phelps

please, all I want for Christmas is... this thing at the next Olympics!!!

I just gave a look...and there are all the eurosport streams as far I can see... on the main menu, just click on "Sport", then choose "Eurosport Extra" and finally, "See Schedule" and you'll be redirected to the daily schedule with all the available streams (E1, E2 and all the other feeds, marked only with "E"). it's only a question of getting used to the messy user interface, but all content is still available as usual, more than usual... p.s. of course you have to have a subscription...if you still have the Eurosport Player sub active, you can use your old credentials (and even if it's not active anymore, just use them to create your new account). it should work.

I really like your Breakthrough of the Year choices (it's the only category I decided not to vote).

I think we can just get rid of the Breakthrough category...we already have enough of them (and some are quite complicated to be filled properly -meanwhile some others would need more than just 6 option, I fear). for next year, instead of "best doubles or pair", I'd enlarge the category to "best mixed pair/team" (leaving the same gender doubles to the same gender team category), so not to have to force a (potentially) mixed team in the men or women's categories.

thanks... I'm gonna share my 2 cents after the end of the first ballot, however...I don't want to have a bad influence on anybody...

Odermatt just on another level, Today (and not only Today, btw)... Matthias Meyer suddenly announced his "no màs" just after the track inspection earlier this morning the new generation of owners of the speed disciplines is pushing through retirement all the greats of the last decade... Paris coming next?

however, to get back in topic, in these days I'm completely lost between American Football (NFL & NCAA) and Hockey (NHL, World Juniors, Spengler Cup, European National leagues). with a few notable exceptions, like the Alpine Skiing races in Semmering and Bormio (and Yesterday & Today, the Dutch Allround and Sprint* Nationals in Speedskating, too). *you know...Jutta

I fear you have to give up any ideology and go with the discovery plus app. try to see if you can find some promotional discount, at least.

Arianna Errigo is going to give birth to a couple of twins next March, she announced on her social media. she won the individual silver and the team gold medal at the 2022 world champs when she was already pregnant she also said that she already got pregnant just after Tokyo 2020, but she lost the baby after 3 (very difficult) months, causing her a lot of mental troubles. coming back to the gym and practicing the sport she loves was the only reason she could recover from that tragedy and look ahead. (in Italian) https://www.oasport.it/2022/12/scherma-arianna-errigo-aspetta-due-gemelli-partoriro-a-marzo-ho-vinto-i-mondiali-da-incinta/

Japan already announced the team for the 2023 World Championships (Doha, May 2023) most likely, for the 4 weight classes where they decided to put 2 players (every team can only enter 9 men and 9 women, which means that a Country can have max 2 classes per gender with 2 players) it's already the beginning of a tough selection battle looking at Paris 2024. Women -48kg: Natsumi Tsunoda & Wakana Koga -52kg: Uta Abe -57kg: Haruka Funakubo -63kg: Megumi Horikawa & Miku Takaichi -70kg: Saki Niizoe -78kg: Shori Hamada +78 kg: Akira Sone Men -60kg: Naohisa Takato -66kg: Hifumi Abe & Joshiro Maruyama -73kg: Soichi Hashimoto -81kg: Takanori Nagase -90kg: Kosuke Mashiyama & Sanshiro Murao -100kg: Kentaro Iida +100 kg: Tatsuru Saito

https://swimswam.com/belarusian-olympic-medalist-herasimenia-sentenced-to-12-year-prison-term-in-absentia/

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/alberto-contador-undergoes-surgery-to-remove-over-100-benign-tumours/

done! p.s. should we post our personal choices once the ballot is over? it might be interesting to see who voted for whom?...

