OlympicsFan

Does anyone know if there will be an age limit at the Olympics next year? Mia Brookes from GB (born in 2007) could medal if she will be allowed to compete.

I can’t believe what I am seeing, both Blackwell and Josey insanely overscored by the two American judges. They are trying too hard to push one of their athletes on the podium. Thank god we will have different judges at the Olympics. The cheating in snowboarding might be even more blatant than in figure skating.

Both Hablützel and Josey disgustingly overscored. Looks like Höflich getting robbed. I guess if you aren’t from one of the traditional nations you have to be superior beyond belief to even have a chance to win a medal.

1) Obviously most junior world champions never reach the same level in the seniors, but Sweden has too many talents for all of them to fail. At least one of them will become world class. 2) You can’t just look at junior results, you also have to look at the age, the level of competition (did all the talents who were eligible compete?) and the gaps. Sweden has multiple girls who are already elite at junior level despite being younger than most of the other competitors.

Sweden will be good again in a couple of years, they have multiple very good talents.

Really surprised by Lienshuber. She actually might be able to challenge Shiffrin for Olympic gold next year!

Please tell me why Hungary is so good in fencing!!!

Women’s Sabre semifinals: Marton vs. Pusztai and Berder vs. Yoon Hungary looking very strong in women’s sabre, they might be the favorite in women’s team sabre at the Olympics? They had a 3rd girl in the top 16 (Katona), France had 4 in the top 16, South Korea and Russia both had 2 in the last 16, no other nation had more than 1.

Apparently it takes a generational talent like Lena Dürr to break their dominance ... (although Dürr will most likely DNF in the 2nd run or at least drop a couple of places) Only 5 different athletes finishing top 4 the whole season is a horrible sign. Not sure if there is any event with less variety at the top. Even luge might be more interesting in that regard.

Interesting that the two women who were criticized recently for their dangerously low body weight both withdrew.

Didn’t Shiffrin miss the first couple of races? I think there was also an Italian girl who was looking promising for the overall World Cup and then got injured ... ? Not sure how much relevance an overall World Cup win would have this season under those conditions. Edit: Lena Dürr in 3rd place after the first run ... the level of competition must be absolutely atrocious.

Her younger brother Henry also seems very talented, maybe he will also become world class.

Amazing development for Snowboard Germany overall. At this point Germany is probably the best European nation when it comes to freestyle snowboarding. Without Ettel‘s injury, Germany probably would have had top 10 finishes in all 4 slopestyle/halfpipe Events. The last time Germany had at least one top 10 finish in any of those events was in 2005.

Lol ... after stating multiple times in the past that you find freestyle snowboarding boring and don’t really watch it, you now try to act like some kind of expert. Might explain your horrible take about the medal winners. After reading many of your past comments it doesn’t surprise me though that the best and third best athletes from qualification not winning a medal in men’s slopestyle didn’t surprise. After all you are the best when it comes to making predictions AFTER the competition is over. I think there might have never been a result that you didn’t expect ... You should either stick to the sports you have a clue about or inform yourself next time before posting unsubstantiated nonsense. Thanks!

Insanely disappointing results for Germany today. Both Vockensperger and Morgan could have won a medal. Vockensperger would have won gold with his qualification score, instead another fluke gold for Norway.

1) Really stupid that there are 3 runs in women’s slopestyle but only 2 in men’s slopestyle. 2) Gu might become a superstar in China after the Olympics. She might help China to finish at least top 3 in medal table. I wonder how much China payed her to switch nationality?

Why?

Very true, especially since only 4 of the top 6 were born in 1998 or later and only 3 of those 4 weren’t from Russia. It is also concerning that at the last junior worlds of all the medals in women’s mogul only gold and silver didn’t go to someone from Russia. By the way: As far as I know there will only be a mixed aerials team event at the Olympics (which is equally nonsensical of course), but no mixed moguls team event.

Disappointing 11th place for Emma Weiss after a 7th place in qualification. She needs to improve by 5 to 6 points in order to fight for a medal.

Women’s slalom: Gold: Mathiou (Italy) Silver: Bostroem Mussener (Sweden) Bronze: A. J. Hurt (USA) Mathiou (2002) and Bostroem Mussener (2001) are young enough to come back next year. Very close race, the top 8 were within 0.68 seconds. Not sure if any of the girls can become world class, no one looked like a superior talent. Sadly another 4th (and 5th) place for Germany. This was the last competition (no downhill/combined/team this year), so here is the final standing of the Marc Hodler Trophy: 1) Austria 61 points 2) Italy 43 points 3) Sweden 40 points 4) Switzerland 36 points 5) Norway 35 points 6) Germany/USA 29 points 8) Slovenia 20 points Separated by gender: Men: 1) Austria 42 points 2) Switzerland 30 points 3) Norway 22 points 4) Italy 19 points 5) USA 16 points 6) Germany 10 points 7) France 8 points 8) Sweden/Slovenia 4 points Women: 1) Sweden 36 points 2) Italy 24 points 3) Austria/Germany 19 points 5) Slovenia 16 points 6) Norway/USA 13 points 8) Switzerland 6 points Biggest surprises for me: - Sweden has a lot of very good talents on the women’s side, they could become strong again at senior level in a couple of years. - The US has some nice talents again (Hurt and Ritchie). - France did very poorly for their standard, only 9 points overall (1 point better than Finland) and their best results were a 5th place in men’s Super G, a 9th place in men’s giant slalom and a 10th place in women’s slalom. - Germany and the US were surprisingly close to Norway and Switzerland in the Marc Hodler Trophy.

Thank god! There are way too many events in freestyle skiing already.

1) Sure, Germany has regressed in some events, but at the same time Germany has improved in other events (triple jump, men’s javelin, women’s distance running), this is just the way it goes. 2) It doesn’t make any sense to draw any conclusions from the results at the European indoor championships. The top 4 or 5 women didn’t even compete in the 60 m sprint (Lückenkemper, Mayer, Kwayie, Pinto) and in women’s 60 m hurdles Dutkiewicz and Roleder were missing.

Sure, Germany is weaker now than 20 or more years ago, but not weaker than 10 or 15 years ago. Also Germany not sure what you mean with „Germany seems to do better in field events these days“. I don’t remember a time when Germany (not GDR) did better in track events.

What are you criticizing? Personally I would prefer to only have the following events on the men’s side: Sprint freestyle Team sprint freestyle 10 km classic 10 km freestyle Not sure if the last two should be mass start or interval start. I think that mass start is more interesting, but it could be another easy gold for the best sprinters.

I am always amazed to see how seriously Poland takes European championships. GB and Germany on the other hand ...