mpjmcevoy

Good summary. If there were the old single sex 3 up relays, GBR would win the women's and the French the men's at an absolute cantor. At this stage they are holding poor Jonny Brownlee together with gaffer tape and bubble gum - get him off on the first leg where he's still a strong swimmer, go hard on the bike, and then hold on in the run long enough to get one of the three strong women off not TOO far behind. On the French side, the depth is brilliant, but they maybe can't match a fully fit Coldwell/Potter-Yee-Taylor-Brown backend. If either team turns up at even 95%, no other team wins gold....but both teams are well capable of finding a way not to be 95%. Bach was at the event this weekend, and there's a general consensus that World Triathlon are going to let the hare sit for the 2028 Games in terms of events, and let the mixed relay 'bed in', before attempting to expand in 32 in friendly territory (Aus loves tiathon) by adding this precise format - not just a sprint, but an eliminator super sprint. The thinking is that the soul of Triathlon is endurance. It's not truly a sport for sprinting, and they don't really want to be. however, sprint formats are popular, and the ability to do repeated speed bursts is a legit skill some great triathletes have, and some don't (Beaugrande, for example, looks far happier switch multiple shorter races than the two hour grind) - so this format which still tests endurance, but tests it in a different way seems to WA the best compromise - Triathlon has always had a 'cricket' issue with formats - purists love Ironman but it's not particularly TV friendly - Olympic is now, literally, the Standard race, but sprint formats are popular on TV and with IOC and the Mixed relay went down VERY well - but WA know they won't just get a sprint/1hr event or 30 minute event out of IOC - but this repeated battery? Yep, this will fly - Not least because you could maybe only add 10 'specialist' spots in each sex, and just let the main field also compete in the Elimination Sprint series - it doesn't require finding another 100 quota spots

The scoring has been pretty arbitrary at the AS, and not a great deal better at Diving - the Chinese are legitimately brilliant - but it doesn't help when they get a Beijing Bonus on every dive - there was at least one dive today that was borderline failed and was getting 8s!. Reminds me of interviews before the figure skating last year when skaters talked about how you had to 'serve your time' no matter how good you were - in other words, there was a rank arbitrary favouritism for senior pairs.

We are, actually, pretty rich in sculling, particularly lightweight sculling as it happens. rowing is one of the few sports where there is a genuine tug-of-war, still, between GBR and IRL - both countries are now strong rowing nations; Northern Ireland rowers cross the 'divide', so we get Alan Campbell and the chambers boys went to GB. If Ulster boxing was not so imbedded in Irish boxing, you might have similar issues there, but on the whole it's an all-irland sort - rowing is the exception where its both all Ireland AND all UK on occasion.

I know. Given the relative size of the country and pool, I wonder if Ireland might not consider a small elite 'academy' approach, near ish to Abbottstown

Hard to predict. Jimmy Guy was a really strong Euro Jr, back in his days, you could tell he was going to be good, Duncan Scott likewise. But Jimmy wasn't the standout star of his generation. That was Matthew Johnson, who stormed the Jrs...and then disappeared without trace....meanwhile a relatively unmedalled junior came through and actually did ok for GB as a senior...his name was Adam Peaty.

Ireland will be very happy with the Gold and silver for O'ullivan and Healy, both of whom look plausible pro athletes (to go with Rhasidat who turned pro this weekend). Sligh disappointment, perhaps was Olutunde, who's going a little backwards since last years breakthrough, and is so often the case, after a stream of talent in recent years, we were due a fallow year in women's sprint at this level (although great to see gina Moses back on the track - 11.4 at a GB 100m alongside Kristal Awuah. GB topped the table for the first time - they have regularly topped Jr and Youth, but this is the first U23, and will be broadly happy - their sweep of all 5000 and 10000 inflated their counts, but none of them really look like the breakthrough star that might actually challenge globally. FMedals for two women throwers were very encourging

Healy as the endurance, but Sophie has the kick, a very familiar one. It's strange, in a nice way how the Celts have come through together this weekend - Reekie joining Muir in the top 5 GB all time 1500, Courtney-Bryant setting a new sub-4 Welsh record, and Sophie and Sarah slamming it at the EU23. Might Keely Hodgkinson have a Cornish granny?

