OlympicsFan

Ultra disgusting performance by Dygert, she must be on the same juice that her coach was on in 2016. Compared to her Johann Mühlegg looked like a choir boy. I guess at this point noone in the US just gives a shit anymore about how they are perceived. Wilson, Coleman and many others were caught but were allowed to just walk away, so there really isn't any incentive for american athletes to not dope.

[hide] Event & Date Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Women's Marathon Day 1, September 27 2019 Rose Chelimo Shitaye Eshete Desi Jisa Mokonin Ruti Aga Shure Demise X Roza Dereje Lonah Chemtai Salpeter X Sara Dossena Any Japanese Athlete Ruth Chepngetich X Visiline Jepkesho Edna Kiplagat Helaria Johannes Any Portuguese Athlete Any Other Athlete Women's Hammer Throw Day 2, September 28 2019 Hanna Skydan Hanna Malyshik Luo Na Wang Zheng X Alexandra Tavernier Zalina Petrivskaya Joanna Fiodorow Malwina Kopron Brooke Andersen Gwen Berry X DeAnna Price X Any Other Athlete Men's Long Jump Day 2, September 28 2019 Henry Frayne Any Chinese Athlete Juan Miguel Echevarría X Miltiádis Tentóglou X Tajay Gayle Any Japanese Athlete Luvo Manyonga X Ruswahl Samaai Zarck Visser Any Spanish Athlete Thobias Montler Andwuelle Wright Jeffrey Henderson Trumaine Jefferson Steffin McCarter Any Other Athlete Women's 10,000m Day 2, September 28 2019 Letesenbet Gidey X Netsanet Gudeta Senbere Teferi Almaz Ayana Alina Reh Eilish McColgan Steph Twell Hellen Obiri X Agnes Tirop Rosemary Wanjiru Sifan Hassan X Molly Huddle Emily Sisson Any Other Athlete Men's 100m Day 2, September 28 2019 Aaron Brown Andre De Grasse X Arthur Gue Cissé Zharnel Hughes Yohan Blake Any Japanese Athlete Divine Oduduru Akani Simbine X Christian Coleman X Justin Gatlin Mike Rodgers Any Other Athlete Men's 50km Race Walk Day 2, September 28 2019 Dzmitry Dziubin Niu Wenbin Luo Yadong Wang Qin Veli-Matti Partanen Yohann Diniz X Hayato Katsuki Tomohiro Noda Yusuke Suzuki X Håvard Haukenes Matej Tóth X Maryan Zakalnytskyy Any Other Athlete Women's 50km Race Walk Day 2, September 28 2019 Claire Woods Any Belarusian Athlete Li Maocuo Liang Rui Liu Hong Paola Pérez Mirna Ortiz Eleonora Giorgi Inês Henriques Mária Czaková Julia Takács Any Ukrainian Athlete Any Other Athlete Women's Pole Vault Day 3, September 29 2019 Anzhelika Sidorova X Alysha Newman Yarisley Silva Lisa Ryzih Holly Bradshaw Nikoléta Kiriakopoúlou Ekateríni Stefanídi X Angelica Bengtsson Michaela Meijer Sandi Morris X Katie Nageotte Jenn Suhr Robeilys Peinado Any Other Athlete Men's Triple Jump Day 3, September 29 2019 Almir dos Santos Fabrice Zango Hugues Wu Ruiting Zhu Yaming Jordan A. Díaz Any Other Cuban Athlete Ben Williams Pedro Pablo Pichardo X Will Claye X Omar Craddock Donald Scott Christian Taylor X Any Other Athlete Mixed 4x400m Relay Day 3, September 29 2019 Belgium Brazil Canada France Germany Great Britain Italy Jamaica Japan Kenya Poland United States Any Other Nation Women's 100m Day 3, September 29 2019 Tynia Gaither Marie Josée Ta Lou Dina Asher-Smith X Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce X Jonielle Smith Elaine Thompson X Dafne Schippers Blessing Okagbare Mujinga Kambundji Teahna Daniels