Makedonas

That's my same thought about Greece 
 
I think "we won't qualify in any of these so I do not care" 
 
 
 
I will say it's sad that we didn't really have the option to choose to add "sports" in 2004 as the host nation, we could have swept the podium in backgammon for example 

Nah, you just need to find enough Greek Americans who play lacrosse 

It’s not even a rumor, Christophe De Kepper straight up said on the record that Boxing would be included in the LA 2028 program.

The all-too predictable US vs. Japan baseball final is far from the truth. DR has won the WBC before as well and Cuba, South Korea, Puerto Rico have all made the final before. Venezuela, Netherlands and Mexico have also made the semifinals as well.

Indeed, it was patently obvious that Brisbane would be a better place to 'introduce' cricket, but IOC can't wait that long for the big TV rupees

Look I don´t mind, 5-6 new added sports I really don´t mind at the end, the more the merrier as someone once said...
 
The sole and only important question however still remains, how much it will affect the other disciplines, will be the quota limits removed, or specially increased for the new sports or the added new sports will even take their quotas from them/other disciplines removed/other events quotas reduced to minimum ?
 
If it is A then Super, go ahead, no problem, welcome Cricket, Croquet, Flag-nofootplay-ball, lacrosse, squah etc...
If B - Even better, I will be first to sign
If C- Then NO. Enough with Bach and his "improvers youth/urban-agenda strategy" that ultimately only lead to destroy the entire Olympic value,
built up for so long in the past  

Great. Another plenty of sports in which Slovakia will again not qualify
 
 

That's local politics, which should not be IOC concerns. If IOC validates such a weak international sport, that would be a travesty of the olympic universal ideals.

I think these are all very exciting choices. With cricket and football, it’s the first time the top 10 most viewed global sports will all be at the Olympics (in some form). It’ll be unprecedented. And removing breakdancing was the right call.
 
I can’t help but think about how confusing cricket will be to everyone in the Czech Republic 😋 I don’t even know the rules myself…
 
I don’t like that we are getting even more discount spin-off versions of popular sports (lacrosse 6s, flag football). Hurts the prestige of the Games IMO especially since they are barely developed at a high level

very good medal chances (disappointing if they don't get anything from here)
 
Cycling: Van Aert, Evenepoel, Kopecky, De Ketele and friends (both Road races, men's ITT on the road, women's Omnium and men's Madison on the track)
 
Field Hockey: men's Team
 
Athletics: Nafi Thiam (women's Eptathlon)
 
Judo: Matthias Casse (men's -81kg)
 
Sailing: Emma Plasschaert (women's ILCA 6)
 
reasonable medal chances (might get a medal, but might also miss out)
 
Equestrian: Show Jumping Team
 
Athletics: men's 4*400m Relay
 
Judo: Jorre Varstraeten (men's -60kg) 
 
Fencing: Nasser Loyola (men's individual Epee, if he can qualify...and it's a big "if" given the FIE rules for the Nations not qualifying for the team event)
 
remote medal chances (if they get something here, we can call it a surprise)
 
Equestrian: any Individual member of the Show Jumping Team
 
Athletics: Noor Vids (women's Eptathlon), women's 4*400m Relay, Bashir Abdi (men's Marathon), Cynthia Bolingo (women's 400m)
 
Taekwondo: Sirine Chaari (women's -67kg)
 
Judo: Sami Chouchi (men's -90kg, if can qualify after switching weight class), Toma Nikiforov (men's -100kg), Gabriella Willems (women's -70kg)
 
Canoeing: women's K2
 
Rowing: men's LW2X
 
Triathlon: Jelle Geens, Marten Van Riel (men's individual race)

I'd like to open this thread because we get here on totallympics lots of great info from certain nations but we miss many others.
So maybe we can talk a bit more about NOCs which don't have active users here.
 
I'd try to moderate the discussion here but picking one NOC daily (or maybe one in two days). We will see if anyone's interested to join the discussion, could be fun.

No I hate it too. The Olympic program having relative consistency is really important to making the event prestigious imo.
 
Of course it has to evolve, but when an event is added it should be a long term decision imo.

No karate 

Best part is breaking might be out? 

am i the only one who hates this idea of having a sport only for 1 edition to satisfy the host country ?!
 
to me this is a terrible idea and Tommy Bach should go to jail for crime against humanity for bringing that idea 
 
let's say a 15 years kid in Madagascar watches Squash in 2028 and falls in love with the sport, but when he gets 20/30 years old that sport is not on the Olympic program anymore! that was a lame example but I just wanted to say some people plan their whole lives around the Olympics. I wish fencing wasn't on the 1976 olympics program

Gymnastics - Artistic +1
Eleftherios Petrounias (men's rings)

3 time Olympic champion Agneta Andersson passed away today. She lost her battle with cancer. She was 62 years old. 
 
 
 
https://www.expressen.se/sport/agneta-andersson-dod-blev-62-ar-gammal/

Gymnastics - Artistic +1
Eleftherios Petrounias (men's rings)

And quota for  Petrounias 💪 rings

My medal table after Day 3 (45 events)
 
7-3-4---14
5-2-3---10
5-1-3---9
4-4-2---10
3-8-6---17
3-1-5---9
2-6-3---11
2-2-1---5
2-0-2---4
1-3-2---6
1-1-0---2
1-0-2---3
1-0-1---2
1-0-1---2
1-0-1---2
1-0-0---1
1-0-0---1
1-0-0---1
1-0-0---1
1-0-0---1
1-0-0---1
0-2-1---3
0-2-0---2
0-2-0---2
0-1-1---2
0-1-1---2
0-1-1---2
0-1-1---2
0-1-1---2
0-1-0---1
0-1-0---1
0-1-0---1
0-1-0---1
0-0-2---2
0-0-2---2
0-0-1---1
0-0-1---1
0-0-1---1
0-0-1---1
0-0-1---1
 

Ασημένιο μετάλλιο και πρόκριση στους Ολυμπιακούς αγώνες για τον Πετρούνια.

