mpjmcevoy

I assume there has been a major funding injection in Italian Sport similar to that provided by the UK Lottery that turbo charged UK sport?

The mistake being enthusiastic italian wants to grab another gold in the official table!

It's even funnier - they COUNT the German's men's bronze, but not the women's silver!

Technically, historically the Marathon and half Marathon cups have not ben counted as medals in the Championship medal tables but as stand alone events that happen to run co-terminous with the championships. Entertainingly that rule appears to have been ignored on the official website for Italy's men, but not for GBR's women's!

Indeed - Athletics, Swimming, Gymnastics...you'd almost think it was a Rome Olympics we were heading to, rather than Paris. Must say, in terms of 'home-erism', it vaguely ammuses me that the official website counts the Italian men's team cup in the medal table as a gold, but doesn't acknowledge the GBR women's as a medal event!

I'm going out on a limb, here, but when a test comes back at 40% proof, and the athlete isn't Shane McGowan, I'm calling interference...

In Ireland the combination names Erik de Bruin and Smith don't make you think of Rutger (though the boul' michelle was Smyth, I think)

I'm vaguely hoping Pidcock tries to do a Road Race MTB double, just for the shits and giggles. The course seems to have a liege-y Ardennes quality. The profile might also suit a Ben Healy.

Seems like a three from four here - The road race is hilly, 2800 m of elevation. The TT is almost pan flat

They redid the tarmac, which is a good thing, but it's too fresh so there's no grip when it rains - bizarrely, it's not worn enough. Still a bit freakish - in decent weather with dry tarmac it would have been a lovely surface.

Dunno, if they dropped breaking to let in chess, i'd live with it...

That's the way to make continental games very relevant, and thus bigger - lean into the fraternal relationship with the IOC - it also provides a useful pathway to the IOCs ambitions with Olympic Qualifier Series and the like.

In the above 16 mixed, there are four duplicates, - USA, AIN, ITA and ESP which would open up for the first four alternates NZL, BEL, CZE and GBR, and there's obviously the continuing AIN issue which MIGHT open up for BRA. Do men's doubles players in the top 10 doubles players not get to choose their partners more or less regardless of ranking so long as the NOC stays within the six per sex lines? I know Salisbury and Skupski are willing to play together, and might be a formidable pair - but there's often been a suggestion they don't match styles that well, and might prefer to split with Salisbury & Murray and Skupski & Evans -in Tokyo Salisbury chose to play with Andy Murray, not Skupski

Does Deux de Couple refer to two, each with a 'couple' of oars - i.e. what Brits call sculls?

I don't dismiss the idea of a 'Major' being created for that 'off' year - Quite a lot of continental and community events happen in that year, not to mention world Indoors, and both Gymnastics and Cycling seem to do perfectly well with annual 'finals' - I understand that. But i think the sell is wrong, and I think the Bienneial is probably wrong too. This is not - and should not be suggested as -a championships, least of all the 'Ultimate' championships, a major naming mistake that undermines all their other properties, opens them up to ridicule and sells what is essentially a Diamond League final as something it isn't. If they had called it the World Athletics Grand Prix, the World Athletics Grand finals, something that didn't overshadow the champiomnship properties, the it could have been just a bit of well financed fun, a move to create short sharp 'majors' of a type different to 'major championships'. Raxxamataz it a bit with a Gala dinner/Hall of Fame/Awards ceremony beforehand, so it feels different from the more natural drama of a champs. One of the unappreciated realities of award shows is they rarely exist to actually give awards. They exist to bring the industry together to do business, and also to sell the industry with a facsimile of competition. WA has actual competition to sell. But there's no reason it couldn't add the razzle, make an event of it (think how IOC and EOC do this as second nature) But not like this. It just doesn't work.

In the sense that Atlanta United can pull a 60,000 crowd for a home regular season game. Or more prosaically, in the sense that they have now got an ecosystem of 30 professional tier one clubs with significant attendances, backed by a pyramid of smaller pro clubs that can draw too - e.g. Sacramento Republic or Lousiville - that unlike the old NASL, doesn't always look in danger of imminent collapse.

Agree to an extent, though what's noticable is Canada's particular relative weakness at those sports, preferring baseball, Canadian gridiron football, ice hockey and (for netball, the other commonwealthy team sport), Basketball. As for patterns of immigration, they are probably similar enough. The big difference, really, is Soccer and the number of futbol crazy hispanic Americans, though the sport has clearly reached a tipping point in the US

I think that's fair enough, given that it was specifically a screw up by the French Federation. Mischance over individual nominations is an occupational hazzard, but FFA had a systemwide brainfade.

I think they clearly intend, and intended all along, to broadcast this - not least as BBC membership of EBU/Eurovision Sport ought to make the process easier. Equally, it's obvious BBC's sports budget is on its knees in terms of negotiations. Hard to believe Ch4 would not step in and swipe these rights if BBC absolutely couldn't do it - for a smaller niche channel like Ch4, rather like some one off cricket matches it got, this would be on their terms a huge steal.

This is an algerian throwing shade about dodgy middle distance runners??!! https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1072034/algerian-olympic-committee-president-claims-athletes-in-country-are-doping-to-qualify-for-major-events

I doubt it will. The Challenger series is beginning to gain its own legs, and rugby U, 7s and 15s is deep in the blood in Samoa. As for Canada, hopefully the success of the women will create enough buzz for the men.

Dickinson has to get the nod now, I think, which is sad for JB (who presumably will be reserve if it comes to it now) - seems to have by far the best combo of Pilot Skills and Super Sprint skills for the task, so that he'll be an asset in both races. Given Yee's swim frailty, Dickinson can presumably be nailed on (if he's selected) for the lead leg.

I think there are enough gold medal shouts there to pick off one, or even, god help me, two - McCleneghan, Wiffen and one of the Rowing teams look like the best bets, while you can't rule out entirely a second in rowng, a couple of the boxers, McIlroy or one of the showjumpers. We're not such a big country to turn our nose up at minor medals though - you bring home an Olympic bronze, you're still a national hero in Ireland!

It was also 2nd in a diamond League race which carries humongous ranking points.

Walsh picks up the tenth quota. Though, frankly, god knows how.