Any Other American Athlete Any Other Athlete Women's 20km Race Walk Day 3, September 29 2019 Erica de Sena Liu Hong Qieyang Shenjie X Yang Jiayu X Sandra Arenas Glenda Estefanía Morejón X Eleonora Giorgi Kumiko Okada Any Other Japanese Athlete Mária Pérez Laura García-Caro Any Other Athlete Women's High Jump Day 4, September 30 2019 Mariya Lasitskene X Karyna Demidik X Nafissatou Thiam Mirela Demireva Morgan Lake Any Italian Athlete Airinė Palšytė Kamila Lićwinko Erika Kinsey Iryna Herashchenko Yuliya Levchenko X Yaroslava Mahuchikh Vashti Cunningham Any Other Athlete Men's 5000m Day 4, September 30 2019 Stewart McSweyn Any Bahranian Athlete Mohammed Ahmed Selemon Barega X Muktar Edris Hagos Gebrhiwet X Telahun Haile Nicholas Kimeli Any Other Athlete from Kenya Filip Ingebrigtsen Jakob Ingebrigtsen X Joshua Cheptegei Any American Athlete Any Other Athlete Men's Discus Throw Day 4, September 30 2019 Lukas Weisshaidinger X Christoph Harting Martin Wierig Ehsan Hadadi Fedrick Dacres X Traves Smikle Andrius Gudžius Ola Stunes Isene Piotr Małachowski Daniel Ståhl X Any American Athlete Any Other Athlete Women's 3000m Steeplechase Day 4, September 30 2019 Winfred Yavi Geneviève Lalonde Any Athlete From Ethiopia Any Other European Athlete Gesa-Felicitas Krause X Beatrice Chepkoech X Fancy Cherono Celliphine Chespol Hyvin Jepkemoi Peruth Chemutai Emma Coburn X Any Other American Athlete Any Other Athlete Women's 800m Day 4, September 30 2019 Catriona Bissett Rose M. Almanza Gudaf Tsegay Christina Hering Lynsey Sharp Natoya Goule X Eunice Sum Winnie Nanyondo Olha Lyakhova Nataliya Pryshchepa Hanna Green X Raevyn Rogers Ajeé Wilson X Any Other Athlete Men's 400m Hurdles Day 4, September 30 2019 Alison Brendom Alves Dos Santos Marcio Teles Kyron McMaster Ludvy Vaillant Kemar Mowatt Karsten Warholm X Abderrahmane Samba X Yasmani Copello Rai Benjamin X TJ Holmes Amere Lattin Any Other Athlete Men's Pole Vault Day 5, October 1 2019 Thiago Braz Renaud Lavillenie Valentin Lavillenie Any German Athlete Konstadínos Filippídis Piotr Lisek X Paweł Wojciechowski Armand Duplantis X Melker Svärd Jacobsson Sam Kendricks X Cole Walsh Any Other Athlete Women's Javelin Throw Day 5, October 1 2019 Kelsey Barber Tatsiana Khaladovich X Lu Huihui X Liu Shiying Sara Kolak Nikola Ogrodníková Barbora Špotáková Christin Hussong X Haruka Kitaguchi Līna Mūze Kara Winger Any Other Athlete Men's 800m Day 5, October 1 2019 Amel Tuka Nijel Amos X Marco Arop Brandon McBride Ayanleh Souleiman Pierre-Ambroise Bosse Any Athlete From Great Britain Ferguson Cheruiyot X Emmanuel Korir Adam Kszczot Any Athlete From Puerto Rico Abubaker Haydar Abdalla Donavan Brazier X Clayton Murphy Any Other Athlete Men's 200m Day 5, October 1 2019 Aaron Brown Andre De Grasse X Xie Zhenye Alex Quiñónez Any Athlete From Great Britain Any Athlete From Jamaica Divine Oduduru Ramil Guliyev X Kenny Bednarek Christian Coleman Noah Lyles X Any Other Athlete Men's Hammer Throw Day 6, October 2 2019 Denis Lukyanov Hleb Dudarau Quentin Bigot Nick Miller Bence Halász Serghei Marghiev Eivind Henriksen Paweł Fajdek X Wojciech Nowicki X Javier Cienfuegos X Dilshod Nazarov Özkan Baltacı Conor McCullough Any Other Athlete Women's 