Hungary and Italy just tore the roof off at the European Junior Swimming so I wouldn't lose sleep; Hungary just has different priorities (mostly involving moving fast in water - which come to think of it is a bit odd for a landlocked country...anyway!)

PS well done the Ukranians and the Mexicans!

Yeah, the lads wobbled on one dive and then blew a dive. They'll be annoyed to have dropped the quota having qualified second - 4 quotas from 4 events would have been a hell of a statement. That said, looking at the competition, I'd be reasonably confident they come back next year and seal the deal. Frankly, both women's teams getting quota and silver was well beyond expectations anyway, so it's been a VERY successful meet so far. GB are also blessed with pretty solid depth in men's 3m individual to cover for Laugher's injury (at least in terms of quotas), Spendolini-Sirieix is a strong shout for a second quota in 10m with Eden Cheng having kindly banked one from the European Games, Harper's form means a good shout of at least one 3m Womens indy berth. It's 10 metre individual GB may wobble. Ma create an interesting scenario next year - does Daley try to do on last turn? (my instinct says no, you'll not see him in elite competition again)

I think Team GB has already given up the ghost on that sadly. I'm not even convinced Brownlee will make it sxcept through the relay quota - there are 4 women fighting for three spots, all of them world class. On the men's side it's yee theeeeen..................................(plonk!)

GB very much has a B team here (as shown by Conor Bentley's rather woeful biking on the first leg!) while the French have no team at all - it's clarifying for Olympic purposes but rather undercuts the value of a 'World' Championship

Yes. sorry, in-joke, it's the similarity to the Tom Daley narrative that amuses me, Jason Todd taking over from Dick Grayson...

GB's best bet would be a fit Laugher and Harding, but both are walking wounded at the minute, to the point Jack, who is basically the only realistic competition to Chinese in the 3m individual isn't even diving in that. Frankly their silver was miracle in such circumstances, and they'l feel pretty good about it. At the moment the world order, minus the Russians, seems to be China - huge gap - Great Britain - smaller but still notable gap - the rest of the major nations (CAN, USA, MEX, UKR, GER, ITA, AUS) - the third group will ridge bac up to GB a lot quicker than GB will bridge to CHN, and in Paris 24, I think the Chinese might finally do the clean sweep they've been denied the last three Olympiads, unless the Ukrainian boy wonder, or a fit Laugher stops it.

With very limited exceptions, noticeable that the diving team are avoiding the non-Olympic events. 1 1m diver, no mixed synchro teams, although they are doing the team event. Perhaps Jack is being held back precisely to bank the synchro place. I think GBR will probably bank most of what they need, though they could have done with a few of the B team not fluffing final dives when on the cusp of grabbing a quota in Poland.

If you could make it work, it would not be unfeasible to have an in-stadium marathon or half marathon on such a concourse (50 ish laps for marathon, 25 ish for half - the latter basically the same as the 10,000m in laps terms), not to mention the novelty of an 800 metres where the gun and the bell are the same thing.

You could do a lot worse in hosting terms than 2027 Portugal, 2031 Croatia - it might create a stable foundation for the event going forward to have two hosts ready in advance. Meanwhile still absolutely no word whatsoever on possible hosts for the 2026 European Championships event, which despite being the more popular fanwise, looks like it's about to come unstuck after two editions...

In a significant number of sports, the national authorities essentially run the sport, and the athletes, in their country, even in democratic states, but especially in authoritarian ones. In such circumstances, national bans seem the only way to deal with egregious and repeated rule-breaking. In this case, it is brutally clear that the Kazakh authorities simply see the ethical rules of the sport as an annoyance to be got around. I don't see any alternative in such a situation to expulsion. The rights of the many outweigh the desires of the few. Participation in specific competitions is not a human right. and it should not be set out as though it were one the way Bach does. Nor is it racial discrimination to expel a national federation, of whatever ethnicity, where there is clear evidence of systemic problems and unacceptable actions, particularly where those problems appear to have a state-backed basis. That may seem rough on the 'clean' - or as is more often the case, just not yet caught, as shown particularly vividly by the post Sochi Russian crises - athletes of corrupted national federations, but the level of pretend naivite used to justify ignoring systemic doping is killing sport - and that's whether it's central Asians in weightlifting, Western and Southern Europeans and North Americans in cycling, West African's in weightlifting, East Africans in athletics or Russians in just about everything. Enough with the handwringing.

