OlympicsFan

Don’t know anything about the procedure, but it is safe to say that Romania would have been more competitive and probably would have „deserved“ it more. GB starting to care about handball (volleyball, basketball) would be good for the sport, but it doesn’t seem to be GB‘s strategy to focus on team sports. France on the other hand seems to care a lot more about team sports. I guess for GB it is enough to be (somewhat) competitive in football and rugby.

1) Milak went 21.8 in the 50 free in the same session afterwards, so not sure if he went all out in the 200 fly. 2) Milak swam a clear PB in the 50 free, so his speed is excellent. We‘ll see how it translates to the 100 fly.

They could do only mixed teams: Option a: 1 or 2 female Sabre/foil/epee + 1 or 2 male Sabre/foil/epee fencers -> 3 team events Option b: 1 male/female epee fencer + 1 male/female Sabre fencer + 1 male/female foil fencer -> 2 team events More nations that can realistically win a medal (= better tv ratings) + less athletes -> win-win for the IOC

Very encouraging end of the season for 19 year old Leon Ulbricht, one of the most positive German surprises across all winter sports this season.

I wasn’t alive during the heyday of German fencing, but I think that fencing used to be much more popular. Even 10-15 years ago there was more attention, someone like Britta Heidemann was somewhat popular. Now no one in Germany knows any of the fencers. I think Ebert getting injured also hurt the chances of the women’s foil team, but I am not sure how well positioned they were before her injury. Also Colin Heathcock suddenly deciding to compete for the U.S. probably didn’t help either. With him the men’s Sabre team might have had a better shot at qualifying. Personally I consider the tax payer money spent on fencing a huge waste of money and I wish that all the funding would be cut.

1) It isn’t always better to have 2 individual (Olympic) events. Focusing on one event can improve your medals chances, examples would be Manaudou, Proud or Armstrong. 2) He has a chance (probability greater than zero) to win a medal in the 200 back, but it is impossible to tell from the outside how big his chance is. So far he hasn’t shown anything to indicate that he could be one of the favorites for a medal. Training for the 200 back might destroy some of his speed, which could hurt him in the 100 back. At least the 200 back schedule doesn’t collide with the 100 back/4 x 100 free/4 x 100 Medley schedule, so it probably wouldn’t hurt too much to give it a try.

The course was dead after the first 5 or 10 guys. Nice result for Jacquelin, don’t see how he could equal the Norwegians with fair conditions though. Next year the fight for the blue jersey should be interesting. Perrot, Wright and multiple Norwegians should deliver an interesting fight. From a German perspective I hope that Kaiser, Kesper and Pfund will get the spots of Doll, Rees and Strelow/Horn. No point in dragging average talents along until they are 30 years old.

Nice to see that he has dreams, but he has never shown anything to indicate that he can come remotely close to Kos in the 200 back. He should save his energy for other events. Also I don’t see how Marchand and Ceccon are connected, Marchand obviously is lightyears ahead of Ceccon. Ceccon will have enough trouble to beat the Americans in the 100 back, Marchand is infinitely more dominant in the 400 IM. In addition to that I think that Marchand will try to go for 4 golds, otherwise they probably wouldn’t have changed the schedule so that he can swim the 200 fly and the 200 breast.

Both Germany and the Netherlands are trash teams, don’t think that the outcome of this match means anything in terms of medal contenders. Hopefully German tv won’t show much football at the Olympics. If the two German handball teams qualify as well, then this might turn into one of the biggest teams Germany ever sent to the Olympics. Sadly the Netherlands will get their revenge in women’s volleyball. Personally I would have preferred it the other way round (Germany qualifying in women’s volleyball and the Netherlands qualifying in women’s football).

Insane result, strongly doubt that he will be able to repeat it. Throwing 90 m less than half a year after turning 19 … I think previously the youngest guy to throw 90 m was someone who did it shortly before turning 22. Most guys only throw 90 m in their late twenties.

Women’s basketball and women’s football are almost unwatchable, there is just much more money on the men’s side and therefore the quality difference is bigger than in other sports. In tennis there isn’t a big difference when it comes to prize money and therefore women’s tennis is actually watchable. You probably have to avoid (regularly) watching men’s football/basketball if you want to enjoy women’s football/basketball. Someone who is used to eating in three star restaurants probably won’t enjoy eating at a soup kitchen either.

On the women’s side Spain can still dominate with their technique. On the men’s side other nations can destroy them with their physicality. The technical level on the women’s side overall is really shockingly bad. Maybe an African team can challenge Spain on the women’s side in some years. I find it interesting that France has a 99 % black team on the men’s side, but on the women’s side it is much more „balanced“. If France could get black women more engaged, they would probably be able to challenge Spain.

Sehr interessante Situation über 200/400/800/1500 m Freistil bei den Männern. Über jede der Strecken ist bereits ein Athlet qualifiziert. Werden Wellbrock und Märtens versuchen sich über 800 m Freistil zu qualifizieren? Wird Schwarz versuchen sich über 400 m Freistil zu qualifizieren? Was werden Klemet und Mühlleitner machen?

Ich bin auf Ndubuisi gespannt, vielleicht reicht es dieses Jahr schon für Olympia bei ihr.

Leider. Hoffentlich wird Gose nicht schwimmen und sich die Kraft für die 800 m Freistil sparen. Letztendlich wird die Staffel sowieso meilenweit entfernt von den Medaillen sein.

Bei Olympia muss sie wahrscheinlich ca. 0,5 s schneller schwimmen um eine Medaille zu gewinnen.

For selfish reasons I hope that the German team won’t qualify, otherwise German TV will show hours of their matches instead of showing sports that only have the Olympics to present themselves.

I think their superior material makes it very difficult for other nations to compete. German men have been much better than french men all season long, but suddenly the french men have faster skiing times. I think by 2026 the picture will be different, especially on the women's side. With world championships taking place every year, the value of a world title is pretty low.

Agreed that swimming doesn't need more events and also there should be less relay quotas, but i would rather cut the 4 x 200 free relay, since it is pretty much always super uncompetitive.

Didn't know that she is still considered relevant. When was the last time that she produced a fast time? I think even someone like Jansen might be more relevant, but we will see. I think Australia, USA, China and probably even GB are bigger favorites for Paris, so it might be best for McIntosh to drop the 4 x 100 free relay, but maybe things will look different after trials.

I know, i meant that Short and Hafnaoui both were non-factors. Hafanoui apparently ended his studies in the U.S. and then had to go back to Tunisia waiting for a new visa, so it is understandable that he wasn't anywhere near his best. He still has enough time to turn it around before Paris.

So many 4th places for Germany ... Maira Jasch finished 4th three times. Sonnekalb looks like the biggest male talent at the moment, he was very close to winning 2 individual golds (1000 m and 1500 m). I don't think that Germany ever had a talent like him. He can come back next year and finish the job. At this rate he could qualify for the olympics in 2026 as an 18 year old and make some waves there. Hopefully he can improve to something like 35.5/1:09.5/1:46.5 next season.

Ok

You mean because of 1954? More recently the hungarian team has usually been better than the sum of it parts and has often managed not to lose against teams that were much better on paper.

What about men's football? I think you usually overperform there.