mpjmcevoy

The worlds in Denmark a few years back had a magnificent hill, so steep it felt like the Ventoux in the 2013 Tour de France, just watching elite athletes go 'out the back' - it was fabulous, and a lovely different look for athletics... See also the Kitzbuehl triathlon

At this stage I'm not seeing GBR getting a third male - the cupboards gone bare there - temptation may be to bring the best sprint distance athlete as a relay specialist, especially if he can swim the first leg hard. On the women's side, it looks a straight two from three between Taylor-Brown, Waugh and Coldwell, though one cannot rule out an amazing season start by a Fullagar, Matthias or even Learmonth.

If I've calculated this right; the following quotas are basically mathematically safe already - there are a handy handful who would need to be monumentally unlucky to be squeezed down to 6th, or out of 6th where Grand Slam comes into play, GBR, UZB and KOR in W=67 for example, but mathemtically they aren't, I think guaranteed top 5 in the rankings even with a hundred points: M - 58 M - 68 M - 80 M + 80 W - 49 W - 57 W - 67 W +67

At some point the rubber's gonna hit the tarmac on this as regards Australia and Canada, who increasingly seem to be creating a legal regime that is basically incompatible with an emerging international rules consensus - Canada's treatment of one recusant female powerlifter suggests this may well blow up there at some point. GB met that moment with Emily Bridges, and the objections of the women's track pursuit team, and basically the movement has all been one way there since - crucially, the emerging international consensus seems to be following GB rather than Canada and Australia (or the IOC, for that matter)

Presumably GBR are going to have to pull up a few trees to sneak in in the Team pursuit...

I'd say Samoa are strong favourites BUT I wouldn't under-estimate the Kenyans or Argentinians. Anyone else would be a bit of a shock, but shocks do happen and this looks, like the Challenger series, like a cracking competition. Like Field Hockey, final Olympic Qualifiers can provide a hell of a spectacle in themselves (last time in field hockey when Canada and Ireland split the last chance saloon finals, ties were extraordinarily tense - other team sports take note!)

: Rhys McCleneghan, obviously enough. Never had an olympic gymnastics medal yet. On events - Men's 1500 free for Wiffen, women's 400m for Adeleke : Tony Roberts, Boulder and Lead for a possible first climbing medal

Surely it has to be Teddy Riner??

It's the key difference that is keeping Kenya this side of the Russia line - the doping is clearly as systemic as in russia, maybe even a little worse. But the state and authorities are not actively in on the deal; they are trying to get a grip on it...and as cycling showed, the first stages of getting a grip can look pretty awful - but are still better than ignorance. The important thing is that Kenya doesn't backslide in the face of dreadful headlines.

I'm primarily Irish. She's lucky she's not Ainé O'Kane.

Are China and Page not in a particularly strong position,? As I read it - the top 3 in the Olympic Qualification rankings can earn a SECOND place for their NOC, provided the first was won at the World Champs. China currently 1 and 2 Page 3, with a big gap to 4th (don't know if 4th inherits the second chinese place in top 3, I assume not)... "The highest ranked three (3) athletes of the Olympic Qualification Ranking List may qualify a second quota place for their NOC provided their NOC qualified through the 2023 World Championships."

It seemed in the past like Azerbaijan and Turkey were happy enough to swap at leisure - presumably that extends to Turkish Cypriots.

I think you can certainly make a case that a type of track suits a power sprinter, or a rush sprinter; someone who can maintain speed, and someone who can accelerate to a super high speed for a shorter time. That doesn't mak the track bad for sprinting - it might make it 'bad' for a certain subgroup of sprinters - nothing new in that - Helsinki Athletics track is infamous for its tight bends, i've even heard people comment about deeper and shallower 50 metre pools. the only bad track is one that is either wildly unfair or one that allows no room for tactics - the first is a disservice to the athletes, the second to the fans

The straight in London was/is unusually long if memory serves, which before the Games was thought to maybe help the more pure power-based sprinters - Hoy, Meares and Bauge. in Two of those cases, it worked, but Kenny found a way around Bauge. I suppose what you do is you factor it in, bring some expertise and analysis to bear, and work out how to manage it with your talent pool, up to and including attacking a full bend earlier.

Seems like there is probably a direct line between this story and the previous one : https://www.britishjudo.org.uk/statement-european-judo-championships/ It does seem relatively common in the combat sports, especially if there is a hint of personal grievance with a national body - Aaron Cook and Alice Schlesinger, both of whom were rathe higher up the totem poll, spring to mind - although Alice had, if I recall, a close family tie to the UK. What stands out for me is not that Toprak made this move (and it does smack of a pure Aaron Cook style desperate move to get to Paris - that's understandable, you get one life, if your dream is Olympic..) but the fact there seems to be no 'stand down' period worth talking about. That's on IJF.

