John Foyne

The IFA Women's Fistball World Championships just concluded and here is who should be going to Chengdu
 
1.  (2024 World Champion - PAFA)
2.  (2nd place 2024 WWC - EFA)
3.  (3rd place 2024 WWC - EFA)
4.  (EFA #3)
5.  (PAFA #2)
6.  (PAFA #3)
7.  (Oceania Quota)
Host:  (Asia Quota)
 
Men's Qualification should wrap up this week following the completion of the Pan American Games, however, here is what it is looking like. Top 4 from 2023 MWC automatically qualify for Chengdu. With China receiving the host quota it automatically reaches the IFA's 3 continent mandate. 
 
1.  (2023 World Champion / 2024 Euro Champions - EFA)
2.  (2nd Place 2023 WC - EFA)
3.  (3rd Place 2023 WC - PAFA)
4.  (4th Place 2023 WC -EFA)
5.  (PAFA)
6.  (PAFA)
7.  (EFA)
Host:  (Asia Quota)

The IFA Women's Fistball World Championships just concluded and here is who should be going to Chengdu
 
1.  (2024 World Champion - PAFA)
2.  (2nd place 2024 WWC - EFA)
3.  (3rd place 2024 WWC - EFA)
4.  (EFA #3)
5.  (PAFA #2)
6.  (PAFA #3)
7.  (Oceania Quota)
Host:  (Asia Quota)
 
Men's Qualification should wrap up this week following the completion of the Pan American Games, however, here is what it is looking like. Top 4 from 2023 MWC automatically qualify for Chengdu. With China receiving the host quota it automatically reaches the IFA's 3 continent mandate. 
 
1.  (2023 World Champion / 2024 Euro Champions - EFA)
2.  (2nd Place 2023 WC - EFA)
3.  (3rd Place 2023 WC - PAFA)
4.  (4th Place 2023 WC -EFA)
5.  (PAFA)
6.  (PAFA)
7.  (EFA)
Host:  (Asia Quota)

Vancouver 2010 also was very good, especially music.

was allocated their first quotas in inline hockey according to the IWGA's qualifications page.

Nothing official of course, just our team leader in TV said that in one of the NOC pre-games meetings they were informed that athletes are "expected" to leave at latest 2 days after their competition,

Schedule (only competition days as of today) and venues for 2025 World Games are (finally) available:
 
https://www.theworldgames.org/news/The-World-Games-2025-33/RoadToChengdu2025-Venues-and-competition-days-finalised-2534

And...the city will become first one to host The World Games twice. Link: https://www.theworldgames.org/news/The-World-Games-17/40-years-later-The-World-Games-to-return-to-Karlsruhe-in-2029-2528

American Football and Cheerleading are also full members of the IWGA now: https://www.theworldgames.org/news/Members-23/Flag-Football-and-Cheerleading-join-The-World-Games-Family-2527

@Swewi is competitive on the Swedish curling circuit. I believe they have played in the Olympic trials before. 
 
@Vojthas (who hasn’t been active for a while ) competes in the Polish club league for curling.
 
@John Foyne won a medal in American Football at The World Games 2017. He’s active in flag football at present (I believe). 
 
@IoNuTzZ is/was a competitive 400m runner I believe (not sure about the level).
 
There may be a few more people active at the national/club level, but I’m not sure. @Agger @heywoodu have both done half marathons in the past if memory serves. @Josh is a swimmer, but I don’t have any idea about the level (I’d assume local/youth). 

My sis was a volunteer at 2017 World Games in Wrocław, mainly at the sports climbing venue. So my family is behind this success heh :-)

Yes they are! I've been to two World Games - 2017 in Wroclaw and 2022 in Birmingham - let me say that the Wroclaw games were better ran and organized than the edition held in the United States. 

Ok, thank you for clarifying!  

Probably plenty of Greek-Americans who play flag 

1) None of these sports are confirmed until the session, correct? So there is still a chance that one or two of these team sports will be left off.
 