1.too early to call it right now. at the moment, Tonaki is still the JPN no.1, but look for Wakana Koga, in 12 months time she could overtake both Tonaki and Tsunoda in their National ranking. it won't be an easy choice for them. 2.she's definitely a medal contender, even if I think she's not going to win Gold. there are at least 2 Japanese girls (atm, Tonaki and Tsunoda, but the 3rd -Koga- is coming) and Scutto, who are already better than her. 3.the KAZ girl is a good judo player, but she would need a favourable draw to make the medal matches. Figueroa is a slightly better than average, experienced player. she's dangerous in any given match, but no way she can overtake many of the top 4/5 girls of this weight class in a whole tournament (still, an easy draw could help her to make the final block).

say nothing... yeah, in fact we all said that the OA Sport ranking is way better (even if I'm totally against having Motorsports and their drivers in any sport list, since it's all only about having the best car/motorbike and not about single drivers' skills).

both Fencing, women's Judo and men's Skateboarding events can easily have a French medallist, even if they're not the no.1 favourite (at least by now) in any of them. however, I'd be surprised if Boukli (Judo) and at least 1 fencer don't make the podium (at least).

I guess you can always name her in the "any other" option... however, she's not going to win the Olympic Gold...Assunta "Susy" Scutto is the name for that!

I already have 6 of them in my list...and it was really hard to leave some others out... in some categories, I'm really in trouble to make my choice (I think I'm not going to vote at all in the Breakthrough category).

I agree...and that "only 1 athlete/team from your Nation" doesn't help at all...

yeah, the Gazzetta Awards sucks big time (and basically only 3 sports have been taken into consideration)... those of OA Sport are way, way better, even if I think Motorsports shouldn't even be considered, Goggia and Ganna are way underestimated and I find a pure scandal that Simone Alessio isn't even in the Top 20

by the way, the most qualified opinion in the world of the Italian sport, is surely the specialized website OA Sport. this is their yearly ranking for 2022 (it's just a single 20-name list, without special categories): 1.Francesco Bagnaia (& Ducati), Motorbike 2.Stefania Constantini & Amos Mosaner, Curling 3.Thomas Ceccon, Swimming 4.Ruggero Tita & Caterina Banti, Sailing 5.Arianna Fontana, Short Track Speedskating 6.Benedetta Pilato, Swimming 7.Gregorio Paltrinieri, Swimming 8.Vito Dell'Aquila, Taekwondo 9.Nicolò Martinenghi, Swimming 10.Sofia Raffaeli, Rhythmic Gymnastics 11.Elena Micheli, Modern Pentathlon 12.Marta Maggetti, Sailing 13.Diana Bacosi, Shotgun Shooting 14.Sofia Goggia, Alpine Skiing 15.Marcell Jacobs, Athletics 16.Gianmarco Tamberi, Athletics 17.Aziz Abbes Mouhiidine, "Olympic" Boxing 18.Filippo Ganna, Cycling 19.Giorgio Minisini, Artistic Swimming 20.Antonino Pizzolato, Weightlifting

as we explained many times in the past, in Italy there's no offcial award for the best sportsmen/women of the year... however, there are quite a few ceremonies trying to make a ranking of the best athletes and events of the year. the oldest and somehow still the most prestigious prize is the classic Gazzetta Awards, organized by the legendary sports newspaper with the rose pages. in 2022, the Gazzetta Awards went to: Best Male Athlete: Marcell Jacobs (Athletics) Best female Athlete: Benedetta Pilato (Swimming) Best Team: AC Milan (Soccer) Most Outstanding Performance: Gregorio Paltrinieri (Swimming), for the Gold Medal in the 1500m Freestyle at the Acquatics World Championships Breakthrough of the Year: Yemaneberham Crippa (Athletics), for the Gold Medal in the 10,000m at the Athletics European Championships Paralympian of the Year: Xenia Palazzo (Para-Swimming), 7 medals (4 Gold) at the Para-Swimming World Championships as usual, more than usual...nobody here gives a crap to Wintersports and people just can't get Soccer out of their minds...

well, it should be an indicator that you appreciated the dinner...

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all the Totallympians & families!

some of them are a "must watch" though...