UEC.ch have announced they have agreed with ECM, the company that runs the European Championships event, for the inclusion of cycling, in multiple formats for 2026, 2030, 2034 - the first news we've heard in a year that the 2026 event is even happening. With European Games seemingly well embedded, and having a similar agreement with European athletics for 2027 and 2031, it seems neither of these rivals are going anywhere after all, when both looked in trouble...

Poor enough outing for GBR. Lachland picked up a couple of wins which was good, and Giles was dependable as ever. Otherwise? I counted a single win by Yates-Brown and thats it. Every other fighter lost first round.

Quota : Women's Triathlon Medal, Men's Sevens

See also gbr archery, javelin (I mean, a nation that produced Backley, Whitehead, Sanderstead and Sayers), Canoe sprint, judo until gemma gibbons breakthrough, and dare I say men's triathlon, where Yee seems the last of a very long line of world class men going back to Lessing. Ireland, God love us, we're never strong enough, really, in Olympic sport to 'fall off'..we had some fallow-ish years in athletics, but always had one or two,and now we're blooming!

It's always interesting to watch a nation become 'a force' in a sport, seemingly churning out talent where there was little before. The post-communist archetype was the early years of British cycling. Like Dutch athletics, GB cycling always had a Porter, a Boardman, an Obree or a McGregor, partly because of a long legacy of GB TT racing, but never a system that 'churned'. Likewise Irish lightweight rowing.

I'd argue the Ireland new zealand match the night before was actually better. But it's close, to be fair, and both should obviously have been semis, not withstanding England's heroics when they got a shot at SA

Thin covering, usually an oxide of copper or brass that makes it look pretty on the outside but is incredibly thin.

The system allows them a patina of qualification respectability, but ultimately, with one or two breakthrough exceptions, they'll take who they want - not least as once there, they can enter anyone in an event they have the time for even if that time was NOT got at finals. Not unlike athletics, GB Swimming go hard on relays these days - to be fair, that brought 2 golds and a silver last Games, and several world golds to boot, and unlike UKA, GB swimming have overseen a general improvement. Much depends on Peaty - so far, his return has not been electric, but it has been very encouraging, he's behind the new Chinese wunderkind, but already catching others like Fink off presumably limited work - my instinct is he'll be there or thereabouts next year, motivated by a unique threepeat opportunity. The sudden religious element in his motivation I prefer not to talk about... If Peaty is there or thereabout then, even with wunderkind, both medley relays are absolutely back in the game, although America is much, much better for the mixed than last time. In addiition, barring calamity I expect GNR to qualify for 4 x 100 free M, and I think their times in 2023 are already good enough in all other relays. If that holds... ...I think GBR are gold medal favourites in 4 x 200 free, medal favourites in both medleys and M 4 x 100 free and a good outside bet in W 4 x 200 free Richards, Scott, Guy and Dean are a pretty amazing quad to be able to bring on 200 free 100 free (probably swapping Burrus for Guy and possibly whittle for Scott) and 200 IM. Freya Anderson continues to have the tools, but perhaps not the mentals, to do clown stuff on 200 free, and is a super solid 100 free leg, especially in heats Individually, apart from the above, it's hard to say - will Greenbank come back to his world class form? Will Kstie Shanahan and Freya Colbert kick on? Will one of the several good british 100 back girls break through into great?

Swimming too will leave quotas at home - only bringing those who make the GB times in the final at British trials, and then the one's they feel like picking (usually with relays in mind)

Serious hopes : W 400m Athletics Adeleke W 1500m Athletics Mageaan M 1500m free Aquatics Wiffen W 60kg Boxing Harrington W 66 kg Boxing Broadhurst W 75 kg Boxing O'Rourke M 92 kg Boxing Marley M 63.5 Boxing Clancy Team Jumping Equestrian Ireland Men's individual Golf McIlroy Pommel horse Gymnastics McClenehan LMX2 Rowing Ireland Men's sevens Rugby Ireland If 50% of these hit, it would be a great games Outside but still serious chance Michaela Walsh, boxing Wiffen M800 free Any individual showjumper Ben Healy in the Road Race M2x, M2- and top women's stroke boat in rowing Women's sevens team Woolley in TKD Puncher's chance - any other boxer who makes it 4x4 mixed relay if Adeleke runs. Mark English M 800 Corcoran M1500