thiago_simoes

You can't really compare our "less than optimal" teams in the past with this absolute train wreck of a team, really. The fact is that they got lucky at the Worlds and, as we say in Brazil, lightning does not strike twice on the same spot, so we should just ignore their dim chances for 2020 unless a miracle happens.

Now I'm curious. I've always thought that one of the reasons the IOC keeps badminton at the Olympics is because it's one of the few medal chances for Indonesia (besides weightlifting) so I thought badminton was THE sport to follow in the country. How come Indonesians enjoy football? Are you talking about national leagues or national teams?

Because you can't seriously consider that horrible men's team as the second best in the world, really.

Both teams finished fourth at the World League.

Male sportsman of the year: Carlos Yulo (artistic gymnastics) Female sportsman of the year: Simone Biles (artistic gymnastics) Team of the year: Croatia men's football team Junior sportsman of the year (under 20 years old at 1/1/2018): Takeru Kitazono (artistic gymnastics) Junior sportswoman of the year (under 20 years old at 1/1/2018): Giorgia Villa (artistic gymnastics) Greatest moment of the year: Hugo Calderano beating Fan Zhendong at the ITTF Grand Tour Finals (table tennis) Biggest idiot of the year: tie between Neymar and Kylian Mbappé (football)

As a Brazilian, it was an good year. First, I always follow closely results of the "big three" sports (athletics, swimming and gymnastics) because together they award a huge number of medals at the Olympics. In 2018 Brazil got medals in each of the World Championships for the big three, something that doesn't happen very often -- this only happened before in 2011 and 2014; at the Olympics this happened in 2016; at the Youth Olympics, in 2014 and 2018. I'm aware that indoor athletics and short course swimming are hardly comparable to the "true" Olympic events, but there's no other basis for comparison this year, so we have to go with what we have. This year, summing the results of the WCh for the big three, we had 10 medals overall, 7 of which were in Olympic events. In 2014 we had 13 medals overall, 7 of which were earned in Olympic events, and at the 2016 Olympics we had 5 medals in all these sports. I hope we can keep consistency and earn 5 or more medals at the 2020 Olympics in athletics, swimming and gymnastics. Moving on to other results, for the first time ever we had a world champion in slalom canoeing -- not in an Olympic event, though. Also, it was only the second time we had a world champion in a UCI event, but not in an Olympic event as well. At least we got a medal at an Olympic event at the UCI Championships, and the medal was won in a very Steven Bradbury way, so it was quite funny (video below, race starts at 2:38). Our other big sports, volleyball and judo, were very disappointing. Indoor volleyball teams finished fourth, and Judo only brought one medal at the World Championships (and the judoka retired after the event), so we might be in trouble for 2020. The best moment of the year was Hugo Calderano defearing Fan Zhendong in table tennis. I hope he blossoms nicely next year. He deserves a medal at the World Championships. And that's it. Not a terrible year, but also not a spectacular one. It was good, overall.

Wow, I'm surprised you like it. I hate churrasco, barbecue or meat in general. Not a vegetarian, but I avoid eating meat as much as I can. And pleeeease don't invite me to a barbecue. Ever. And I hate bacon as well (yes, I'm a weird guy). I'm in for the baked potatoes and salad, though, and now I'm curious about how bell pepper soup tastes like. Edit: I was going to ask if you've had sopa de ervilha (pea soup). I thought it was a typical Brazilian dish, but according to Wikipedia it is actually a typical Dutch dish! Color me surprised! You guys have very good taste. One of the few times I eat bacon is when it is added to pea soup (and the sliced sausages that go with it are delicious as well).

And there was also an acrobat gymnast from Ukraine who was found cheating, Anastasiya Melnychenko. Quite an extensive list, now that I can see it.

I knew about this, but my question is: was he tested after he got drunk? And if he did, did it count as doping violation?

Wait, the Dutch federation pulled him from competing at the rings final at the 2016 Olympics before he was tested, right? Or did it count as a second offense?

The ones I know: Artistic gymnastics: Andreea Raducan Daiane dos Santos Do Thi Ngan Thuong Gervasio Deferr Hong Su-jong Luiza Galiulina Morgan Hamm Yuri van Gelder Rhythmic gymnastics: Alina Kabaeva Anna Bessonova Irina Tchatchina Nadzeya Vysotskaya Rut Castillo Sabina Ashirbayeva Simona Peycheva

I don't know what to think about Zeng. This is the second doping case in rhythmic gymnastics this year (after Sabina Ashirbayeva), what is really surprising since this sport had very few convicted dopers in the past.

What a shame. Looking at the build of most weightlifters from Iran, I wonder how many great talents in the field part of athletics are denied a chance because of lack of investment. How many hammer/discus/javelin throwers and shot putters could have arisen from the country? Even a little investment does wonders for a sport. Look at what happens in artistic gymnastics: Iran only really cares about one event (men's pommel horse) and in a very short time gymnasts from the country earned three bronze medals at the Asian Championships, one bronze medal at the Youth Olympics (and this is HUGE), and a fourth place at the Asian Games.

I love it how the beginning of South Africa's anthem sounds like tribal music.

Three bronze medals in a row for Brazil!

Daiene Dias was so surprised with her bronze medal that after the interview with the Brazilian journalist she spontaneously hugged him trying to control tears. So cute.

Fu Yanhui failed to get a medal altogether on the 50 m backstroke event, even with Ethiene Medeiros out of competition. Now this is what I call underperformance on home soil.

Nicholas Santos won two medals (one of them gold) today and this made him the oldest medalist at the short course worlds (and the oldest champion, of course) at 38 years old. And got a medal! Nice achievement for Dylan Carter!

The population of the whole state of Roraima is 576,000 people. This is roughly the same number of people in the town I currently live in, Joinville.

This relay gold medal got me all tearful here. First because I would never ever expect a medal for Brazil in distances longer than 100 m. Our commentators are always proud to say we are the "sprint nation" and 200 m is not exactly a sprint distance, let alone a relay event. Second, because all five medalists come from completely different parts of the country, from the northernmost state (Roraima) to the southernmost state (Rio Grande do Sul), from a western state (Mato Grosso do Sul) to two eastern states (Rio de Janeiro and Bahia). This is incredible. Truly an effort involving swimmers from all parts of the nation! Now, Ethiene Medeiros... No comments. Edit: For those who care, here is a map of Brazil showing the states where all five swimmers come from.

Again? Parkour was accepted as a discipline in late 2017, so they probably only ratified their their previous decision. I completely agree. Parkour is not gymnastics. I feel ashamed as a fan of gymnastics to even call parkour practitioners "gymnasts".

What a surprise! I only remember them being Brazilian champions in 2001 and then basically disappearing for the next years. They don't seem to have many supporters even in their own state.

An Iranian swimmer won his heat and I got curious because we basically never hear about swimmers from Iran... Then I checked the results of the Swimming events at the Asian Games and Iran has never won a medal there. Even Cambodia has won medals at the Asian Games, so what the hell happens with Iran?