics.

I think there is far less diversity than in athletics or even taekwondo, so there is no reasonable explanation (if you don't consider the US buying as many medal events in their best sports a reasonable explanation) for swimming to have that many events. If you are the 2nd best american athlete in the 100 free and you are also decent in the 200 free, you are already pretty much guaranteed 4 medals (4x100 free, 4x200 free, medley relay, mixed medley relay). If you are equally good but were born in a smaller country, you win 0 medals (despite having the exact same abilities).

I wish Saunders wouldn't win a medal.

Yes, absolutely disgusting. Auffarth was expected to fail, but i never expected this from Jung. Best case scenario is one minor medal by Krajewski, very disappointing result.

Perfect olympics for Brazil in swimming. All their medal contenders (Fratus) delivered and then they also won a medal by a complete nobody (Schaffer). I think they won more medals on the men's side than Japan and as many medals as Japan and China combined ...

Obviously the main reason is the fact that the US forced morning finals on everyone else. Not easy to be at your best when you have to do it at 3 AM. I am sure that we will see a differet picture in 2024.

Lol is the correct reaction. Wellbrock/Paltrinieri/Romanchuk dominated men's distance freestyle for the whole olympiad and then this nobody comes around and makes them look like amateurs. He is probably dirty enough to glow in the dark.

Sadly another expected gold for Finke. This guy has one of the most absurd progressions i have ever seen. From complete nobody to dominating Wellbrock/Romanchuk/Paltrinieri, the athletes who dominated men's distance freestyle for years, within a year. If i ever hear another american crying about russian doping again, i will cause a massacre. The US is the dirtiest country of them all, yet their fans somehow find a way to be stupid enough to think that they are the victim.

Great start for my predictions. I only got 4/9 medalists right ... I guess we will see a lot of surprises in athletics. My predictions for tomorrow's events: Women's shot put: Gong, Adams, Saunders Men's high jump: Before the competition i had Ivanjuk, Nedasekau, Harrison, but now i think that almost anyone in the final has a realistic chance. Women's triple jump: Rojas and 2 out of Rickets/Peleteiro/Povea/Mamona, although a medal for Lafond of course would be amazing. Men's 100 m: No idea, but i would be very surprised if De Grasse (and to some degree Simbine) wouldn't medal. Italy might win a medal (something i didn't consider possible) tomorrow thanks to Randazzo/Jacobs. I never thought that Jacobs could go that fast on the biggest stage, very "remarkable" development by him this year. Italian athletics is on a big upswing, i think they will have multiple medal contenders in Paris and might be better than Germany for example.

Really unfortunate for Germany that Schauffele decided to compete for the US instead.

Completely stupid event. Mixed relays make some sense, but mixed events where the individual performances are just added up and don't really have anything to do with each other are completely pointless. Why not make a mixed football event: Final ranking in men's tournament + final ranking in women's tournament and the nation with the highest average finish gets a gold medal ...

So where do the other 6 medals in athletics come from?

GB and the US both having multiple runners in women's 800 m final while doping countries Ethiopia and Kenya only combine for one finalist, but i am sure that it is only due to their great coaches and not their doping programs.

Dissgraceful that this joke event counts for the medal table.

I feel very sorry for his partner.

I think Andrade's medal was your best medal considering that women's gymnastics is one of the most competitive sports. Also bronze in men's 200 freestyle was very impressive, considering that this is one of the most competitive disciplines in swimming. A medal in volleyball would also be very impressive.

No mention of Okagbare ... ?

Yes, but you don't need a mixed relay for that. Mixed relays were always promoted as a way for smaller nations, that don't have enough elite athletes for traditional relays, to compete for a medal. At the moment most mixed relays are basically just another free medal for the big nations and don't add any new dimension to the program. I think that mixed archery doubles is a good example of a mixed event that makes sense, swimming mixed medley relays for example are the complete opposite.

Shockingly slow women's 800 free, Quadarella probably can't believe her luck, completely out of shape and still bronze, same was true for Paltrinieri in men's 800 free. Wellbrock and Köhler threw away two ultra easy medals despite clearly being in shape. Their coach must be super frustrated, he told them exactly what to do and from the first moment of the race they did exactly the opposite.

What a pointless event. Makes no sense to add a relay where only the big nations can medal.

Yes, that is my impression as well. I would say Kambundji/Asher-Smith/Jackson might have an outside shot. In the 100 m a disqualifcation always is a possibility and in that case the fight for bronze could be very open.

Pinto actually was really good compared to expectations. I don't think Germany is your main competitor, Switzerland looks much more dangerous. Depending on the level of Richardson, Switzerland and GB might actually be the favorites for silver and bronze. Germany good hit hard by the injuries of Lückenkemper and Mayer, with those two in normal shape, Germany would probably be favorite for silver. I think realistically 42 low would be a very good time for Germany (especially thanks to the lack of relay training) and both GB and Switzerland should be able to go sub 42.

I think Thompson, SAFP and Ta Lou are a lock for the final and Jackson/Neita/Asher-Smith/Kambundji/Del Ponte are the favorites for the remaining spots, the americans are pretty hard to read at this point. GB could have two women in the final or none, at this point a medal for Asher-Smith would be surprising.

Would make sense and would be nice to see (her disappear). Whenever a country pays insane amounts of money for medals (like Singapore or Hong Kong) it basically translates to "We don't care if you dope, just win a medal".

South African swimming is ultra suspicious. Somehow they always find someone who becomes elite very quickly. First Van der Burgh, then Le Clos and now Schoenmaker, kind of reminds me of Hungary. Whenever someone fades away, suddenly some new generational talent magically turns up. Will be interesting to watch the progression of Sates/Coetze/Du Preez. All of them were completely irrelevant at junior level and then during the pandemic their performances completely exploded.