mpjmcevoy

Sorry, think I get it now - so many countries in the final 18 have double and triple entries, these spots must mathematically be a top 8 NOC in the final.

Is this right about modern pentathon - today was just semifinals, I thought the finals gave out the 8 spots?

It's a performance sport. If the performance of a performance sport is fundamentally unappealing to watch, it's maybe a sign it shouldn't be there. I am VERY far from sold on breaking as a good addition to either the Olympics or Europeans...

Harder an harder to look past Ireland - though Germany gave them a run out too - I've ALWAYS thought if the Germans ever really woke up to Rugby, you'd be staring at a super power within a decade or two, the gam,e would just absolutely suit them (same for Russians, as it happens) Much better looking on disstaff side, and some unlikely team or teams are going to see the final qualifier.

As I laid out above, if its up to me, my basic rules - the more events the better, so long as there is integrity to the event and it isn't silly (SlalomX comes perilously close, breaking crosses the line imho). - If you build an expensive venue that sells tickets - velodrome, for example, slalom course, use the hell out of that thing. Maximise events - Use novel format events for the bigger well known sports like tennis and golf to showcase diversity. See also skins in swimming - Reward team sports that create solid small sided games friendly versions, as Basketball, rugby and Volleyball have done - spot obvious holes'/free event possibilities like the 4 x 200 m medley relay -Try to make sure all major sports 'families' are covered, alternating if necessary - so cricket and baseball should probably rotate, each happening once every eight years - the ICC and MLB will be relieved and it'll really feel like a once in a lifetime event. Padel, Raquetball and squash might fit in the same category,as might bowls and bowling, Snooker and pool. - Avoid fadish sports that are highly subjective, they can age really badly (as a few of the winter events already seem to be) - be hard on sports that have number sprawl - judo seems to have far more than its share compared to other combat sports - you could almost slice 8 per weight class of judo and have an entire Karate tournament without a single extra quota. - IOC should work far harder to make the Continental Games a huge event in the cycle, and in their own right - note the current somewhat meh European Games - IOC needs to put its weight behind its 'family' of events. - Hammer, hammer, hammer cheats. -

I'm not against it per se - I think the movement might want to consider 'branching out' back into art and 'mind sports' - if we can have a chess Olympiad, we can certainly have actual chess olympics. But neither do I want to see even niche sports being upended to get Texas Hold'em into the Games!

If he was jumping off his real leg, we could have the discussion. Hugely impressive though i is on a personal level, he jumps off a spring; it's basically a pogo stick record. I've seen him jump, his distance does not correlate with his approach speed, and the difference is that blade. FWIW, even if its not 'advantage', it still shouldn't be allowed because it is simply not like with like

Is the advent of drone camera tech not ready made for all the events on the open water?

Hard agree. I personally don't think the movement has been inventive enough in ways to get bang for buck from its quotas. It should actively 'sweat' the assets - for example, you could have another TEN track cycling events without a single extra quota, yet have up to three more days of ticket sales (the ten being M+W x Kilo/500, IP, Scratch, Points and Eliminator), you could probably jiggle the 128 archery quotas by making the mens and women's team event '2-man' not '3-man', freeing between 24 and 32 quotas for a barebow field archery event using broadly the same forested venue as the mountain bike uses. I've no problem with Canoe slalom cross, however silly it looks to some, if it takes up few new spaces and just uses already qualified quota holders, There's definately room for a mixed 2 x 200 metre medley relay to give the distance swimmers outside freestyle a relay to aim at, again requiring no more quota places. I'll be honest, I think judo is perhaps a little overgifted with quotas, compared with boxing and taekwondo - you could easily shave 4 per weight, creating nearly 50 free quota places for, as we discussed, e.g a snooker tournament. Golf is missing a trick not showcasing its variety - its main events should be different from the standard PGA fare - i'd suggest a 'supercut' to 16 after 2 rounds of strokeplay, followed by 4 supertight quickfire 9 hole match play rounds - same total holes, but a totally different feel (ps tie breaker is brutal but tv friendly, 1 shot on a par three 10th after a tie i 9 holes, nearest the pin. THAT'S sudden death. Throw in men's and women's pair fourballs, and mixed pair foursomes, same 9 hole rules... you can throw in again a supertight tennis team event, teams of 2 M 2 W, playing 'champion ties' where each player only plays two sets in the order WD (W1W2) MS (M1) XD (M2W2) WS (W1) MD (M1M2) - 5 set matches, but individual players only playing two maximum - 4 groups of three teams, followed by QF, SF and Final - no extra quotas required. none of these ideas require a single extra quota place, but hugely increase bang for the buck...

