dcro

I think Paraguay might get this quota actually. Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba and Colombia will get their spots through the rankings almost certainly. That just leaves Chile, who might make the cut too, thanks to today's 100 points. Paraguay would be next in line then.

Dressage - Grand Prix National records broken today. Australia - 73.913% (Kristy Oatley / du Soleil) Cyprus - 62.739% (Gabriele H.-Kiefer / Watson) Moldova - 63.587% (Tatiana Antonenco / Tavares) I'll try to follow these regularly from now on.

I went all in when Algeria was at 1.20. Looks like I got seriously lucky.

Dynamics is Danish jury is giving me some serious All About Eve vibes.

Jumping rankings are also out. Jumping simulation Group A - Group B -  Group C - Group F - Group G - Additional -  and are climbing steadily! Actually, since two more Group G nations will get a team, I'd be shocked if Sri Lanka doesn't qualify. Full rankings here.

However, Salukvadze is basically already selected as an athlete. Rhode certainly isn't. Don't know for De Nicolo.

We already have a better version of that. It's called Qualifying for the Games.

Final session of dressage at Badminton Horse Trials is in progress... Live stream and live scores are available at the respective links. Total British domination, however this looks to be the least international Badminton possibly ever... Nevertheless, team gold for next year is decided.

I guess you also need our social security number and our aunt's maiden name? Done.

Can't find any... Apparently Algeria is such big favorite that they didn't even bother looking for the others.

Algeria is apparently still the bookies' favorite for the win. On the sidenote, what are the odds that Grand Final will be happening this Saturday?

Sad. But rather expected. He did come back strongly in 2017 after missing Rio, but then he just sort of disappeared.

What joke?

So yet another expensive venue instead of a natural river. I wonder if the hosts even have that choice nowadays.

Yeah... That Paralympic thing is not happening. Your laymen audience will just run away from the Olympics that have more than two genders.

The Verdict is a great film. Watched it Monday.

Meh. For a moment it looked like @heywoodu will not be the first with Olympian spouse.

What?

He is one of those who usually rewards positive, confident riding, which is good. Adding strides can easily get you in trouble on his courses, even if it may be a natural instinct that going slower means safer... Also he gets praised for building horse-friendly courses, where inexperienced horses can build a lot of confidence during just one run (again, if ridden positively). Most of all, he seems to be very unpredictable. His Kentucky course from last week was very different than the one from 2018, so really nobody can tell what he is cooking up for next year. He used a lot of terrain in Kentucky, but I wonder if there will be any terrain available at the Tokyo course, which is right by the sea (hopefully some hills will be artificially added if it's completely flat)... Some quotes on his Kentucky course can be read here.

They have their chance, but it will be a battle. Meanwhile, it's Luxembourg that stands the best chance of making a debut. Their rider provisionally lost a spot this month, but that's because he entered only two events so far (top 4 results count for the rankings).

No, they haven't competed before. Just like Malaysia who holds one of Group G spots.

Interesting how women's 1500m freestyle is the event with most qualified athletes so far. Probably because FINA based the entry times on results before this was an Olympic event, which doesn't make much sense. I mean, even San Marino is not too far from qualifying in this event.

New dressage and eventing rankings are out... Dressage simulation Group A - Group B -  Group C - Groups D/E - Group F - Group G - Additional - Can't believe that both Annabelle Collins and Michael Bugan still haven't entered a single qualification event. Such meh. The only change is that Finland overtook Luxembourg for the additional place. Eventing simulation Group A - Group B -  Group C - Group D - Group E - Group F - N/A N/A Group G - Additional - Reallocation (provisional) - Great start for Billys with a win in California. Meanwhile, if there ever was an eventer who already secured his individual place, then that would be Felix Vogg. Full rankings here.

It's NOCs, IOC and IF. And they should generally look at athlete's capability (so someone who capsizes on each run shouldn't be given a great chance).