thiago_simoes

I live in Joinville. It rains so much there that people call the city Chuville (chuva = rain in Portuguese). I miss Rio so much.

You guys really like to rain on my parade.

Yes, you have a point, but let me laugh for a while.

There's a Brazilian swimmer who recently became an American citizen, Felipe Lima. He stated in an interview he wants to represent the United States in the future. This year he represented Brazil in 100 m breaststroke. He didn't even make the cut to the semifinals.

Brazil's 3:11.99 would have been enough for a bronze medal (tied with Hungary) last year in the last edition of the championships (2017). The fact that they finished only 6th now is a wake up call to our federation, since everyone though this medal was won even before the race started.

I'm disappointed with the results. Chiereghini and Spajari performed below what I expected, and the medal was lost right from the start. At least Fratus did well and Correia delivered a surprising performance given I expected nothing from him in 100 m competition. Let's see what Correia gets in 4 x 200 m now.

There's red and indigo for you to try.

It's a full twisting double back. The most difficult skill on beam, but she's not the originator of the element, though. She's been training a double double since 2013, though. What I really wanted to see from her is a triple twisting yurchenko vault. Hong Un Jong attempted one at the 2016 Olympics but she fell short and lost the chance of earning a medal. Bummer. Biles should be able do it for someday..

She's unbelievable. Her newest skill on floor is a triple twisting double back somersault. Needless to say, no woman has ever attempted this before and even among men this is a very rare and very difficult skill. It's like Biles is not even human. She's 20 or 30 years ahead of what we expect from women's gymnastics. No one can even compare.

I'm surprised. Hurd, McCustker and Wong are part of the A team. It never crossed my mind they would actually choose them for the Pan Ams! Finnegan is very young. This is probably her first major international event, so let's see what she does. Eaker is a very risky choice, either hit or miss. Beam finals will be exciting if she qualifies. I take back what I've written about the Canadians being able to beat this team. They won't. Team finals will be very predictable with the USA earning gold, Canada with silver and Brazil with the bronze medal. The only thing that matters now is how much Canada and Brazil can score. It will be a nice test before the World Championships.

I was rooting for Senegal, but alas it was not their time. Congratulations, Algeria. Edit: Oops, I forgot it's Algeria in English, while it's Argélia in Portuguese.

What's her story? Would you care to explain, please?

Funny thing is that Macau has a diving medal at the Asian Games, so in theory they are not exactly terrible when training divers. But this is... wow. Just wow.

Yes, no one cares about fencing in Brazil and, yes, she was born in Italy, but I hope this medals puts fencing on the map in Brazil and boosts the confidence of future fencers. You are from Romania, so you must know how much bad results can impact the future of any sport, especially your women's artistic gymnastics team.

It will be great for their gymnasts to participate at the Games, but most of them know they have zero chances of a medal. They have an outside shot on men's vault with Daniel Aguero, but nothing else. They're just sending extra gymnasts for the experience.

Why was not Germany disqualified even after so many audible warnings (whistles)? It looked like the final German swimmer hit Paltrinieri multiple times on purpose, but he got away with it and still earned a gold medal. I don't get it.

Brazil finally announced their women's team: Jade Barbosa, Flávia Saraiva, Thais Fidelis, Lorrane Santos and Carolyne Pedro. This is probably the team that will go to the Word Championships, so it will be interesting to see how they score here. They are in a very comfortable position for a bronze medal in the team event, but honestly I can't see they challenging for anything better than 3rd place. There's not much hope for individual medals, though. Our best chance is with Flavia Saraiva in the all-around competition. No one will perform two vaults, so no chance for a final. On the uneven bars, chances for a medal are very slim. Beam could be anyone's game, but I think the Americans and Canadians are one step ahead. Floor is where I expect Brazil to contend for a medal, maybe even gold if Flávia Saraiva has an exceptional day. Jade Barbosa and Thais Fidelis could also grab a spot in the final and maybe even a bronze medal. On paper, this team is competent and they should have no problems qualifying for the 2020 Olympics later this year, but it's always important to check how things are going before the World Championships, so the Pan Ams can be a good opportunity for them to test their routines.

I remember some people were really angry because the 4th place finisher was a Brazilian swimmer, and when she got promoted some French supporters on Twitter mentioned the Brazilians "bought" the officials because the Olympics were staged in Rio. Now, you mentioned that she herself blamed Italy. Anyway, I don't really like her and I'm glad she will not be in Tokyo (and that a Brazilian beat her yesterday).

Wikipedia shows that Niue has won their first ever gold medal. In which event?

Nice! It's easier to appreciate what athletes do when you're involved with the sport somehow, but as an spectator I'm not committed to invest my time on this sport as of yet. In fact, I disapprove of many of the additions, including karate, skateboarding and the dreadful break dancing.

I think it's boring. I mean, what's the excitement when some races end in 5 seconds?

Artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, judo, swimming and volleyball. Next in line would be table tennis, archery, diving, artistic swimming and athletics. The 10 (11 actuallÿ) sports I never watch: wrestling, taekwondo, basketball, baseball/softball, karate, sport climbing, badminton, fencing, cycling and boxing.

So, if Grangeon gets injured, does it mean Muller cannot take her place? Even if theoretically she's the next in line? (Well, if this is the case, the next in line would be Olasz, I guess.)

I understand your point, but unfortunately there's nothing we can do about the injuries. Calvo, Gonzales, Andrade and Moreno will be missed, but the level will still be high even without them. By the way, has Molinari retired? I hope he hasn't. All I want from this event if for him to earn a medal.

In artistic gymnastics, only the US will not send their best gymnasts. In women's artistic, Biles will miss the event, but the other gymnasts are either from their A or B team, so the level will be good. In men's artistic gymnastics all of the guys are relatively unknown, but they seem to be decent. The other teams will be the best of the best.