2) I agree that adding four team sports will inflate the athlete quota and cost some individual sports quota spots.
 
3) Some random thoughts...
 
Flag Football - I think people need to understand that American tackle football and flag football are actually two completely different sports. A team of "pro" flag players would wipe the floor with a team made up of NFL guys. Also, flag in the United States is driven by the female market. So many girls are playing flag that colleges and high schools now have teams. The biggest flag football league in the United States, USA Flag, caters all of their tournaments towards women. Women get better game times and fields at these tournaments. Also, an eight team tournament could be done in two days. Finally, the US teams don't exactly dominate flag football. The Mexican women won gold at the last World Games, and flag is a sport where athletes from other countries can pick up and excel easily if given enough time to fine-tune their skills. Pretty much checks all of the IOC's boxes.  
Cricket - I think it's pretty cool that cricket has a shot at inclusion in the Games. How did we not see this coming with the IOC session being in India, and the 2032 games in Australia? I understand that there is a ton of money involved, but it's nice to see something not so Euro-centric get the nod. I'm sure the US press will have fun covering it. Interested to see what the US team will look like.  
Squash - Speaking of getting nods. It's nice to see the sport on the verge of getting in after so many tries. It's almost like a reversal of the IOC's youth and urban agenda - as Squash tends to be a country club sport in the States.  
Baseball/Softball - Might be the last time we see these two on the program for maybe ever. Why not just go out with a bang and bring in MLB players? The game is global enough to do that. Just move the All-Star break to August. The MLB season already goes to November as it is. Might be the WBSC only hope to keep the sports on future programs.   
Lacrosse - This one is a head-scratcher for me, especially with the limit on athlete quotas. I didn't think the LAOC was going to go with three "American sports" on the program, and fully believed that lacrosse - which is an east coast dominant sport, btw - was the odd man out. It's not nearly as global as any of the other sports vying for spots. Regardless, 6's is cool and should be fun to watch, just hate to see other individual sports getting their quotas cut.  

There’s definitely been some growth in the sport on the West Coast. There are many high schools and universities with teams in the LA Metro Area. It’s more common than field hockey or handball, which are probably the most invisible team sports on the program in this part of the United States. 

* no, it doesn't
one of the most important boxes to check is how much "global" is the sport?
and FF is definitely inexistent outside USA and CAN
 
**or just get rid of it  (at least for that season, but I'd cancel any ASG in any sport forever...it has nothing to do with actual sport)

1) None of these sports are confirmed until the session, correct? So there is still a chance that one or two of these team sports will be left off.
 
2) I agree that adding four team sports will inflate the athlete quota and cost some individual sports quota spots.
 
3) Some random thoughts...
 
Flag Football - I think people need to understand that American tackle football and flag football are actually two completely different sports. A team of "pro" flag players would wipe the floor with a team made up of NFL guys. Also, flag in the United States is driven by the female market. So many girls are playing flag that colleges and high schools now have teams. The biggest flag football league in the United States, USA Flag, caters all of their tournaments towards women. Women get better game times and fields at these tournaments. Also, an eight team tournament could be done in two days. Finally, the US teams don't exactly dominate flag football. The Mexican women won gold at the last World Games, and flag is a sport where athletes from other countries can pick up and excel easily if given enough time to fine-tune their skills. Pretty much checks all of the IOC's boxes.  
Cricket - I think it's pretty cool that cricket has a shot at inclusion in the Games. How did we not see this coming with the IOC session being in India, and the 2032 games in Australia? I understand that there is a ton of money involved, but it's nice to see something not so Euro-centric get the nod. I'm sure the US press will have fun covering it. Interested to see what the US team will look like.  
Squash - Speaking of getting nods. It's nice to see the sport on the verge of getting in after so many tries. It's almost like a reversal of the IOC's youth and urban agenda - as Squash tends to be a country club sport in the States.  
Baseball/Softball - Might be the last time we see these two on the program for maybe ever. Why not just go out with a bang and bring in MLB players? The game is global enough to do that. Just move the All-Star break to August. The MLB season already goes to November as it is. Might be the WBSC only hope to keep the sports on future programs.   
Lacrosse - This one is a head-scratcher for me, especially with the limit on athlete quotas. I didn't think the LAOC was going to go with three "American sports" on the program, and fully believed that lacrosse - which is an east coast dominant sport, btw - was the odd man out. It's not nearly as global as any of the other sports vying for spots. Regardless, 6's is cool and should be fun to watch, just hate to see other individual sports getting their quotas cut.  