200m Day 6, October 2 2019 Ivet Lalova-Collio Marie Josée Ta Lou Dina Asher-Smith X Any Other Athlete from Great Britain Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce X Elaine Thompson X Dafne Schippers Blessing Okagbare Mujinga Kambundji Angie Annelus Dezerea Bryant Any Other Athlete Men's 110m Hurdles Day 6, October 2 2019 Sergey Shubenkov X Gabriel Constantino Xie Wenjun Wilhem Belocian Pascal Martinot-Lagarde Andy Pozzi Omar McLeod X Any Other Athlete From Jamaica Shun-ya Takayama Antonio Alkana Orlando Ortega X Grant Holloway Daniel Roberts Any Other Athlete Women's Shot Put Day 7, October 3 2019 Aliona Dubitskaya Brittany Crew Gong Lijiao X Christina Schwanitz X Anita Márton Danniel Thomas-Dodd Paulina Guba Fanny Roos Michelle Carter Chase Ealey X Maggie Ewen Any Other Athlete Women's 400m Day 7, October 3 2019 Shaunae Miller-Uibo X Salwa Eid Naser X Christine Botlogetswe Laviai Nielsen Shericka Jackson X Stephenie Ann McPherson Justyna Święty-Ersetic Kendall Ellis Phyllis Francis Wadeline Jonathas Shakima Wimbley Any Other Athlete Women's Heptathlon Day 7, October 3 2019 Ivona Dadic Verena Preiner Nafissatou Thiam X Solène Ndama Katarina Johnson-Thompson X Xénia Krizsán Anouk Vetter Géraldine Ruckstuhl Erica Bougard X Kendell Williams Any Other Athlete Men's Decathlon Day 7, October 3 2019 Ilya Shkurenyov Pierce LePage Damian Warner X Maicel Uibo Kevin Mayer X Niklas Kaul X Kai Kazmirek Lindon Victor Tim Duckworth Pieter Braun Any Other Athlete Men's High Jump Day 8, October 4 2019 Mikhail Akimenko X Ilya Ivanyuk X Brandon Starc Maksim Nedasekau X Michael Mason Wang Yu Mateusz Przybylko Any Athlete From Italy Naoto Tobe Mutaz Essa Barshim Majed El Dein Ghazal Bogdan Bondarenko Andrii Protsenko Jeron Robinson Any Other Athlete Women's Discus Throw Day 8, October 4 2019 Fernanda Raquel Martins Any Athlete From China Sandra Perković X Denia Caballero X Yaimé Pérez X Mélina Robert-Michon Nadine Müller Kristin Pudenz Claudine Vita Shadae Lawrence Valarie Allman Any Other Athlete From US Any Other Athlete Women's 400m Hurdles Day 8, October 4 2019 Tia Adana Belle Sage Watson Zuzana Hejnová X Meghan Beesley Rushell Clayton Janieve Russell Léa Sprunger Anna Ryzhykova Kori Carter Sydney McLaughlin X Dalilah Muhammad X Ashley Spencer Any Other Athlete Men's 3000m Steeplechase Day 8, October 4 2019 Chala Beyo Lemecha Girma Takele Nigate Getnet Wale X Djilali Bedrani Leonard Bett Abraham Kibiwot Benjamin Kigen X Conseslus Kipruto Soufiane El Bakkali X Fernando Carro Albert Chemutai Hillary Bor Any Other Athlete Men's 400m Day 8, October 4 2019 Steven Gardiner X Abbas Abubaker Jonathan Jones Anthony Zambrano Matthew Hudson-Smith Kirani James Akeem Bloomfield X Demish Gaye Machel Cedenio Fred Kerley Michael Norman X Vernon Norwood Nathan Strother Any Other Athlete Men's 20km Race Walk Day 8, October 4 2019 Vasiliy Mizinov X Dane Bird-Smith Caio Bonfim Any Chinese Athlete Christopher Linke Tom Bosworth Massimo Stano X Koki Ikeda Toshikazu Yamanishi X Eiki Takahashi Diego García Carrera Perseus Karlström Any Other Athlete Men's Shot Put Day 9, October 5 2019 Darlan Romani X Filip Mihaljević Tomáš Staněk Bob Bertemes Tom Walsh X Chuk Enekwechi Konrad