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Brave performance from the Ukrainian pair. They did triples at the Olympics, only doubles here obviously due to lack of training.

Rumour has it that the funding for the Russian figure skating is... gone. Literally. At some point they will no longer be able to pay salaries, reportedly. Coaches will start running to other nations. This could be the end of an era. And hopefully it is the end for all those specific scumbags from the ceremony. Also really interesting that Team Tutberidze was missing from the ceremony. Especially since she also part-coaches Tarasova/Morozov. Looks like Putin may have pulled the plug on her after she got caught red handed.

Both Italian pairs withdrew today after testing positive for COVID. Pairs competition will be wack. No ROC, no China. Both will be reduced to just one entry next year (assuming ROC even returns, doubtful). Not that China has worthy successors of Sui/Han. The field is so thin that might be getting Top 10 finish.

Russian lying machine has produced the newest of gem... Apparently the workers of IKEA Zagreb are such fanatics of Putin and his 'special military operation' that they voluntarily put Putin's photos on the diplayed frames. Obviously this is photoshopped.

I am guessing it could be the bobsleigh track. Better to rebuild the one in Sarajevo than to start one from scratch.

Foster, Ballard and Mannix all earned enough points to qualify, but looks like neither were interested to take up their spots. North American League is held predominantly outdoors, as opposed to the WEL and the Finals which are staged on tight indoor courses. That's why the North Americans (most of all Canadians, Mexicans and everyone from the West Coast) are sometimes hesitant to pursue the Finals. Still, Foster did well at indoor shows too in Lexington and Fort Worth, so her withdrawal can be considered surprising.

Here are the qualifiers for the Finals in Leipzig. First Finals to be staged since Gothenburg 2019. Pretty sure will be making their debuts. are back after a while.

This one should go to field hockey to be honest.

Well, Ana Jelušić still achieved two WC podiums (or was it three?). Including 2nd place in Zagreb, which is still our best rank on home snow. Sure, some may have expected more, but her career was farcry from a disaster.

And that's a massive PB for Zrinka, as opposed to our other skiers who tend to improve their PBs by tiny margins at the time.

Zrinka What a run!

Lavrov was flying to China, but then turned around and landed back in Moscow. Has the wind shifted?

When it rains, it pours? As for Croatia, we are proud to present out submission as follows... Jonathan is a rock band coming out of Rijeka, a city known for its alternative scene. Here in Szeged, they will present a song Falling. I hope some of you will enjoy it. CROATIA Jonathan - Falling

Final entries Olympic champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl will the favorite for the title. This will be her last competition this year before she sets off on a maternity leave. Triple WC champions Werth & Weihegold look good for silver, but you never know, could be that two Danes end up on the podium instead. Moldova and Morocco are making their debuts. Poland is back after a while, and Milczarek & Guapo are looking good.

Last four spots for the WC Finals in Leipzig have been awarded. Yvonne Losos de Muniz qualified via the Non-League, while the remaining three unused spots have been awarded to Yessin Rahmouni, Carina Cassoe Kruth and Rodrigo Torres.

Well, of course not, but doesn't help that Stoltenberg is publically downplaying the incident, for one reason or another. For what it's worth, none of the politicians are taking it seriously enough here either. Right now they are creating a circus with the French Rafales, a convenient smokescreen. And yeah, I am biased too. But I have to be since it crashed next to a sidewalk which I have passed many, many times, often around 11pm, the time of day it crashed. Also I have friends who very nearly became victims of this totally avoidable international incident.

General secretary of the NATO Jens Stoltenberg has reported today that the drone which crashed in Zagreb was unarmed. But as we know the traces of an explosive have been found, so Stoltenberg's statement from today was either based on the preliminary report from Friday, or he was just blatantly lying (let's hope not). Either way, it was a foolish mistake to make. And once again quite unbelievable the lengths they are going to sweep this whole incident under the rug. If some 50 year old Soviet garbage can spend a whole hour in the NATO airspace and land in a capital city of a member state, then what's to stop a missile from landing in Warsaw/Prague/Berlin?

The other option being to release the planes and then shoot them down?

Meanwhile, looks like an invasion on Ukraine was needed for both the Netherlands and Australia to finally start seeking justice for the victims of the heinous crime from 2014 (MH017). Sadly, going by this, looks like the victims of the KE007 and the PS752 will never get their piece of justice. There appears to be some odd connection between authoritarian governments, civilian flights and media secrecy. I just can't put my finger on it.

So our drone story is somehow becoming more disturbing by the day... The vehicle which crashed was not a reconnaissance drone, but in fact a drone carrying a bomb. So now we are not only lucky that the crashing drone weighing 6 tons missed a building by 50 m (after traveling for 1000 km), but also that it hit a muddy surface which absorbed the explosion, rather than an asphalt surface (less than 5 meters away), on which it would have created a catastrophic explosion... And again it seems the media is doing everything to bury this incident outside of Croatia...

Qualifying season got completed in Motešice, Slovakia today. Line-up for the World Cup Finals in Leipzig (April 7-10): Western European League Jessica von Bredow-Werndl Helen Langehanenberg Cathrine Dufour Patrik Kittel Nanna Skodborg Merrald Juan Matute Guimon Morgan Barbancon Thamar Zweistra Charlotte Fry Central European League Alisa Glinka Katarzyna Milczarek North American League Ashley Holzer Anna Buffini Defending Champion (from 2019 ! ) Isabell Werth Four more places are still TBD: Pacific League (not held this season), Non-League, Extra Athlete, Home Athlete (already qualified with full quota). Unused spots will be reallocated through the World rankings provided the athlete has contested at least one WC this year. Some candidates for reallocation are Carina Cassoe Kruth, Beatriz Ferrer-Salat, Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu... The final line-up will be likely confirmed in the upcoming days...

First ever points for Lithuania today? I think so. As for Zubčić, I just he avoids getting injured next week in an act of frustration...

Good news! A flight recorder has been recovered at the crash site in Zagreb. Time to find out whether the Russians or the Ukrainians are lying, since both are denying that the aircraft was theirs. But obviously this kind of hole does not appear out of nowhere.

Cathrine Dufour did just enough to finally join the exclusive 90% club - 90.005% in Herning today. It's still early for any predictions, but with Jessica von Bredow-Werndl taking a baby break, the doors are left wide open for Dufour to do something amazing at her home turf this summer...

China reaches the highest daily numbers in two years. Of course their herd immunity levels are next to none, so I guess this house arrest status quo practice is to be kept indefinitely.