1) None of these sports are confirmed until the session, correct? So there is still a chance that one or two of these team sports will be left off.
 
2) I agree that adding four team sports will inflate the athlete quota and cost some individual sports quota spots.
 
3) Some random thoughts...
 
Flag Football - I think people need to understand that American tackle football and flag football are actually two completely different sports. A team of "pro" flag players would wipe the floor with a team made up of NFL guys. Also, flag in the United States is driven by the female market. So many girls are playing flag that colleges and high schools now have teams. The biggest flag football league in the United States, USA Flag, caters all of their tournaments towards women. Women get better game times and fields at these tournaments. Also, an eight team tournament could be done in two days. Finally, the US teams don't exactly dominate flag football. The Mexican women won gold at the last World Games, and flag is a sport where athletes from other countries can pick up and excel easily if given enough time to fine-tune their skills. Pretty much checks all of the IOC's boxes.  
Cricket - I think it's pretty cool that cricket has a shot at inclusion in the Games. How did we not see this coming with the IOC session being in India, and the 2032 games in Australia? I understand that there is a ton of money involved, but it's nice to see something not so Euro-centric get the nod. I'm sure the US press will have fun covering it. Interested to see what the US team will look like.  
Squash - Speaking of getting nods. It's nice to see the sport on the verge of getting in after so many tries. It's almost like a reversal of the IOC's youth and urban agenda - as Squash tends to be a country club sport in the States.  
Baseball/Softball - Might be the last time we see these two on the program for maybe ever. Why not just go out with a bang and bring in MLB players? The game is global enough to do that. Just move the All-Star break to August. The MLB season already goes to November as it is. Might be the WBSC only hope to keep the sports on future programs.   
Lacrosse - This one is a head-scratcher for me, especially with the limit on athlete quotas. I didn't think the LAOC was going to go with three "American sports" on the program, and fully believed that lacrosse - which is an east coast dominant sport, btw - was the odd man out. It's not nearly as global as any of the other sports vying for spots. Regardless, 6's is cool and should be fun to watch, just hate to see other individual sports getting their quotas cut.  

1) None of these sports are confirmed until the session, correct? So there is still a chance that one or two of these team sports will be left off.
 
2) I agree that adding four team sports will inflate the athlete quota and cost some individual sports quota spots.
 
3) Some random thoughts...
 