MARINA SATTI - MANTISSA 
 
 
 

https://aquafeed24.com/big-interview-aqf24-drimy-katigoro-orgi-kai-apokalypseis-apo-krystalenia-gialama-elena-fragkaki/
 
Ελλαδιστάν...

...and another two young  retirements, also from aquatics...
 
19 yo artistic swimmers Eleni Fragkaki and Krystallenia Gialama, both of whom were part of our Tokyo Olympic team that traveled to Japan, stayed in the Olympic village, but didn't get to actually compete due to multiple positive Covid cases in the team.
 
Well it looks like they'll never get to compete in the Olympics now, they are quitting the sport after being kicked out from the national team a few days ago. So from the 8 young girls who were a part of that team that didn't get to compete in Tokyo (after we qualified for the first time since 2004!), only 2 of them are still with the national team (3 if you include the alternate). Most of the girls were teenagers and it seemed that they would have more chances to go to the Olympics.
 
Both girls moved from other parts of the country to Athens at age 14 to train with the national team. They competed at the World Championships in 2019, 2022 and 2023, and qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. Now, just a few months away from the 2024 World Championships, they are not being given the chance to compete and qualify for the Paris Olympics. They said they have no regrets, and that these experiences shaped their character, but now it feels like everything was a waste.
 
This came after the federation did an annual test of about 30-40 girls after the summer. They thought their tests went well and many others, including the national team coach (!!!) also told them that they did well. Two days later, the national team coach (who is Russian and not Greek) called the girls and told them each the same thing, as if she was reading it from a piece of paper. They were told that they made some mistakes in the water at the test (there are not even any videos to see) and that they are too heavy, but the girls say they are the same weight they were in the last two years and they were never told that was a problem. They were also told that other, younger athletes deserve more opportunities, which the girls said maybe is a valid reason to remove them from the national team, but not to do it 4 months before the Olympic qualification event after spending years training with the team. They aren't even being given a fair opportunity to rejoin the national team, they are simply done. They believe the coaches have their favourites who they want to promote.
 
The girls are also shocked that this happened to them, after so many years with the national team and working with that coach, that out of nowhere she said they are not good enough. The coach doesn't seem to care, nor the federation, and the only people who reached out to them were their teammates. They also heard that now the atmosphere in the team is not so good, ever since they were kicked out, and that they have great relationships with the other girls in the team (who told them how it is not the same without them etc.)
 
Here is an interview from the girls (in Greek, it's too long for me to translate but quite shocking to hear some of the things they said) : https://aquafeed24.com/big-interview-aqf24-drimy-katigoro-orgi-kai-apokalypseis-apo-krystalenia-gialama-elena-fragkaki/
 
 
Some highlights:
-Both girls started university last year (one in medical school and one in dentistry), and they asked to take 1-2 hours per day for their studies, but were told they need to practice 10 hours a day and have to choose between their studies and the sport, that if they chose their studies they will be removed from the national team, and so they chose the sport (now they are going to focus on studies).
-They never got any money/support from the federation, not even 1 euro, but they didn't ever complain or go against the federation or the coaches, and now they are being kicked out with no reason.
-There were instances where they were promised some money and never received it, and then told it was their fault for not asking for the money.
-The federation rented a house for girls who were from outside Athens (these teenage girls were living by themselves in the house), and it was a small house for 4 people and at one point 11 girls were living there. They were told originally that the federation would provide them food, that also did not happen, and the girls in the house had to make their own food or eat food from their families which they froze. The house was far from the training centre and no one helped them transport themselves, they were completely on their own in a new city.
-After summer 2022, the girls were getting ready to go back to the rented house in Athens, and a week before they were notified that they can't stay there because it is only for girls under 18. No one ever told them about this "rule" and they lived like nomads until February bouncing around to different relatives houses until they found a place.
-The federation would brag/exaggerate in interviews about how they would support the team and that they were all working with a psychologist, but the girls say they only had a psychologist twice in one year.
 
Despite all of this, the girls said they still loved the sport and wanted to pursue their Olympic dreams no matter what, until the national team coach ended that dream for them. They say it has happened to other girls in the past too, which doesn't surprise me seeing most of the girls from the Tokyo team have disappeared, and the Alexandri sisters are now winning medals for Austria, a country they had nothing to do with before getting citizenship...

23 yo  diver Nikolaos Molvalis (25th at the 2023 Worlds in 10m platform)
 
He was our biggest chance to qualify a diver to the Olympics for the first time since 2012. He didn't develop as we thought after he was 23rd in 2019 as a 19 yo but still seemed to have a solid chance at qualifying for Paris.
 
He said he didn't want to take a year off school to risk it for the Olympics (it case he didn't qualify) especially since he doesn't have a program with a high enough difficulty score to fulfill his Olympic dream. He said that we don't have the facilities to attempt more difficult dives, that there are only two pools in all of Greece with such capability, otherwise he would risk injury. 
 
He blamed the Greek federation for not being able to protect his future, and he said that if he made a mistake at the 2024 Worlds and didn't qualify for Paris because of it, that he would waste a year of his life (not being able to study) and that it was too much of a risk. He said when he notified the federation of his decision to stop diving, they didn't even care or try to help him or convince him to stay, they were indifferent and did not even thank him for his contributions to the sport in our country (being by far our best diver of the last decade, not that it's a high standard but still).
 
He said only the national team coach reached out to him and thanked him and supported him. No one else from the federation cared.