dcro

June 1st.

Realistically only if Ukraine declines their spot... Right now they have nobody with MER so it is possible.

Sadly, Olympic Channel has always been anything but equal treatment for all Olympic sports.

Martha Del Valle easily confirmed her MER after scoring 68%+ in Wellington. Path is now wide opened for the selection.

Morocco.

Kenya return to Olympic volleyball for the first time since 2004. It's good to see some kind of rotation of participants when it comes to African representatives in women's volleyball.

[hide] Overall questions - Deadline - January 9th, h. 19:30 (GMT+1) #1 Will Norway get more than 80% of Nordic Skiing golds? [NO] #2 Will Switzerland win more Alpine Skiing medals than Austria? [YES] #3 Will America get more medals in Freestyle Skiing and Snowboarding than Europe? [NO] #4 Will Russia medal in all Figure Skating events? [YES] #5 How many medals will be won by the country with most medals? (step - 2) [20] #6 How many NOCs will not win a medal in their own right, but will win one as part of a Mixed NOC team? (step - 1) [3] #7 How many countries will win a medal? (step - 2) [16] #8 How many goals will be scored in the Ice Hockey 6-teams Tournaments? (step - 5) [100] #9 Which country will win most individual gold medals? [Germany] #10 Which country will win the medal table? [Germany] Day 0 questions - Deadline - January 9th, h. 19:30 (GMT+1) #11 Will the opening ceremony last longer than 2 hours? [YES] #12 Will the Kazakhstan flagbearer wear traditional clothing? [NO] #13 How many times will Thomas Bach's fencing achievements be announced during the opening ceremony? (step - 1) [4] #14 How long will be the opening speech of 1976 Fencing Olympic Champion? (step - 10s) [7 minutes] #15 Who will light the cauldron? [Some Swiss athlete] Day 1 questions - Deadline - January 10th, h. 10:00 (GMT+1) #16 Will the winners of women's and men's Individual Ski Mountaineering event will be from the same NOC? [YES] #17 Will two pairs from Russia be in top 3 after a Short Programme? [YES] #18 What will be the time difference between the winner and the last placed athlete of the Men's Super-G? (step - 30s) [17s] #19 How many stones will be scored in total in the second session of the Mixed Team Curling tournament? (step - 4) [130] #20 What will be the color of the leading team in women's Ice Hockey Mixed NOC 3-on-3 Tournament after the first round? [GREEN] Day 2 questions - Deadline - January 11th, h. 9:00 (GMT+1) #21 Will there be more than one team with all the games won in men's Ice Hockey Mixed NOC 3-on-3 Tournament after the third round? [YES] #22 Will Switzerland win more than one medal in the Alpine Combined events? [NO] #23 How many missed shots will the winner of the women's Biathlon Individual have? (step - 1) [1] #24 What will be the points difference between the leader and the host country's representative in women's Figure Skating Singles after Short Programme? (step - 0,75) [19] #25 Which team will have the best Last Stone Draw result (sum of both rotations) in the fourth session of curling? [Switzerland] Day 3 questions - Deadline - January 12th, h. 9:00 (GMT+1) #26 Will there be more than twenty penalty loops in the Biathlon Single Mixed Relay? [NO] #27 Will the Netherlands take more than 50% of the medals in men's and women's Speed Skating 500m? [NO] #28 How many goals will be scored during the fourth round of women's Ice Hockey Mixed NOC 3-on-3 Tournament? (step - 2) [25] #29 What will be the overall time difference between the winner of the 1st run and the winner of the 2nd run in the women's Giant Slalom? (step - 0,15s) [] #30 Deadline - January 10th, h. 16:00 (GMT+1) Who will take the gold in the men's Figure Skating Singles? [Andrei Mozalev] Day 4 questions - Deadline - January 13th, h. 9:00 (GMT+1) #31 Deadline - January 12th, h. 9:00 (GMT+1) Will the athletes from one NOC meet each other in any of the men's or women's Ice Hockey Mixed NOC 3-on-3 Tournament semifinals? [YES] #32 Will the winner of Ice Dance Free Dance be the same as in the Rhytm Dance? [YES] #33 What will be the biggest stone difference in a single curling game of Day 4? (step - 1) [10] #34 What will be the time difference between men's and women's winner of Speed Skating 1500m? (step - 1 sec) [15s] #35 Which country will have its 2nd best athlete ranked highest in the men's Giant Slalom? [Switzerland] Day 5 questions - Deadline - January 14th, h. 9:30 (GMT+1) #36 Will both of the Slalom winners be leading after the 1st run? [NO] #37 Deadline - January 12th, h. 9:00 (GMT+1) Will one of the nations qualified via junior ranking get to the Curling Mixed Teams quarterfinals? [NO] #38 How many athletes will win their first Ski Mountainnering medal in the Mixed NOC Relay? (step - 1) [4] #39 How many goals will be scored in