dcro

Meh... Qatar is really dropping the ball, but Morocco still can't step up. At this rate, Egypt will win the Group F event with 30 pens margin.

Yes, it's a new rule. Instead of getting 100 penalties for a withdrawal, teams have an option to make a substitution for 20 penalties. Every team will be allowed to have a travelling reserve (which was already the case at previous Olympics, only now the reserves have a more active role...).

Yeah, that is literally nobody's mindset.

Well, they can bring forward a substitution in such unlikely case, which does not necessarily prevent them from being contenders. I prefer that over someone like Julia Krajewski bringing home a medal despite getting eliminated for 3 refusals. New Zealand took 20 penalties for a substitution here, and yet they finished ahead of 3 nations who did not bring subs. Hell, Germany could have still easily won had they brought in a sub.

Second round starts now.

Final results... 94.10 123.50 124.20 130.00 143.00 148.30 155.90 305.30 326.10 350.40 361.20 550.00 Olympic qualification rankings... 370 355 355 95

Well done Srbić! Now hopefully this injury will not turn out to be very serious.

First round results 1 10 13 20 21 21 Apparently every Group F team will be allowed to start in the second round, even if they are outside of Top 8. Good thing FEI is not as stupid as FIBA and UEFA. Egyptians just need to show up basically.

Switzerland secures team qualification, first since 1996.

Poor round for van Rijckevorsel, so Switzerland alive again.

Bad round for Godel. Switzerland is again in danger.

How on earth can a decision on boxing match be overturned? That's some blatant bullshit.

First round, standings after 2/4 rotations... 0 (12) 1 (5) 4 (9) 5 (8) 9 (15) 12 (13)

Switzerland overtook Belgium. It's pretty much set in stone now, unless Belgians pull two clears.

So we actually 14 nations competing, and only 6 of them being from Group F. I think only 8 will get to start in the second round, so qualification could be decided early, especially considering how poor Saudi Arabia and Jordan have started...

Live stream can be found on the official website. Competition starts now.

Semifinals vs vs

Meanwhile, vs battle will continue with show jumping today. Switzerland very much has an upper hand though, for two reasons. First, they are already guaranteed to win any tie-break scenario over Belgium. Second, it's pretty much impossible for them to drop below 7th place. There are three options for the Belgians: If they stay 3rd, then they would need Switzerland to drop to 6th or lower. If they move up to 2nd, then they would need Switzerland to stay 5th or lower. If they drop to 4th, then it's game over as Switzerland should finish no lower than 7th. I can see Switzerland losing a place or two. But then again, Belgians are by no means safe in their position. In any case, complete jumping round will be streamed here. First session is at 11 a.m., while the second one (including team rotations) starts at 2 p.m. local time...

Looks like there is only a single substitution overnight. Karim Laghouag had a horse fall yesterday, so Nicolas Touzaint will step in as a mandatory substitution.

Even Mourao?

Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Namibia, Morocco and Uganda in rowing.

I wonder if there's anyone left for Tripartite places? Maybe only Malawi? If so, then the organizers should expect some delays during heats/finals.

Andrew Nicholson shared an interesting point of view regarding the new Olympic team format. "This way is going to make it very exciting. You’ve got to try to get three clear rounds – they don’t have to go flat out. I think it’ll be very difficult for some riders to take team orders, and I think it’ll be difficult for team managers, but I can see it looking very exciting. It puts a lot of pressure on the riders. I’ve thought for years that it’s odd that riders at the Olympics win medals for doing a bad job, sometimes – I’ve done it myself, but you don’t see any of the other sports do that. In a relay race, if you drop the baton, you’re out – so making all three scores count is more the way sport is in the Olympic Games. Everyone has to do their best.”

And two of them are the same person!

Results site link Nations Cup is scheduled for tomorrow.