Bukowiecki Michał Haratyk Ryan Crouser X Darrell Hill Joe Kovacs Any Other Athlete Women's Triple Jump Day 9, October 5 2019 Caterine Ibargüen X Liadagmis Povea Paraskeví Papahrístou Shanieka Ricketts X Kimberly Williams Olga Rypakova Patrícia Mamona Ana Peleteiro Olha Saladukha Tori Franklin Keturah Orji Yulimar Rojas X Any Other Athlete Women's 1500m Day 9, October 5 2019 Gabriela DeBues-Stafford Axumawit Embaye Gudaf Tsegay Konstanze Klosterhalfen Laura Muir Winny Chebet Faith Kipyegon X Rabab Arrafi Sifan Hassan X Winnie Nanyondo Shelby Houlihan X Jenny Simpson Any Other Athlete Women's 5000m Day 9, October 5 2019 Gabriela DeBues-Stafford Taye Fantu Hawi Feysa Letesenbet Gidey X Konstanze Klosterhalfen X Eilish McColgan Margaret Kipkemboi Hellen Obiri X Lilian Rengeruk Agnes Tirop Sifan Hassan Any Other Athlete Women's 4x100m Relay Day 9, October 5 2019 Australia Brazil China Germany Great Britain X Jamaica X Netherlands Nigeria Switzerland Trinidad and Tobago United States X Any Other Nation Men's 4x100m Relay Day 9, October 5 2019 Brazil Canada China France Great Britain X Italy Jamaica Japan X Netherlands South Africa Turkey United States X Any Other Nation Men's Marathon Day 9, October 5 2019 Alemu Bekele El Hassan El Abbassi Okbay Tsegay Lelisa Desisa X Mosinet Geremew Mule Wasihun Geoffrey Kirui Amos Kipruto X Laban Korir Paul Lonyangata El Mahjoub Dazza Kaan Kigen Özbilen X Any Athlete From Uganda Any Other Athlete Women's Long Jump Day 10, October 6 2019 Darya Klishina Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova Chantel Malone Caterine Ibargüen Yanis David Malaika Mihambo X Abigail Irozuru Shara Proctor Tissanna Hickling Ese Brume X Florentina Costina Iusco Alina Rotaru Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk Brittney Reese X Any Other Athlete Men's 1500m Day 10, October 6 2019 Taoufik Makhloufi Stewart McSweyn Ayanleh Souleiman Samuel Tefera Any British Athlete Timothy Cheruiyot X George Manangoi Abdelaati Iguider Filip Ingebrigtsen X Jakob Ingebrigtsen X Marcin Lewandowski Ronald Musagala Any Athlete From US Any Other Athlete Men's Javelin Throw Day 10, October 6 2019 Jakub Vadlejch Magnus Kirt X Oliver Helander Andreas Hofmann Thomas Röhler Johannes Vetter X Julian Weber Anderson Peters Julius Yego Edis Matusevičius Cheng Chao-Tsun X Keshorn Walcott Any Other Athlete Men's 10,000m Day 10, October 6 2019 Mohammed Ahmed Aron Kifle Andamlak Belihu Hagos Gebrhiwet X Yomif Kejelcha X Rodgers Chumo Geoffrey Kamworor Rhonex Kipruto X Julien Wanders Joshua Cheptegei Abdallah Mande Any Athlete From US Any Other Athlete Women's 100m Hurdles Day 10, October 6 2019 Elvira Herman Andrea Carolina Vargas Annimari Korte Cindy Roleder Janeek Brown Megan Tapper Danielle Williams X Nadine Visser Tobi Amusan X Karolina Kołeczek Nia Ali Kendra Harrison X Brianna McNeal Any Other Athlete Women's 4x400m Relay Day 10, October 6 2019 Australia Belgium Botswana Canada France Great Britain Italy Jamaica X Nigeria Poland X United States X Any Other Nation Men's 4x400m Relay Day 10, October 6 2019 Belgium Czech Republic France Great Britain Italy Jamaica X Japan Qatar Spain Trinidad and Tobago X United States X Any Other Nation [/hide]

