dcro

What a leap for Romania.

Indoor Brabant got cancelled for the second year running (this time due to an equine virus outbreak), so the Western European Season is over with just two events gone... Unless the rules change again, which is possible, this is an overview of the qualifiers for the World Cup Finals in Gothenburg scheduled for early April... Defending champion (1, from 2019) Isabell Werth Western European League (9) Jessica von Bredow-Werndl Helen Langehanenberg Patrik Kittel Morgan Barbancon Anna Merveldt Thamar Zweistra Christian Schumach Carina Cassoe Krueth Cathrine Dufour Central European League (2) Regina Isachkina Csaba Szokola North American League (2) Olivia LaGoy-Weltz Charlotte Jorst Non-League (1) Yvonne Losos de Muniz "Wild Cards" (3, based on World rankings, with minimum one WC participation this season set as a requirement) Antonia Ramel Shelly Francis Lone Bang Larsen (probably some further reallocatoins coming up here) Hopefully FEI can still salvage the Finals, against all odds...

What a horrendous TV coverage. Cameras are showing exclusively the exchange zone. Austria/Japan are back right after the back markers made their transition.

Estonian dude with an impressive morning session.

Stremous 0+0 Should be first points for Moldova this season.

Slowikowski is through as one of the fastest losers.

Bizarre looking sprinter from Bulgaria...

Rakparov almost destroying the decoration... On top of the hill...

Lamparter is not adept on his Tuesdays and Thursdays. Yet.

It's not just the incredible opportunity missed. It is also a dangerous cocktail of pandemic taking toll, plus FIS enforcing shortsighted rules where nations can pick up massive points just for, quite literally, pushing their poles at the start. Let me tell you, the worst qualification systems are those where nations can get smart*. Ranking-based qualifications tend to be pretty unfair, but this one really goes the distance (if, indeed, it is correct). *It's not really about being smart. Staying in Oberstdorf for two whole weeks is simply too expensive for most smaller teams, and sending 4+ low-level skiers is even more expensive and a hard sell to sponsors/stakeholders. It's mostly about having funds in this particular case...

Gonna get overtaken by too tomorrow, but at least took a chill pill, so that's something...

As with the African qualifier, we have numerous precedents... Nicaragua will make their debut in rowing. Guatemala qualified for the first time since 1984, since 1988. Dominican Republic and Panama can still hope for a rowing debut.

Right. In case Peru goes for the bigger boat, Panama would get their redemption.

are safe for M1x. http://www.remobrasil.com/attachments/article/1903/05-03_Final-B-M1x.pdf M1x -> LM2x gets reallocationed LM2x -> M1x

First rowing participation for Guatemala since the good old military junta days.

Looks like will qualify in M1x, unless Argentina flops badly in the last final.

qualify in the LM2x.

Mexico, Paraguay qualify via W1x. Cuba got better than 6th, so no joy for Nicaragua (in this event).

Apparently Cuba flopped in the M1x final. They should qualify via W1x then.

The Pan-American championships were scheduled to be held between April 8-11. The ICF will activate its contingency plan to allocate the quotas based on previous event results, in consultation and with the final approval of the International Olympic Committee executive committee. This means either using the World Championships or a bust.

So congrats once again to all the B nations on the start list.

And yet she got 10th in the 10k race. Wonderful technician.

Just because it's legal, does not mean it's just. FIS themselves have a system (in snowboard and freestyle skiing), where the last placed individuals/nations (not just the last, something like the bottom 10%) receive heavily reduced points. They should have used the same formula for the nations cup here. Maybe they do, actually.

The only justice in all of this...