all of the Ice Hockey Mixed NOC 3-on-3 Tournament semifinals? (step - 1) [13] #40 Which nation will lead the Biathlon medal table after the sprints? [Switzerland] Day 6 questions - Deadline - January 15th, h. 10:00 (GMT+1) #41 Will the members of all medal Speed Skating Team Sprint teams have at least one individual medal? [NO] #42 Deadline - January 12th, h. 9:00 (GMT+1) Will Slovakia have more than one medalist in each men's and women's Ice Hockey Mixed NOC 3-on-3 Tournament? [NO] #43 How many athletes will have a clear shooting at Biathlon Mixed Relay? (step - 1) [6] #44 How many individual race losses will have the gold medal team of the Alpine Parallel Mixed Team Event have? (step - 1) [3] #45 Which nation will have most athletes at the podium of Figure Skating Mixed NOC Team Event? [Russia] Day 7 questions - Deadline - January 16th, h. 11:30 (GMT+1) #46 Will there be a country other than the Netherlands to have more than one medalist in the Mass Start Speed Skating? [YES] #47 Will a country win a Curling Mixed Teams medal for the first time at Winter YOG? [YES] #48 How many red stones will be scoring in the medal games of Curling Mixed Teams? (step - 1) [5] #49 How many skaters will get at least one point during both men's and women's Mass Start? (step - 1) [18] #50 Which country wins most medals on Day 7? [SWITZERLAND] Day 8 questions - Deadline - January 17th, h. 8:30 (GMT+1) #51 Will Slovakia score more goals than Czech Republic on the first day of the women's Ice Hockey 6-teams Tournament? [NO] #52 Will there be a nation with more than two medals in Luge on Day 8? [NO] #53 What will be the time difference between 3rd and 4th place in Luge men's Doubles? (step - 0,01s) [0,04s] #54 How many goals will be scored in the second periods of the Ice Hockey matches on Day 8? (step - 1) [3] #55 Which nation will score the most goals on the first day of women's Ice Hockey 6-teams Tournament? [SLOVAKIA] Day 9 questions - Deadline - January 18th, h. 8:30 (GMT+1) #56 Will more than two nations get a medal in both Cross-Country Skiing Cross and Nordic Combined Individual events? [NO] #57 Will Asia get more than half of medals at short track 1000m? [YES] #58 How many nations get at least one medal in Freestyle Skiing and Snowboard on Day 9? (step - 1) [5] #59 How many athletes from the Americas will win on the first day of Curling Mixed NOC Doubles? (step - 1) [4] #60 Which nation wins Luge women's Doubles silver? [Canada] Day 10 questions - Deadline - January 19th, h. 9:30 (GMT+1) #61 Will there be a nation winning more than one medal in either women's Monobob or Skeleton? [YES] #62 Will the men's Ski Cross winner win all his races? [NO] #63 What will be the difference of distances between the longest women's ski jump and the shortest men's ski jump in the Individual events? (step - 0,5m) [6m] #64 What will be the goal difference for Swiss teams in Ice Hockey Tournaments on day 10 (make sure to note + or -)? (step - 1) [+1] #65 Who will take the women's Cross-Country Skiing Sprint gold medal? [Some Norwegian] Day 11 questions - Deadline - January 20th, h. 8:30 (GMT+1) #66 Will there be a nation to win its first medal in Freestyle Skiing in Halfpipe? [NO] #67 Deadline - January 18th, h. 10:00 (GMT+1) Will all the medalists from Curling Mixed Team event get into the Mixed NOC Doubles round of 16? [NO] #68 What will be the time difference between men's Monobob and women's Skeleton winners? (step - 0,5s) [2s] #69 How many nations will get at least one medal in Snowboard Cross individual events? (step - 1) [5] #70 Who will have the fastest leg of the men's singles part of Luge Team Relay? [Russia] Day 12 questions - Deadline - January 21th, h. 9:30 (GMT+1) #71 Will there be more than 10 goals combined in both women's Ice Hockey 6-teams Tournament medal games? [YES] #72 Deadline - January 19th, h. 11:00 (GMT+1) Will there be a nation with only one medal in Ski Cross and Snowboard Cross overall? [YES] #73 What will be end difference for red stones in the Curling Mixed NOC Doubles quarterfinals (make sure to note + or -)? (step - 1) [0] #74 What will be the time difference between slowest women's and men's Cross-Country skiers in Individual events? (step - 3s) [1 min] #75 Which nation's representative will win the women's Snowboard Halfpipe? [USA] Day 13 questions - Deadline - January 22th, h. 9:30 (GMT+1) #76 Will the closing ceremony last longer than 30 minutes? [YES] #77 Will a gold medalist of men's 1000m be a part of Short Track Mixed NOC Relay winning team? [NO] #78 How many goals will be scored in the last period of men's Ice Hockey Final? (step - 1) [3] #79 What will be the point difference between men's Freeski and Snowboard Big Air winners? (step - 0,25) [0] #80 Which nation will win the Nordic Mixed Team Event? [Germany] [/hide]