Interesting to see that the best male french wrestler is russian and that the only competitive italian wrestler is cuban ... If Cuba wouldn't lose half of their elite athletes to european countries (Poland, Italy, Spain, Portugal) they would be even better than they already are.

I am surprised that Schell won bronze against Dosho ... didn't she use to be super dominant?

1) You did not dare to dream of 5 quota places and 3 medals? Ok ... I think before the start of the competition it wasn't crazy to think that Germany would get at least 4 quota places (Stäbler, Kudla, Popp, Focken) and 2-3 medals (Stäbler, Kudla, Focken). 2) I think 4 medals is a great result and more than expected, but do you seriously want to deny that it is (at least somewhat) disappointing that a) Stäbler only won bronze after winning gold at 3 editions in a row (i know that he competed in a different weight class, but he won gold in the -66 kg category in 2015, so it is not as if he hasn't proven that he can be competitive at such a weight) b) 4 athletes in a semifinal (Focken, Schell, Kudla, Popp) only "translated" to 3 bronze medals (statistically speaking 2 out of them should have made the final, so none of them making the final clearly feels like a disappointment to me)?

Absolutely horrible world championships for Germany ... Stäbler got completely destroyed and lost his title and out of 4 athletes who reached the semifinal (Schell, Focken, Kudla, Popp) noone reached the final!

Really sad to hear about the polish guy. He was caught before and shouldn't be allowed to compete. I really hope that he will never (again) win anything, although even that wouldn't be a consolation for all the people he has already stolen from. If guess if officials keep handling his doping samples the same way in the future, then he sadly has nothing to fear. Some nations/athletes just don't have any shame. It is a crazy thing to say, but in my opinion even Romani is less suspicious than the polish guy.

Thanks to the retards who thought that those weight classes would make sense ... The division into -60, -67, -77, -87, -97 is absolutely ridiculous, something like -60, -66, -74, -84, -96 would have made much more sense. Noone can seriously think that it makes sense to have the same difference between the 2nd and 3rd lightest category (-67 & -77) and the two heaviest categories (-87 & -97).

Sure, all his successes so far have been gifts ... everyone else is just too stupid to do the same ...

Great result for Argentina with a team that isn't even among their most talented in recent memory and certainly isn't top 10 in the world when it comes to individual talent, but they played with a lot of passion and that was enough against a french team that clearly didn't have the same intensity as in their game against the US. I feared that the french players would lose their focus after their win against the US and that is exactly what happened. I think everyone can be happy about this result at least a bit. Argentinian people have enough sorrows at home and this result certainly will cheer them up for a while.

Great tournament for both teams, very encouraging for Australia to see that they can compete even without so many NBA players (Simmons, Exum, Maker, Bolden, Broekhoff and so on). This might be the last chance for this spanish generation to win a major title, so they should be extra motivated in the final.

Yeah, by that logic Slovenia also is better than Spain/Serbia/France ... Everything came together for your team last year, but Dragic clearly declined since then and noone can seriously doubt that Latvia has more talent than your team.

Congratulations to France, finally they were able to play as a team. They always have amazing players, but normally they don't work very well as a team. Also i think that it is good for basketball that the US can't win with a C team, next year they will be dominant enough. France has a great future with guys like Ntilikina, Hayes, Doumbouya, Maledon, Wembanyama, Hoard, Cazalon or Begarin. They clearly have the 2nd best talent pool in the world, ahead of Australia and Canada. Overall this is an amazing year for french sport, first their massive overperformance at the judo world championships and now this ... Not sure if France can be considered the favorite now? I think France and Australia have been more impressive than Argentina/Spain, but if they battle it out in the semifinal, then Spain might profit from that in the final. I think France could become the 3rd country in history to hold the world title in football and basketball at the same time. Brazil did it in 1958/1959 and 1962/1963 and Spain did it in 2006/2010. France could also become the 4th country to win world cups in both sports, the other nations that did it are Spain, Brazil and Argentina.

