Dragon

I can't see Russia giving him permission or else others might follow his example.

Their star today...

Will Jakovlev be eligible to qualify for the Olympics?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-63271423 Some things definitely did go wrong

This is so sad. Russian mothers try to protect their children from Putin's madness.

I know a couple of athletes who have been moved up in World Athletics championships events. They say you almost never get the money owing to you when others get disqualified for doping years later

I can only talk about about Games I remember but Melbourne, Rome and Tokyo 64 all have good reputations from those who remember them. 68 was spoiled by the effects of altitude, 72 ruined by terrorism, 76 was just average and 80 and 84 ruined by politics and rampant drug taking. Now to those I can talk about. 88 was a good Olympics but Barcelona was a fantastic Games. Atlanta 96 was great as long as you were watching on TV but the athletes and spectators were treated badly if you were there. Sydney was just magnificent, Athens OK, Bejing good, London almost as good as Sydney, Rio was fine and it's not fair to judge Tokyo 2021 because of Covid. My top three would be 1 Sydney 2 London 3 Barcelona But it depends a lot of where you come from and the problems with time zones

Good win by 42-8 over but I think England were the best team of the four today.

On which channels? The BBC coverage has been fine.

Even the BBC commentators were saying the all-star Samoa team were the favourites today but England just won 60-6.

Well, Samoa have just looked hopelessly under-prepared in this game...

By the way, don't trust the World Rankings are 8th in the world but lost in the qualifying tournament to both lower ranked and by 80 points...

Group D 6th appearance - world ranked #2 Best result - 1 x semi-final The revelation of the last tournament when they beat New Zealand and got close to reaching the final. Again, all their players come from the Australian NRL and will be challenging Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, England 8th appearance - world ranked #5 Best result - 1 x 4th place The most popular sport in PNG by far but they've fallen behind other Pacific nations in the last 10 years although they did beat Fiji in June. Should qualify from the group. 3rd appearance - world ranking #20 Best result - 1 x 9th place Team based on players with Cook Islands heritage from around the lower levels in Oceania. Beat the USA and South Africa before Covid struck. 6th appearance - world ranking #16 Best result - 2 x semi-final (or 3 x winners as part of ) 25-30 years ago Wales were behind only Australia, New Zealand and England and gave good performances in semi-finals in 95 and 99. Then Rugby Union turned professional and the conveyor belt of star amateur rugby union players signing for professional rugby league teams stopped completely and actually reversed. Their one rugby league superstar, Regan Grace, signed to play Rugby Union in France earlier this year. May challenge the Cook Islands but will lose to Tonga and PNG.

Group C 16th appearance - world ranked #1 Best result - 1 x champion Usually in the shadow of Rugby Union the New Zealand finally became world champions in 2008 Their team is entirely made up of players from the Australian NRL. Haven't played since 2019. Should be in the semi-finals and maybe more 3rd appearance - world ranked #13 Best result - 1 x quarter final Apparently there's a large Lebanese community in New South Wales which accounts for why Lebanon has a reasonably good team. Most of the players play in the two top levels in Australia. Lebanon beat Wales quite convincingly in a warm up match last week 1st appearance - world ranked #21 A team taken from players of Jamaican heritage in the 2nd and 3rd levels in England. Last week they lost to the small English county of Cumbria (all-Ireland) 5th appearance - world ranked #12 A mixture of players from the top level in England and Australia with lower league players from the same countries. Will contest with Lebanon for a place in the quarters

Group B 16th appearance - world ranked #4 Best result - 11 x winners Haven't played since 2019 when they were beaten by Tonga in the Oceania Cup. Previously only England, Great Britain and New Zealand had ever beaten them. Maybe not quite at the level they were 10 years ago but still strong favourites to win the Cup 6th appearance - world ranked #6 Best results - 3 x semi-finals Rugby League was not played in Fiji until the 90s but lots of Rugby Union players turned professional in Australia before that. In the last three World Cups they have improved a lot and upset New Zealand to reach the semi-finals last time. However they were disappointing versus England last week. Should qualify from the group though 5th appearance - world ranked #15 Best result 1 x quarter-final (or 3 x winners as part of ) Reliant on players of Scottish heritage in England and Australia. Should not be good enough to trouble Australia or Fiji. Last week they lost 28-4 to England's "B" team 3rd appearance - world ranked #17 Based on players of Italian heritage in Australia and, to a lesser extant, England and France Will lose badly against Australia or Fiji, may give Scotland a hard game

The Teams Group A 6th appearance - world ranked #3 Best result 3 x finalist (or 3 x winners as part of ) Finalists in 2017 but, due to covid, have only played 2 games in 4 years. Were impressive in beating Fiji in a warmup games last week. Should reach quarter-finals but may struggle to get further. 6th appearance - world ranked #7 Best result 3 x quarter finalist The dark horses for the competition. For the first time they have got virtually all the best players of Samoan heritage together in their team, including six players from Australian champion Penrith. If they beat England today they should the semi-final and could even give Australia or New Zealand a very hard game. The one problem is not having a lot of time to train together before the World Cuo 16th appearance - world ranked #9 Best result 2 x finalist Team based around the Dragons Catalans and Toulouse teams who play in the England dominated European Super League. Like England, Covid has ruined their schedule in recent years. This year they have lost by 20 points to England and by 30 to Tonga last week. Will be a major shock if they beat England or Samoa 1st appearance - world ranked #11 A mix of lower league players from the Greek community in Australia and players from the Greek League. Will lose every match by a lot of points.

One of the polling organizations is predicting that Boris Johnson, the former Prime Minister, has a 94% chance of losing his seat in parliament at the next general election. https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/seatdetails.py?seat=Uxbridge and South Ruislip

Faster than the winning time in the TEAM pursuit at the Sydney Olympics...

3.59

Her words (translated) "The race was very difficult: the cyclists pushed a lot, there was a lot of movement in the group, so you had to constantly fight for your position. Maybe I went a bit overboard with my aggressiveness "

very good from Fantastic from Congratulations to Italy

I think Emma Finucane might be a superstar in 1 or 2 years time.

The GBR team for 2024 could be Archibald. Kenny, the Barker sisters and the Backstedt sisters. My problem is that Zoe Backstedt might destroy the rest of the British team

I think GBR choose the wrong sprinter in this event