Flag Football - I think people need to understand that American tackle football and flag football are actually two completely different sports. A team of "pro" flag players would wipe the floor with a team made up of NFL guys. Also, flag in the United States is driven by the female market. So many girls are playing flag that colleges and high schools now have teams. The biggest flag football league in the United States, USA Flag, caters all of their tournaments towards women. Women get better game times and fields at these tournaments. Also, an eight team tournament could be done in two days. Finally, the US teams don't exactly dominate flag football. The Mexican women won gold at the last World Games, and flag is a sport where athletes from other countries can pick up and excel easily if given enough time to fine-tune their skills. Pretty much checks all of the IOC's boxes.  
Cricket - I think it's pretty cool that cricket has a shot at inclusion in the Games. How did we not see this coming with the IOC session being in India, and the 2032 games in Australia? I understand that there is a ton of money involved, but it's nice to see something not so Euro-centric get the nod. I'm sure the US press will have fun covering it. Interested to see what the US team will look like.  
Squash - Speaking of getting nods. It's nice to see the sport on the verge of getting in after so many tries. It's almost like a reversal of the IOC's youth and urban agenda - as Squash tends to be a country club sport in the States.  
Baseball/Softball - Might be the last time we see these two on the program for maybe ever. Why not just go out with a bang and bring in MLB players? The game is global enough to do that. Just move the All-Star break to August. The MLB season already goes to November as it is. Might be the WBSC only hope to keep the sports on future programs.   
Lacrosse - This one is a head-scratcher for me, especially with the limit on athlete quotas. I didn't think the LAOC was going to go with three "American sports" on the program, and fully believed that lacrosse - which is an east coast dominant sport, btw - was the odd man out. It's not nearly as global as any of the other sports vying for spots. Regardless, 6's is cool and should be fun to watch, just hate to see other individual sports getting their quotas cut.  

Yeah, it’s interesting to see all the Europeans complaining about diversity when the program was shaped by their interests and strengths for basically a century.

Although people from different countries could use the same argument for at least 20 different Olympic sports

In case y’all want a link to my stories 

Dressage -
Only Germany appears to be safe. GB/DEN are closely followed by USA and the Netherlands. Sweden probably needs a couple of things to go their way, whilst Denmark has everything in their hands. Carina Cassoe Krueth is looking amazing right now, Nanna Skodborg Merrald is steady, but it may all come down to whether Cathrine Dufour can bounce back from the nightmare competition in Compiegne.
 
As for the individual podium, the frontrunners are the three Germans, Dujardin (GB) and Dufour (DEN)... Followed by Gal (NED), Lyle (USA), Kittel and J. Ramel (SWE), Cassoe Krueth (DEN), Ruoste (FIN)...
 
Eventing -
Great Britain has the greatest depth of talent, no doubt about it, but it may count for very little in the three-person team competition with no discard scores. Neither gold nor 6th place would be surprising. AUS/NZ for me are looking better right now than GER/FRA. Germany will have a hard time without Ingrid Klimke, but they could still bounce back. United States would need to flip years of team disappointment. My heart goes out to Ireland, but they have been pretty invisible since this corona thing started and seem to be lacking horse power... Swedes are usually reliable. Watch out for Japan (4th at WEG).
 
As for the individual portion, Michael Jung (GER), any of the Brits, Stuart Tinney and Chris Burton for Australia, Jonelle & Tim Price for New Zealand, Cathal Daniels (IRL), Phillip Dutton (USA), Felix Vogg (SUI), maybe one of the Frenchmen, or even Alex Hua Tian (CHN) in a crazy turn of events.
 
Jumping -
Probably the three strongest teams right now. Sweden, France, the Netherlands are always a threat though. Switzerland is still searching for someone to complete the amazing duo of Steve Guerdat and Martin Fuchs. Ireland, Great Britain, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt have their chances too.
 
Individual event is not very predictable, but I am pretty sure at least two medalists will be found between Ben Maher (GBR), Steve Guerdat and Martin Fuchs (SUI), McLain Ward and Kent Farrington (USA), Christian Kukuk (GER), Peder Fredricson and Henrik von Eckermann (SWE), Pieter Devos and Niels Bruynseels (BEL), Harrie Smolders (NED).

The issue isn't so much about the spread of COVID, even though a lot of people think that will be a big issue.  Taking care of 10,000 athletes plus all the necessarily support staff and media and everyone else descending upon Tokyo in July requires a lot of people to make the operation run.  Including medical personnel that their healthcare system might not so easily be able to spare.  We've seen plenty of sports leagues and tournaments operate through the pandemic without using up resources that the general public needs.  That might not be the case here, so that's where they are going to struggle with holding the Olympics.  And why the Japanese public opposes it.  Not because they think visitors will bring the virus into the country, but that the Olympics may be a priority over Japanese healthcare