Wow, i never thought that Argentina could even get close, but i guess that the match against Spain broke Serbia. Now i would consider Serbia the biggest disappointment at this tournament, ahead of Greece, Germany and Turkey. I can't help but feel as if all the talk about how great this team is and how they could beat the US got to their heads. In my opinion something similar (at a lower level) happened to the german team here. When everyone tells you how great you are, then maybe some day you start believing it and this might lead to you not giving your best effort in some situations. This serbian losso pens up a huge chance for France and especially the Czech Republic. If the US beats France, then the Czech Republic is only 1 victory away from qualifying for the olympics! I also see some similarities between this and the 2016 european championships/the 2018 world cup in football. I think after such a long NBA/Champions League season most of the top players are very tired, so a lot of the matches are much closer than they should be and we get surprising teams (Portugal/Wales at the 2016 european championships in football, England/Croatia at the 2018 football world cup and now Czech Republic/Argentina here) going very deep.

What do you mean? I think both days the first events started at 7 pm local time. When should they have started in your opinion? I agree that this way the competition doesn't make much sense, it should be held in years with no world championships/olympic games and if the IAAF wants to continue this competition, they will have to find a way to make this more attractive for the best athletes.

Probably, i think the following performances were especially remarkable: - 2.35 m for Nedasekau in men's high jump (world leading mark) - 80.71 m for Fajdek in men's hammer throw, only he himself (3 times) and Nowicki (1 time) have produced better marks this year - 22.35 m by Hill in men's shot put, this now ranks him 4th in the world for the year - 4.85 m for Sidorova in women's pole vault. She now is the only athlete this year who has produced 4.85 m or better more than once and only she herself (4.86 m) and Suhr (4.91 m) have produced better marks this year

Technically you are right, but obviously that wasn't the point. I was talking about players who are actually good enough to play in the the national team. For Germany the best roster (in my opinion) would be one with only players who will play in the champions league this season. I am not sure this is true for any other nation. How many nations could field an entire roster of players who play in the champions league this season for teams that play in one of the top 5 leagues (France, Spain, England, Italy, Germany)? This would immediately eliminate Russia, Belgium, Portugal and the Netherlands. For example it is rather unlikely that Spain will play a major tournament without players from FC Sevilla, Real Sociedad, Arsenal London or Milan. Also England always has at least some players from Everton, Leicester or Aston Villa. I think apart from Germany only Brazil, France and maybe Spain could field a competitive squad consisting only of players who will play in the champions league this season. If we look at overall strength of the squad then Germany is at least top 6 in the world right now (alongside France, Brazil, Spain, England and Belgium/Argentina), possibly even top 4.

I don't see any chance for Northern Ireland to qualify (directly), it should be between Germany and the Netherlands. Many people are talking badly about german football, but the main problem is Joachim Löw. With Jürgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, Jupp Heynckes or Julian Nagelsmann as head coach, Germany would still be one of the main favorites at the next european championships. Germany is actually able to field a roster of 23 players only with players who will play Champions League this season, i am not sure how many other nations are able to do that?

Amazing job by the Czech Republic! I don't think anyone would have bet anything on them making it out of the 2nd group stage ahead of Brazil and especially Greece and all of that even without Vesely. I guess that the main reason for them making it out of the 2nd group stage was Giannis clearly underperforming, but if you look at their individual quality, then Greece still should have beaten them comfortably. I never considered Greece as strong as many others, but i still thought that Giannis would lead them out of the 2nd group stage and that they then would have a 50/50 match against France/Australia. Looking at the greek roster, i don't see nearly as much individual quality as on the spain/french/serbian roster and i think it might also have something to do with greek teams performing worse and worse every year in the Euroleague.

