Dragon

We think there was no positive sample, they were destroyed years ago, but documents from 2011 to 2015 proved Russia covered up positive tests from that period. The investigation probably began in 2018 or 2019 so that was within the 8 year limit.

Meanwhile... In another part of the weightlifting there is good news for Russia's Tatiana Kashirina. The good news is she will keep her Olympic medal from 2012. The bad news for her is that she loses 19 other medals from 2013 to 2017. 9 World championship medals (8 gold), 9 European Championship gold medals and a Universiade gold. Must be a world record at medal stripping?

I'll explain why I chose my method. Basically it would mean every country would have three opportunities for Olympic places. If the Olympics were being held this year then in your scenario / would qualify as world champions, and would qualify through the 2022 Asia Cup. There is no Oceania Cup but are higher in the world rankings than so we would have a scenario where India and Australia would play off for one final Olympic place.

Ireland's fault for beating Pakistan and robbing the world of an India-Pakistan showdown

Interestingly if this year was Olympic year (and based on results and rankings) it might have been Australia playing India for the final qualifying place. ICC nightmare...

I've gone for this. #1 Hosts (Providing they meet a certain standard, maybe top 30 in the world?) #2 World Champions #3 Winners of Asian qualifying tournament #4 Winners of Oceanian qualifier #5 Winners of joint Euro-Africa qualifier #6 Winners of Pan-American qualifier #7 and #8 Finalists in last chance global qualifier

There was a newspaper report earlier this year that suggested Indian payment for TV rights could rise from $12,000,000 to $200,000,000 if cricket was included in the Olympics

Exclusive: Cricket and flag football still on course for inclusion at Los Angeles 2028, as modern pentathlon looks to have saved itself https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1140595/la28-sports-cricket-flag-football-added

In fairness, Gracenote's predictions are usually pretty accurate but they don't take into account certain things that aren't seen in pre-Olympic statistics. For instance, they have underestimated GB medals for the last three Olympics because GB don't make as much of an effort in world championships in the middle of the Olympic cycle compared to other countries and concentrate more on just the two weeks of the Games.

Decision on 2028 schedule postponed https://olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-executive-board-meeting-8-september-2023-revised-information-for-the-media

Basically you're talking an eisteddfod here?

The campaign to make dwile flonking an Olympic sport starts here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwile_flonking

Bring back the Pythian Games! Maybe Sindo can set up www.totalythian.com in the future?

Well, if cricket isn't in 2028 some very important newspapers are going to look very, very stupid

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

Modern Pentathlon has been on the Olympic programme for 120 years, was invented by two very important people in the IOC but might be thrown out of the Games on Friday...

and may have to make late changes to their teams after the medical examination of the horses.

Although that was because having 1200 of the world's best players not being able to play embarrassed the IOC

https://variety.com/2022/sports/asia/shah-rukh-khan-knight-riders-cricket-stadium-los-angeles-1235255440/ I think what sealed the deal was the fact that there is already a plan to build a cricket stadium in LA

Sorry, I missed out the final section of the report from The Times "The new sports at Paris 2024, including break-dancing and sport climbing, are expected to be retained. Baseball and softball’s hopes of being reinstated for LA 2028 are still in doubt due to issues with Major League Baseball, while there are some concerns that modern pentathlon will be dropped."

Report in "The Times" in London "Olympic chiefs are set to give cricket the go-ahead this week to be included as a new sport for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. Olympic chiefs are set to give cricket the go-ahead this week to be included as a new sport for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. The International Olympic Committee’s executive board is to decide on additional sports for the LA Games on Friday and sources say that men’s and women’s T20 cricket will be included. Any decision will need to be ratified by the IOC’s session in Mumbai, India, next month. Thomas Bach, the IOC’s president, is understood to be very keen to include cricket because of its appeal to the vast populations of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, which are traditionally not so engaged in Olympic sports as other parts of the world. An Olympic T20 tournament would be expected to attract enormous numbers of TV viewers. LA 2028 organisers (LA28) are understood to be willing to accommodate cricket in return for “flag football” — a non-contact version of American football where players are tackled by having Velcro tags removed — being included as well. Bach has been encouraging India to bid for the 2036 Olympics, which would be the first time it has hosted the Games, saying there is a “strong case” to take the multi-sport event there. Having cricket established as an Olympic sport would be a big boost towards that and would also be appropriate for the 2032 Games in Brisbane, Australia. It would also receive a positive reception in Mumbai during the IOC session on October 15-17. The ICC has agreed to some compromises — making the men’s and women’s tournaments run at different times and making them as short as possible with two matches a day. The format would be two groups of four teams, with the top two in each going through to the semi-finals. The IOC and LA28 are also understood to have reached a compromise over total athlete numbers which would allow more than the total of 10,500. Organisers have said the athletes’ village can operate inside its full capacity by spreading the schedule more, so that different sports take place at different times."

Oops. Squash Positives - Relatively easy to host, really, really wants to be in the Olympics Negatives - Been trying to be included for decades. If not successful in the past then why now? The story seems to be that the LA organizers really want Baseball/Softball and Flag Football for local interest. The IOC want Breaking and Cricket to break into new markets. And they need to work out a compromise between the two.

I've edited them out

Continental Tour - Bellinzona 4th September, 2023 Women's 800m Audrey Werro Lore Hoffman Gabriela Gajanova Elena Bello