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What a legend! We need to get in contact and invite him to Totallympics.

That has to be one of the weirdest races ever. I love it!

Is it still possible for him? Jordan wasn’t on the accredited countries list?

I always love how Czech/Slovak names sound so silly in English Kateřina Smutná...

Haha. I would like to see Zvaricova back though. She was such a talent but got hit by a car, and has been trying to get into the A team since..

Why not at the World Cup? Oh... right. Brazil! Hopefully some big names will make it. The Czech coaches do tend to make strange decisions.

Vitkova fantastic skiing as always, Puskarcikova outstanding shooting. Jessica OK. I really think Charvatova should go to the IBU Cup for a few races, she does not cope with pressure well, and her shooting won't improve unless she has some less intense races. Johanidesova.. shooting clear, but 5 minutes behind, I really can't endorse selecting her for the sprint at all. Unless there was an unforseen problem or something that she had to stop for. I say bring in Davidova and Zvaricova for the sprint. Both did fantastic in IBU Cup. Hopefully we still have 6 quotas, right?

Damn. Was hoping the Czech women could squeeze in somehow. Always so close... Then again I'm hoping Russia doesn't get banned. Just because the hockey tournament would lose all of its flare. The Czechs for one would lose arguably their most heated rival.

..Yeah I don't even want to talk about that one

Though in this case it might be possible if the Russian team gets banned. They've already suspended over half of their active athletes.

Totally agree. In the Summer Games there is a free pass for no level athletes... The athlete from Iraq who barely failed to qualify for 2006 in men's skeleton also comes to mind. With only 20 quotas it's ridiculously difficult. In biathlon, it's worse- any rejected quotas don't even get reallocated. The only sports that actually encourage less able athletes from exotic nations are alpine and cross country skiing. I mean I do think there should be limits in that people can actually ski, but other than a demonstrated ability to do so (maybe successfully completing x number of races) I don't think there should be many more requirements. If you let absolute anyone in, this happens. Apparently some athletes only learned the basics of skiing once arriving in Albertville

Just clarifying I have nothing against the Nigerian athlete at all! I wish she could qualify too. I’m just friends with the Virgin Island athlete and am really moved by her story. Her entire community was destroyed by the hurricane...

Oh ok that means he’s a shoe-in. I just wasn’t sure so I did this worst-case scenario. The bad news is there’s now no hope for the Virgin Islands since Nigeria will get a continental quota in Skeleton also..

Those five sports are apparently in Tokyo 2020 only (non-core sports) and will have to reapply for Paris.

Fair enough. I mean the only new Olympic sports I really think deserve to be in the Olympics now are Squash and possibly Cricket.

Maybe, but exposure could mean more viewership later = even more $$$ As for Karate, well, the French are going to want medals one way or another. So it's either going to be that or Boules. (Maybe both...) Boules is interesting because it's the only sport at the Paralympics not in any resemblance in the Olympics (kind of) though for good reason. Would you rather have to have Boules or Karate?

Well a World Championship has been done. But yeah it would look quite different. I think as long as the well-known big names and professionals participate, though, it won't be so bad. Kinda like now with boxing, where it's alongside amateurs, except maybe a higher proportion of professionals to keep interest up. It's definitely, for me at least, one of the most entertaining martial arts around, and it has a huge base in the US. What I said about expanding was getting more federations involved, the IMMAF has fewer than 50 at the moment.

Karate will be in 2024 for sure... guess which country won the second highest number of medals at the 2017 World Championships... The only way it won't if it is bombs in 2020 but being held in Japan I doubt it will.

Keeping in mind if a sport is high on the list does not mean I would prefer it, it means I think it's more/less likely to make it. As for preference I think Lacrosse could grow a ton in the future (fastest-growing sport in the US, for one). Sport Climbing is pretty fun, so I like that idea, too, and I bet Bowling would be a hit because it's just so accessible. I just don't think there's any doubt around Baseball, Surfing or Skateboarding being there. Love Baseball (and Czechs are quite decent at it), not particularly a fan of the other two. Skateboarding is too much like snowboarding, surfing is just meh. Reason I put American Football/MMA there is on the chance that the IOC goes the full consumerism route for TV audiences in the US. Both sports do need to grow globally some more, of course, but it can happen.