Do we already know how the draw for the world qualifier next year will work? If the following nations all compete with their best players, then those 4 tournaments could be extremely good: Serbia/Spain/France, Greece, Lithuania, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Turkey, Germany, Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic Before the start of the tournament i considered Greece and Lithuania as the 4th/5th best european teams behind France, Spain and Serbia, but they were pretty disappointing here, so right now i would only consider Serbia/Spain/France clear favorites to qualify for Tokyo. If all nations play with their best players, then my guess would be that Serbia/Spain/France, Greece, Lithuania and Canada will qualify, but if Canada will miss their NBA players again, the question of who gets the 4th spot will be completely open and will mainly depend on the draw. I guess all teams will hope not to be drawn into the group with Serbia/Spain/France.

1) Just noticed that Pinto isn't on the start list anymore (https://www.european-athletics.org/mm/Document/EventsMeetings/General/01/28/90/76/TEAM_LISTCOMBINED_Neutral.pdf) 2) I don't think that the start lists prove that the level of participants is very good. In my opinion the US will compete with their best athlete in only 10 out of 34 individual events (Men's 1500 m, men's 3000 m SC, men's high jump, men's javelin throw, men's hammer throw, women's long jump, women's shot put, women's hammer throw, women's javelin throw, women's discus throw) and Europe will compete with their best athlete in only 13 out of 34 individual events (Men's 200 m, men's 800 m, men's 110 m hurdles, men's high jump, men's long jump, men's pole vault, men's javelin throw, men's hammer throw, women's 100 m hurdles, women's high jump, women's pole vault, women's discus throw, women's hammer throw).

It is always good when Serena doesn't win a slam title. The sad thing is that she is still able to reach a slam final that easily. Andreescu's victory should give hope to someone like Townsend, if you can win a slam looking like Andreescu, then there really isn't anything that should stop Townsend. I am not sure about how long Andreescu will stay at the top, after all someone like Ostapenko was also supposed to be the nixt big thing just to disappear very quickly. Personally i hope that Bencic will be the next one of the younger girls to win a slam, 3 or 4 years ago i thought that she would be the first one to do so. The fact that Williams is the only one to reach more than 1 slam final this year is also not very encouraging. On the one hand the absence of top players makes things kind of exciting and unpredictable, on the other hand i think that it would be good for women's tennis if some sort of rivalry could develop. It is almost impossible for casual fans to keep track with women's tennis, because there is a new face every couple of months and barely anyone has any consistency.

What about cycling? I think winning the Tour de France is bigger than winning an olympic gold? I think you could also name boxing (becoming WBA world heavyweight champion is probably more important than winning an olympic gold in the same category) or Sailing (America's Cup) or Skateboarding (X Games) or Triathlon (Ironman).

Two great matches today: Lithuaniva vs. France and USA vs. Greece. Especially Lithuania vs. France should be interesting, Lithuania needs to win this match. Greece vs. USA also is an important match, but so far Greece has been even less convincing than the US, so i am not sure whether they can actually make it a close match.

Really interesting to see that Medvedev is the first of the young guns to reach a slam final. I think even one year ago most people wouldn't have bet anything on him being the first of the young guys to do it. Guys like Zverev, Shapovalov, FAA or Tsitsipas seemed to the more obvious choices. Even among the russian guys he probably was only the 3rd choice (behind Khachanov and Rublev) for most people. I think Zverev isn't any less talented, but he has had the same flaws in his game for years and apparently he isn't willing to work on them and anyone who points those mistakes out to him gets fired ... By the way: Russia could have a great Davis Cup team in the future ... I think Medvedev is the youngest finalist since Del Potro did it at the 2009 US Open and i think he could also become the youngest winner since 2009 (when Del Potro won the US Open). He could be the first guy not named Federer/Nadal/Wawrinka/Djokovic/Murray to win a slam since Cilic did it at the 2014 US Open and the first guy not named Djokovic/Federer/Nadal to win a slam since Wawrinka did it at the 2016 US Open. I think only 1 of the last 39 slams was won by someone else than Federer/Nadal/Wawrinka/Djokovic/Murray (Cilic at the 2014 US Open). The last russian guy to win a slam/reach the final was Safin at the 2005 Australian Open. Safin is the only russian guy who has won a slam this century and i think Medvedev could become only the 3rd russian man to ever win a slam (only Safin and Kafelnikov have done it before).