It would also complicate it, if which is the 'qualifier' team becomes contentious. From Scotland's point of view they have essentially lost the Scotland basketball team and the Scottish rugby sevens team already because of the Olympics. I think their football team is safe, but there WOULD be some pressure, to begin with, for the home nations to field only one U21 side, even if they kept separate full national sides. and to Scotland, that's the thin end of the wedge. That said, in our lifetimes there's every chance there will be a Scottish Olympic Association anyway, given demographics and background polling. In such an event, how long Wales would be willing to play the role of Montenegro or Herzegovina is open to question. Cricket would suggest quite long.

True, and clearly got themselves far too dependent on the generosity of the BBC, whose generosity in sports fees can no longer be trusted in these chastened times.

One 3000 metres indoors back in January, presumably before the injury.

They're broke, Rafa. Really, really broke. 'Probably going bankrupt after Paris' broke. It's patently clear - look at the U23 squad they're sending, a fair amount of quality, but next to no depth. At some point I forsee an inquiry on where the money has gone; they seem to have made a number of calamitous decisions, and moving into (and hen out of) the Alexander appears to have been disastrous.

As someone with a foot in two camps, I'd say 1. GBR's failure with 1 exception to take anyone in a non Olympic Game spsport was a mistake, and disrespectful of the Games - indeed, disrespecting the event is a standing problem. I'm not saying the event is particularly surging anywhere (except italy!) but with these things sometimes the thing is what you make it. I know enough to know the very best US and Jamaican sprinters don't go to the Pan-americans, or necessarly many of the top-tier distance runners to th Africans, but I increasingly think that's a really foolish attitude for the athletes, the federations, the Olympic committees and the sports themselves. You ahve to push every opportunity you get in the modern ecosystem. For GB, this was - yet again - an opportunity missed imho. 2. The divers had the excuse that the federation made a perhaps justifiable call, and may even worked out quite well for some of the divers. The athletics had no excuse whatsoever. I maybe understand the desire to protect the stars - but let's be clear, there ain't that many stars. And if Keely Hodgkinson can do an U23 400m, for example, she can darn well do a European Games 800 (and Boffay was far from the worst level reserve, there, she was justifiable. 3. going back to 1. if Team GB/BOA are unwilling to pick in non-olympic sports then let some other organisation - a 'World Games' based equivalent, take over and do it for non-Olympic sports. It's unforgivable that GBR kickboxers, thaiboxers missed out on what would be a major event for them, and a medal winning opportunity in some cases, becuse the BOA has no interest in their non-Olympic sport - not least because going forward, non-Olympic/'World Games' sports are likely to be an increasingly important part of the event, for the variety they introduce - as an Irish + GBR fan, the last two days of the kickboxing was incredibly exciting because the Irish cared enough to send people - and won medals that put a real gloss on their games. 4. The various European Feds and the EOC need to come together and stop fighting for dominance - the EOC has no event without the sports feds, but the sports feds have few (and possibly fewer re European Championships model) opportunities to get 'casual' eyeballs on their events, and the EOC event, if done right - cheaper, continued regional model, continued non Olympic games sports, extended OG qualification spots - is a perfect opportunity to 'create value' as they say, and eventually make separate money for the European Feds rather than rely on the trickle down from the IOC and global feds..

Ireland will be pleased, and will be confident a couple of their near misses might collar a place in the World Qualifier. Agree re GB, but I would imagine that's fixible - this cycles talent doesn't however look as strong as last cycle's. Like much else in these games, it's been a bit of a curate's egg for GB - good in places. Italy seem to be battle ready in every sport recently...

Ahhh. Thanks, it's bugged me for years - so the o is only there as a "leathen le leathen "thing.