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Oh gosh what shall we do

I actually like Zeman more. Haha.

Nice and I have the same timeframe exactly. Except I’m away the 20th/21st as I’ll be in Seoul. PM me here when you’d like to plan the interview and we can go from there, haha. That’s weird about the Paralympic thing. Didn’t think it would be so obscure. I predict the 2018 will be a kind of ‘Russian Championships’ with few foreigners.. maybe a few Norwegian rejects too. Lol. Though a higher profile for sure. It has to be. A significant purpose should be to get exposure.

Sorry- really late reply. I recommend you join the FB group ‘Peeps in Gangneung’. It’s an English language group of expats and locals. Great for advice, companionship, and ideas of what to do! I personally found accommodation through there.

I’m going to 26 events and the Opening Ceremony. Hahaha. Trying to get women’s figure skating tickets too. Want to see at least one Russian gold. See what it’s like. If you actually want to do an interview then I’m down for sure! Not sure if I could really add much. I just thought it would be an entertaining idea. Though I definitely have a lot to say on the matter. Shame about the list- I guess we’ll wait it out. Scandalous how they announce it so soon without appeal chance, plus without solid evidence. I do think it’s a conspiracy. Isolate Russia on the international stage. Even North Korea is being given nice treatment. Ridiculous. I'm interested to know about the ‘alternative competitions’ for Russians and who will participate in them!

You’re with RT? No way! Would be cool to meet. I bought a 1.5*1m Russian flag for the opening ceremony. If you’d like to do an interview (American who sides with Russia lol) that would be hilarious. I believe Koukalova will be back hungrier than ever in 2022. Northug and the NHL players too. Bjoerndalen and Ahn I’m saddest about- this was going to be their last huge thing, and they both had the health and ability to go. I’ll try to see Bjoerndalen out of competition. Is it now 100% confirmed that Ahn, Shipulin etc aren’t going? I heard they’re ‘fighting to the end’ though I’m not sure what they can do to be reinstated on the final list.

That’s cool, too! What organization are you with? I’m a big fan of RT myself. I’ll be rooting for Russia, btw. Even though I’m Czech-American ie. two nationalities that really don’t like Russia, I think some of their athletes have been treated way too harshly by the IOC and deserve some solidarity.

They can. Not often, but they can.

https://www.change.org/p/international-olympic-committee-let-victor-ahn-compete-at-pyeongchang-2018 Let’s see how far this can go..

Yeah kind of funny how all the press is writing about Ahn going to 10 medals total, when this year he hasn't come close positionwise. But it's what he symbolizes for Russia, really. I first thought actually that South Korea had a hand in this, trying to prevent him from competing. His wins were quite humiliating for South Korea. Now though that there are these other top athletes, so it has to be more. Part of me's really excited for this. The political climate will be so tense. All the way through. I'll have to book a 'United Korea' hockey ticket, too...

It's no coincidence that Anh, Shipulin and Ustyugov were some of Russia's biggest medal hopes. If they were in the McLaren report all along, as has been claimed, why only bring that to the spotlight now? Maybe I'm biased because I was looking forward to watching them compete. But this treatment of Russia cannot be anything other than completely idiotic, or an act of vengeance by the IOC. Both of which I completely condemn. (PS maybe we should get a mod to move this to the doping discussion)

Of course. But at the same time, I don't like the way the IOC have handled this. They've systematically eliminated their best athletes just before the games, on questionable evidence, and without giving them any chance of appeal. That's just unfair, and it really seems like they've done this on purpose to intimidate/humiliate Russia.

Honestly I hope Russia does well. I wouldn't mind seeing them at the top of the medal table. It's one thing for the IOC to punish doping, but it's another to attempt to humiliate, isolate and discredit an entire nation. That's what they're doing. I used to be very anti-Russian, but this has shown me just how dishonest the IOC is being. Russians have every right to be mad.

I think banning Shipulin now, as well as Viktor Anh and Ustyugov, is a move designed to provoke Russia into a boycott. Many Russian athletes have doped, and I think the overall solution is the right one. But these three have no histories and it's disputed whether they were actually in the report. If they were serious about actually getting to the bottom of the situation, they wouldn't announce this so close to the Games where there is no appeal possible. I say, let them take part. Not just because it'll make the sports so much more interesting to watch, but because I think it's a foul play political move.

How about Jamaica’s men’s team? Do they still have a reallocation chance?

It’s under the ‘Fan-to-fan’ tab on the official ticket website.

Apparently, if you buy the tickets through fan-to-fan, it's fine. Only Koreans could originally buy the discounted tickets, I didn't even have the option. But I could buy the Youth one in resale, and they just asked for age verification. And on the off chance it doesn't work, still worth trying. If I have to pay the entire fee, at least I got a D seat.

Snagged this one today!

Ah. Sounds good, too! Yeah, I've basically loaded up on Biathlon mostly. Still seeing some skating events because of the atmosphere/love watching them, but only going to one of each.

Maybe you could get the Pyeongchang rail pass? About 200 CAD for unlimited travel 7 days. Though time is still a huge factor unfortunately.

Which events will you be at?@intoronto @orangeman

Wow!!

Maybe they should convert some of the 10,000+ speed skating rinks into hockey ones? @heywoodu

Oh yes, how's Division II? (Which is the nice way of saying, in reality, 5th best level...) I feel like you're getting dangerously close to Luxembourg.

8, thank you very much. Stop reminding me