Melbourne International has released the entries for all classes... Except for all important 470 events. I'd like to know if American Samoa is getting their free quota(s) or what!

Yes, FEI is being rather tactful with individual spots. Technically they can still change, but only if nations decline their team spots, what is always going to be highly unlikely. Flarup would be easily safe even if several nations dropped their teams though.

Third 25th place in a row for Rodeš.

For the moment, no. However America has a good owners structure, so she does have some youngsters in the making. It will probably take a couple of seasons before she starts showing them internationally though.

“It is with both a heavy heart and a grateful mind that today I announce the retirement of my great friend, Diddy. I’ve always promised that I would do my best to listen and make the right choice for him when this time came." Breaking and sad news coming through... Laura Graves has decided to retire Verdades. There will be no fairytale Olympic ending to their fairytale career together. So their list of successes ends up looking like this... Most of all, however, Graves & Verdades were always the ultimate fan favorites. Verdades is Graves' one and only horse. Horse with no pedigree, or much natural talent, which she acquired as foal. At one time she even wanted to quit the sport, but changed her mind after not being able to sell Verdades (yes, nobody at all was interested in buying the same horse that later won shitload of medals ). Their breakthrough came in 2014, when they went from sneaking into U.S. nationals from waitlist, to finishing 5th individually at WEG. If there ever was an against-all-odds breakthrough. In other news, I also must be getting old... I started following the sport as closely as I do now in 2014, and today the shooting star of that same year has retired... Thank you and enjoy your retirement - Verdades. (Omaha 2017)

Peru's unjustified hopes (as always) are already gone. Oh well. I guess they even stand a better chance in the men's game this time.

Wow, so if Cameroon has a meltdown in women's football too, then they will have a very long wait for their first athlete...

And now also Jordan is confirmed.

Team qualifiers are now also confirmed for dressage and eventing. https://inside.fei.org/system/files/Tokyo 2020 - Qualification System - DRESSAGE - 7January2020.pdf https://inside.fei.org/system/files/Tokyo 2020 - Qualification System - EVENTING - 7January2020.pdf There are no changes, however Brazil is now officially confirmed in eventing (there were some doubts), while Luxembourg is interestingly the first team reserve in dressage.

How lucky is Czech Republic though. Going from absolutely nothing to a full jumping team just like that. They were quite far off individual qualification. Poland is the complete opposite. They finished one penalty behind Israel in Moscow, and on a much better score compared to what Ukraine did in Budapest. Sure, usually you can't really compare scores on two different courses, but this is very much an exception to that rule, since Poland got like 15 total penalties, while Ukraine got 50+... And now they lose their (already celebrated) individual spot to Ukraine again!! Aaaand last time around they got royally screwed by Ukraine in dressage, so... From now on they should just refuse to acknowledge Ukraine's very existence.

BREAKING NEWS Ukraine is out, Czech Republic is in! This also means no Poland (unless Ukraine declines their individual spot). Qatar and Jordan are safe. https://inside.fei.org/system/files/Tokyo 2020 - Qualification System - JUMPING - 7January2020.pdf

This song received plenty of fresh comments apparently.

Ok, I can do that... But will need some time to gather all info.

Following Brazil's failure to keep their dressage team, plans are already being drawn up for Pan American Games to be based solely on Grand Prix for future editions. This will hurt participation (almost 80% of athletes in Lima rode small tour), but in a long run it should prevent situations where teams qualify from Pan Ams and then fail to keep their place. http://dressage-news.com/2020/01/06/cesar-hirsch-pan-american-equestrian-confederation-new-president-sets-as-priority-upgrading-pan-am-games-dressage/

Sri Lanka is now also a confirmed qualifier in equestrian.

Meanwhile, jumping rankings have been revealed. No surprises - Sri Lanka is now a confirmed qualifier, while Poland and Jordan are still (presumably) waiting on news about Qatar/Ukraine.