Billiards is a sport, Cards is a game. Billiards is a physical activity, involving skill, objective scoring criteria, universal rules and competition. That pretty much defines sport. Gymnastics et al struggle on the objective scoring bit - the more 'artistic impression' is involved, the less it is objective, and the more it is art rather than sport. something like gymnastics and diving at least now have a code of points, but there are too many Olympic events scored subjectively now. Frankly, snooker or billiards would enjoy a similar relationship with golf as table tennis does with tennis (and darts does with Archery) - simply minitaturised version of the sport with stronger emphasis on precision than power and/or speed. i'd have no difficulty with cue sports being included in some capacity. Cards, on the other hand, are about mental skill or even just chance, not physical skill. See also backgammon, schess, quizzing and scrabble. all noble pursuits deserving attention. but not sports.

It rather makes a mockery of the whole 'B-boy' and b-girl' thing that these are all full grown adults - compared with the skateboarders who are genuinely on te young side. But this is the Olympics, dude. This a collection of mostly old mostly men's idea of youth sport - They're all basically Steve Bellucci.

Though they have a long way to go to beat the epic one liner commentary about Irish Hurling legend Sean Og O'Halpain.. "his father's from Fermanagh, his mother's from Fiji, neither one of them a hurling stronghold..."

There's been a bit of a charge of East and South East Asian Brits in sport - Jake Jarman, Edel Chung, Emma Raducanu, Alice Tai all spring to mind

Worth noting that microstates like Andorra and San Marino are in more events than Azerbaijan...

Funny you mentioned it, because Brandon Wilkins, Karate, has just turned up on the GBR entry list, along with Chloe Roberts in Lauren Williams weight class...

My understanding was BOA was not selecting for non-Olympic sports, and passing up the quota places. A ridiculous answer if true, but that's what I understand.

This is the stupidist of stupid questions, but can I confirm the rankings are basically simply your best lift in a sanctioned competitions within a time frame?

BBC have a lot of wiggle room with iPlayer and the BBC sports website. Might be worth asking them directly what the story is...

The Verticle was one of the greatest things I've ver seen, and not just in sport - it was mad! We gotta get this into the Olympics, stuff your mixed 4 x 4 relay! Up a ***** mountain, ye sods!

Sinden is as safe as houses anyway, he's pretty much immovable now from the top of the rankings; it was however VERY useful for Jones who has been a bit off the boil last 18 months. Cunningham might just peak at the right time. Big event tomorrow for GB is Lauren Williams who's had a shakey time having looked very good. Cook/Walkden, like Sinden, can probably afford an off day if it comes to it

Starting to seem like a consensus emerging on 'teams' definition.They won't enter obvious team sport events (football, basketball, sevens etc). They also won't be allowed in other events requiring more than 2 athletes working together - relays, gymnastics team events, 3x3, equestrian team events, fencing team events, archery team events. But they will be allowed ini pairs events , tennis, table tennis, badminton, possibly diving syncro (though I suspect not), track cycling team events? Madison is a pair, the rest are 3+ teams

It's just been announced on the Official facebook who is broadcasting - Eurosport are doing it Europe wide, probably on an Olympics model (we should probably recognise more openly the link between the 5 continental games and the Olympics - it would help those continental games) In UK BBC also have broadcast rights, which they already have for the European athletics and LEN events, so they'll certainly show something . https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=227462253374593&set=pcb.227459766708175

The return of demonstration sports. Not a bad idea actually, used to like the local colour that sometimes came with them. Ps Orienteering has now been added, and there's a stand along but recognised ESports thing happening.

Everybody gets seeded in every event. That's the whole point of the competition. I'll get my coat.

Forgive a stupid question, but Sky Brown has made noises about trying to reach the Games in surfing - is that cloud cookoo land?