Also my Top 20 Picks for LA 2028: (Most likely to get there. I’ll update it every year if I don’t forget ) 1) Baseball/Softball (obviously interest will be huge) 2) Surfing (established and huge part of LA culture) 3) Skateboarding/Roller Sports (same as Surfing) 4) Lacrosse (fastest growing sport in US, popular among youth, growing globally, Olympic history) 5) Mixed Martial Arts (most popular spectator martial art in US, amateur competition growing) 6) American Football (over 100 federations, most popular US sport) 7) Sports Climbing (established, not as popular in the US though as other sports) 8) Bowling (very popular activity, accessible to anyone, used to be huge spectator sport but viewership is down) 9) Karate (established, may face competition with MMA, but still very popular) 10) Powerlifting (to replace Weightlifting if doping problems don’t go away, which isn’t unlikely) 11) Jai Alai (US name for Basque Pelota, played often, large Mexican population in LA as well, federation needs to grow though) 12) Wakeboarding (also popular in LA but will likely have to compete with Surfing) 13) Pool/Snooker (sport huge, not necessarily among youth though) 14) Wushu (not specifically US or youth, but may be added for a change if MMA doesn’t work) 15) Netball (US is growing in this sport, huge lobby in Commonwealth countries, women-only) 16) Floorball (global youthful sport but not much in US) 17) Bodybuilding (at Pan Am Games, though many consider it not a real spectator sport) 18) Racquetball (at Pan Ams, but too many racket sports already) 19) Dance sports (at YOG, somewhat unique) 20) Polo (it’s a fun, special sport, could find appeal in time)

I agree with @De_Gambassi‘s predictions. I’m not too sure about surfing since it’d have to be held awhile outside of Paris (or, god forbid, indoors) and it’s not quite as popular in France as Karate or Sport Climbing, so maybe I’d say 5/10. Boules, well, it’s hard to think of a sport that’s LESS youthful! But yeah I think it has a shot. It’s still popular and appears to have a strong campaign behind it. For Basque Pelota it would need to be played in 70 countries to become Olympic but its only played in about 30 Now for some other sports: Cricket (6/10)- Is the third most watched sport in the world behind football and baseball. Has a huge global presence, not just a Commonwealth game anymore. Would give the Games a huge new audience from eg. the Indian subcontinent. Also there is a historical link (France would be the defending silver medalists from 1900 ). Pretty attractive to watch and can be staged on most existing sports fields. BUT there is some opposition in the ICC so uncertain if they will bid. Cricket seems to evade Games (only at Commonwealths once and Asian Games twice before). Plus it would be odd organizing the UK/Ireland/West Indies teams. And there probably wouldn’t be much popularity among French spectators. Billiards (3/10)- France has a traditional version, Carom, which could be held alongside less known events such as Snooker. Snooker has a huge global audience as well. Nothing preventing the best players from showing up. Is unique, both a precision and strategy sport, which the Summer Games does not have. Easy to host, too. BUT has many of the problems boules has. Slightly better image but still considered more of a game than a sport. Plus lacks the base in France that boules has (though has a much wider world one). Snooker non existent there. Simply doesn’t have much up on boules at the moment. Wushu (2/10)- Only major traditional martial art to not be in Olympics so far. Has 144 federations, is cheap to host and fun to watch. Has applied for Games multiple times, said they’re ‘feeling optimistic’ about this year. BUT no tradition in France or indeed out of Asia. Karate would be much, much more successful on every front. I think those were all the seriously competing sports. Theyre also thinking of bringing back C2 in canoeing. They held a ‘mixed C2 event’ in Prague recently... don’t like that at all. If they can just develop it among women we can have two C2 events, maybe in time for 2024. Shooting 50m prone is most likely to return (some women shoot it). Double trap nearly impossible. 50m pistol is love to see back most- but no female equivalent. Maybe if women started shooting rapid fire pistol, they could get that event and men could get 50m. There will probably be women’s Greco Roman wrestling too. Last summer discipline to not include women. They said they’re working on it for 2024. Hope it’s rewsonably competitive though. The problem with all these new events is that non competitive ones are wastes of quotas. At least in the Summer Games. Also mixed synchronized swimming would be interesting. I think they’ll do it for sure. Not in Tokyo but that’s probably because it’s too new. It’s already at the FINA World Champs.

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1051981/exclusive-almost-impossible-for-some-axed-events-to-return-to-olympics-issf-president-says They’re looking at the 50m prone and other events to possibly come back too. Just need women to start doing them...

Greenland single mix relay??

What’s with Bruna’s name change? And apparently the IBU Cup will have a ‘super sprint’ now. Interesting.

No speed skiing. It was a long shot to begin with, though I'm gutted all the same. But, if Sion wins the 2026 Games, they have a nearby venue (Verbier) that last hosted the World Cup four years ago. Fingers crossed! Ladies' Nordic Combined really seems a shoe-in. I really don't like mixed teams all that much, I'd rather have a 3-person ladies' competition for ski jumping or something. Or even a ladies' large hill- I know they don't jump it as much in the World Cup, but they do on occasion, and they will likely do so more in the coming years. Big Air could be good but not nearly as interesting as Aerials. Totally opposed to the freestyle and team events (except possibly snowboard cross) and alpine skiing parallels. They add nothing new. Telemark could be interesting somewhat. Not many people know what it is though. It would be interesting if the FIS proposed Grass Skiing for the Summer Olympics!