thiago_simoes

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.

Brilliant race for the Algerian guy. He conserved energy and attacked at the right time to win the bronze medal.

I can't believe Pazhava will go back home empty handed. What a shock. And Bogdanova with a medal? Today, hell will freeze over.

Is Generalova injured? I can't believe she was not chosen! Not a fan of Feeley, but she's (mostly) competent. She's not bad, just bland. Anyway, this makes things a lot more interesting, though. Feeley will still probably win most silver medals, but I honestly don't believe she will hit all of her routines (pretty much like Bezzoubenko in 2015). There's definitely more chances for other gymnasts now to dream with a silver medal, or maybe 3 different countries on the podium (especially on ribbon).

Wow, such a tight result at the very first event. Amazing!

Undeserved penalty for Brazil, undeserved penalty for Peru... Even after revisions through the VAR. Anyway, a fitting ending to a convoluted tournament. The VAR system is a mess, the level is terrible, most players performed below my expectations... the only good thing about this title is that Neymar is not part of it.

Well, not anymore.

Brazil decided to play as if the match was already won, and now Peru equalizes the match. Well deserved equalizer for Peru.

I've never been a fan of two bronze medals, but this is beyond stupid. Even worse than boxing and judo.

Italians celebrating after the Taiwanese gymnast fell. Disgusting. Let this be a reminder that not only Brazilians can be assholes. Italians too. Also, this means Ferlito got the gold medal. She has bad form overall in her tumbling passes and her routine does not flow very well, so the fact that she was awarded a gold medal is a bit surprising, but the level was quite low. Farah Abdul placing fourth is heartbreaking, especially considering how boring Perebinosova's routine is (although she has much better form, I have to admit). Even so, Perebinosova is very uncomfortable to watch because she always looks like she hates gymnastics and is being forced to perform. Ugh.