dcro

And she did it. See you in Herning! https://results.equestrian-hub.com/show/41127/dressage/537540

Looks like we will have quite a few top level athletes, including some Tokyo 2020 medalists. But then again, we will also have some L/M/N athletes, especially in athletics. They might finish behind Andorra I kid you not.

Grand total of 11 (!) entries for the W 4×100 m relay...

A bit of a D-day for Croatian equestrian coming up tomorrow. Karen Pavicic has made the trip from her base in Canada to Austria and will be chasing the second out of two required scores for the World Championships. Needless to say that a qualification alone would be huge for us. Crossing my fingers and toes and everything!

Registration period is long gone at this point. It's usually 2-3 weeks before the Opening ceremony.

"They are looking for money only.", said the Totallympics' resident Richie Rich.

I hope not honestly. It would mean the IOC is taking the page right of the Putin's "Special Operation" book.

The only person blaming Algerian venues here seems to be you.

There will not be any results posted on the official site. They can't even post the schedule, or the program. We will probably have to follow results on some obscure Twitter accounts for the first couple of days.

But then again, maybe she banked on the infamous SLO/SVK confusion and hoped no one would notice.

One of the worst "official websites" I have ever seen... Totally useless.

Interesting reaction from the girl in the Ferrari team, cheering on the crash...

have qualified for the Nations Cup Finals through the North American and Caribbean League. Actually not great news for the region. They will be hoping qualifies for Paris at the World Championships this year. They no longer have the 2022 Nations Cup as a potential fallback, so should they fail in Herning this Summer, then it likely all comes down to the Pan Ams next year, and that's just terrible news for one of ...

Bang, another victory for Vanagaite this time in Samorin. Freestyle for the WC points is on tomorrow. https://results.equestrian-hub.com/show/3069/dressage/47953 Low score for Katinaite-Pranceviciene, but actually quite promising with a number of 7.5s and 8s on the scorecard... Needs to clean it up, but if she does, Lithuania will be the frontrunner for the team qualification for Paris. Feels crazy saying that, but it is very much feasible.

Also they should work with audio. For some reason on some videos you can not disable the commentators.

Meetup with @bestmen is on!!

It's extremely naive and cynical to think that nothing will change. Growth spurt starts eventually and working against it was what Tutberidze has been banking on all these years. This changes the formula entirely to say the very least. Other Russian coaches are just not producing dominant girls on the level Eteri did. Just look how "great" Russia was before 2014 (and decades ahead), in the pre-Eteri era. It's the only category where Russia was simply unable to win the Olympics lol.

By many accounts it should make a change. Eteri Tutberidze's girls are collectively past their prime at 18.

So finally let's share some thoughts on my Munich experience. First of all, horse shows in Germany are huge. Pferd International in Munich specifically is much bigger than it ever looked on stream. There were so many stands with both merchandise and food, and the showground was quite large in itself. The crowds were huge every day, but especially on Thursday during the Bavarian holiday. There are horses all over the place, and there are no paved pathways (everything is covered in mud or grass, which turned out to be a bit of an issue on the rainy Sunday). Pferd International hosts dressage, jumping, vaulting, para-dressage, show program and working equitation. As I also had some other plans in Munich, I mostly ended up following the dressage like I planned. After all, it is traditionally the highest quality event in Munich (5* competition, as compared to jumping which is only 2*). I caught a bit of jumping, show program and working equitation as well. Vaulting and para-dressage were held indoors on the other side of the showgrounds and I didn't have the time for even a sneak peek. Some thoughts on the dressage competitions: Isabell Werth is a super star in Germany. You could really see people arriving to the dressage arena just before her test and leaving soon thereafter. She appreciated the crowd. Also on Sunday a literal thunderstorm started during her test but she just laughed it off (as did the crowd). Dorothee Schneider is amazing. She was competing in more-or-less every class with a whole myriad of horses, and yet she was very appreciative of the crowd after each round. What a lovely lady. Tinne Vilhelson-Silfven arguably earns the title for the most elegant rider. Stunning. Prize giving ceremonies are much more fun in person than on the streams. I guess the same probably goes for the medal ceremonies. The crowds really get into it. And finally, as spectators are allowed to freely move more or less anywhere (except the stables of course), I really had an opportunity to bypass all these familiar faces at close quarters. It was really interesting to pass directly by the likes dressage rider Anush Agarwalla (who was all smiles despite having a really frustrating week in Munich) and the well-known judge Hans-Christian Matthiesen, for example. You could even get as close to the warmup ring as you'd like, and then get even closer to the athletes whilst they are walking from the warmup ring to the competition arena. Here are some photos: Canada's Ryan Torkkeli and Sternenwanderer on their way to the World Championships selection Isabell Werth and Emilio as seen from a mound near the arena

Does not surprise me. Social media is largely a can of worms for me, but in Latin America it reaches a whole new level. It's the only explanation as to why someone like Henrique Avancini ends up having a cult following.

Oh, right, Delfi Pignatiello.

What kind of an influencer does not even have an Instagram page though?

The race was held today at scorching heat (31 degrees and mostly in a direct sunshine). I completed the first half in around 15 minutes, however in the second half I felt unwell. Was held at ambulance for 10-15 minutes, considered quitting, but finally decided to walk home for a time of 54:40 (917th place out of 923 finishers). Sadly, it didn't exactly turn out to be a great experience.

Maybe he will make the final, but beating Nadal seems like a bridge too far.

Čilić Cleans the tournament from Russia/ROC/OAR/ANA/etc.