Dragon

The Romanians didn't get into trouble for performing gymnastic routines topless. They got into bother because they had official national team costumes on at the start of the routine....

Women - Track Sprint This time last year we knew Emma Finucane was good but we didn't quite know how good. She had won medals at junior level competing against riders nearly two year older than her but the pandemic appeared to conceal her progress. 2023 saw that progress revealed in a pretty dramatic way. She's still only 21 as well. Favourite for gold. Team Sprint Penalty shoot out Germany versus Britain. Whoever reaches Paris on form wins. Keirin Finucane could ride but she's not, at the stage of her career, the most natural in this event. Katy Marchant has a good shot at a medal too. Team Pursuit Like the other team event it all depends on who gets to Paris fit and on form. The British could win but so could a couple of other teams, Madison Let's face it, this is the event that the Brits should dominate. I don't think anybody at the whole Games was an easy pair of winners like Archibald and Kenny in 2021. Could be on for a repeat in Paris. Omnium The toughest to call but if Katy Archibald is strong in Paris it will take somebody very good indeed to beat her. It seems a bit arrogant to predict a clean sweep for the GB track women but I do feel it's possible on a good day.

Women - BMX Racing Since winning gold in Tokyo Beth Schriever won two world a European title to establish herself as the best in the world. However in recent months Sakakibara of Australia has come out the better when the two have clashed. Still a hot medal prospect but perhaps not the favourite anymore Freestyle A surprise winner in Tokyo, Charlotte Worthington has remained near the top of the rankings since then without looking like taking another win. A medal has to remain a possibility though

I know someone who keeps an eye on those sorts of things, I'll get back to you on this...

Women - Mountain Biking Evie Richards must be considered as a medal contender. Zoe Backstedt, despite her lack of experience in this discipline, can also be a star at this.

I think there was a Dutch gymnast who went a lot further than that in the past. Not that I'm an expert in that kind of thing...

This is the BBC from London's view https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-68213679

Zhango No Go

The Games were held in Teheran, Iran. The leader of the country at the time, the Shah of Iran, objected to holding the marathon because the legend of the messenger running to Athens from the Battle of Marathon celebrated a Persian/Iranian military defeat.

This is probably not the place to post this but I've just been told this story and I can't help myself. Question - Why was there no marathon at the 1974 Asian Games despite there being one in 1970 and 1978?

Women - Road Time Trial Britain has two real contenders here. Anna Henderson has emerged over the last few years as one of the world's top TT riders, winning European silver after placing 4th at the world championship in Scotland and she must be considered a medal contender. The other rider is one of the most intriguing prospects to hit women's cycling in many years. Zoe Backstedt is the daughter of Swedish Paris-Roubaix winner Magnus Backstedt and British women's road race champion Megan Hughes. Zoe won the world junior TT title in 2022 by a mind boggling margin. The time between her and the silver medalist was the same as between silver and 24th. Had a minor injury last summer but bounced back to win the Euro U23 title by almost a minute despite still only being 18. I wonder if Paris might be 12-18 months too soon for her to dominate but 2028... Road Race If you remember this race in Tokyo you'll realize that the fact this is the Olympic Games doesn't mean you can't get a surprise winner. This time I would expect the Dutch to work as a team to wrap up the title but if that doesn't happen, Britain's Pfeiffer Georgi stands as good a chance as any of a podium finish.

Interesting to see Elise hit the headlines again this month.

https://www.sportsintegrityinitiative.com/trouble-ostarine-jimmy-wallheads-story/ Here's the article I saw

A few years ago USADA issued a warning that many supplements were contaminated with Ostarine.

The reasons the ISU give are basically a load of crap wrapped up in a sandwich...

Sometimes running under 10 s for the 100m means you still don't make a clean getaway

Oops. Should really have checked that beforehand...

True - but all bans are provisional until they the governing body has a hearing to see if the athlete is guilty or not.

Men - Track Sprint The days of GB domination are long gone and Lavreysen must be one of the most nailed-on champions of the entire Games. However Jack Carlin may well be one of the contenders for a minor medal. Team Sprint Although they missed out of a medal at the European Championships in January, a place in the bronze medal race in Paris is not out of the question. Netherlands and France looked to be much superior to the rest. Keirin This looks to be another event you can mark down as a Dutch gold but whoever races for GB must be considered as an outside bet for silver or bronze. Team Pursuit The most intriguing event of the whole men's track schedule. Britain have slowly rebuilt since Tokyo and, barring the disaster that was the 2023 World Championships, have established themselves back as one of the "Big Three" with Italy and Denmark. No medal in Paris would be considered a disaster but whether they can emerge as the best in the world may depend on how the road specialists can reintegrate in the track setup. Hayter, Vernon, Bigham, Tanfield and Tarling looks a damn good team. Madison Whichever combination of talent gets chosen, they should at the very least be very competitive for a medal here. Omnium You have to fancy Ethan Hayter to win this.

Men - BMX BMX Racing It's not that Britain is weak in this discipline, there are 3 men currently in world top 30 and any of them are capable of a podium finish on a good day, it's just that the French and Colombians especially are just so good. The French championships might even be superior to the Olympic final. However, in a sport prone to mid-air collisions and spectacular wrecks, you can't rule out a British medal. Freestyle Kieran Reilly made a huge breakthrough in 2023, winning both the European Games and then the World Championships in Glasgow. It's difficult to gauge how much of the world success came because it was a home competition but a medal, at least, must be a strong possibility. There are also some strong back up riders on the GB Team.

Men - Mountain Biking Not only is Tom Pidcock Olympic champion and world champion but he's also a far better rider than he was in 2021. Logically he should be favourite to retain the title but there will be strong challenges from van der Poel, Van Aert and Schurter depending on which Olympic events they'll ride.

Quote - "I'll juice up to the gills to win $1.5 million prize"

Oh Canada...