phelps

Jutta! Bosa...

let's begin the new year with some good doping news (still to be officially confirmed, but already processed). coach Mykhaylo Matshoka got a life ban following the Dmytro Chumak's affair in 2021 (they tried to manipulate a doping control and then they even tried to bribe the WADA officials in charge of that control). Taha Talib accepted a 3-year ban. Anton Pliesnoi, bronze medallist in Tokyo in the men's -96kg class, has been suspended while under investigation (basically, it's only a question of when he'll get banned and for how long, not an "if").

some circus stuff in the NHL, too...

Boxing, women's Middleweights...well, this is quite easy: as "young" as it is the discipline, Claressa Shields is just on another level compared to any other fighter. and Nouchka Fontijn is definitely superior to the judges' darlings from and . Boxing, women's Lightweights...easier than before...GOAT Katie Taylor is a no brainer. and the second bronze medal shouldn't even be awarded because how embarassing are the candidates ( I pass on that choice). Diving, women's Synchronized Platform...well, in this case my pick is based just on sympathy...I go with Malaysia.

I hope isn't anything heart-related... normally, in the USA you can always sign to go on playing at your own risk if there's just a minimal disfunction (opposed to some other places, especially Italy, where doctors can stop your career by authority if your values are not reflecting perfect health). if he wants to play despite some risk factors, it might well be a problem of the teams' insurance not willing to cover that risk for sure, it can't be just the well known back troubles that limited his overall performance in the last couple of season, there must be something more "risky" for the club other than the good Carlos. but we will never know...

Gianluca Vialli, one of the greatest footballers in the Italian history, died at 58. he was fighting a pancreatic cancer since 2017. R.I.P. captain https://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2023-01-06/football/Former-Italy-strike-Vialli-dies-aged-58-6736248659

Today's race in Zagreb has been cancelled because of the high temperature and the consequent snow troubles.

listening to IOC's President (Olympic Champion, Fencing, 1976 etc.) words from a couple of days ago, Russia and Belarus will remain sanctioned in the whole 2023, therefore there's a very slim chance for them to comeback through the window at the last minute, as the door keeps being closed.

it depends on which event I want to follow, however those I use more than others are SVT Sweden, NOS Netherlands, RTVE Play (Spain). then the Swiss TV, ARD/ZDF (Germany) and BBC/ITV (GBR) are always useful as well, but personally I have those channels on satellite TV, so I rarely use them online.

if you mean apps with results, rankings and news, well, I don't use any...I rather go with normal websites. if you mean apps to watch sport events on TV comfortably lying on the couch, well the list is quite long (normally, I'm using android TV apps and apple tv apps). I have almost every OTT service you can imagine: MLB.tv (baseball), ESPN Player (NHL hockey, NCAA sports), NFL GamePass, NBA League Pass, Discovery Plus and of course all those free apps where I can find some sport events I'm interested in (from Youtube to the Olympic Channel to most National TV apps -thanks to a good VPN, obviously). and sometimes I add a few more when it comes to the climax of certain competitions (namely, the Korean and Japanese IPTV service to watch their baseball champs playoffs). not to mention, 2 or 3 satellite TV subs, too. I'm a bit sick, I must admit...

New Zealand did that for quite a while, too. tbh, this is a truly xenophobe and racist decision...and it doesn't make any difference where they take it. it's disgusting. point.

not completely out of order, but I'd would be surprised if it actually happens. I'm not even sure she's going to be among our 3 starters in that event. p.s. if France don't make the podium (maybe even the gold medal) in men's Street Skateboarding I'd be really shocked.

both ACL + MCL according to Italian website OA they're also expressing some doubts on her future after a second injury of that kind (even if in the opposite knee than the first time).

no, definitely not. but maybe we've read something about that from the same (or comparable) sources.

1) it was a pure guess, but I think I got it right this time. 2) it's a public forum, everybody is here to express their opinion and in this case, I've not been asked to stop speaking for him by the author of the post himself, which would be the only thing stopping me from commenting other people's words. 3) + 5) as I wrote, I'm not here to explain the whole question and I'm not going to do any reserch for anybody. If you're interested in the argument, I'm pretty sure you can find all the useful infos by yourself. 4) you wrote about the usage of human feces...my limited mind didn't go beyond that kind of use in that situation (which is already practiced) and I took it as the only option. Sorry if I misinterpreted your idea...a few more examples would have made things more clear, though.

it's still TBD. this year (the first of the official W doubles competitions), it's only the men's doubles in the Team Event. we'll see in the next few years what they want to do (I guess they won't add both M + W doubles until they have at least the same number of Nations competiting at decent level).

in North Korea human feces are already massively used as fertilizers right now, because the Country doesn't have the industrial/chemical ones following UN sanctions. and actually, they were/are used also in many other places where poverty is at the highest level. not here to explain the whole drama, but you can easily find in the net what the human feces used as fertilizer do to human body. just search for health conditions of people defecting from North Korea.

I understand your POV (which is also mine, tbh). the problem is that Italy needs an indoor permanent oval...and there's no way it's gonna be built elsewhere (now all the chances for speedskating in 2026 are redirected to some temporary exhibition hall, like the Oval at Lingotto in 2006, if not just that once again...unlikely, but still...if they don't do anything quickly, that will be the only chance available as a "last second" save ).

yeah, at 98% there won't be any renovation work in Baselga. but you know, here we are still at the preliminary political fights (if they lose the Olympic status, they also lose a lot of money, which is not good for the city council, of course)...

I didn't vote at all... it's too early to make a proper prediction, therefore I'm not going to vote in this series of polls, I'm just giving an opinion if and when asked for...

because costs have gone too far to build a roof and moreover there are a lot of issues with those idiots who don't want anything to be done to save the landscape of the valley. imho, it was a wrong choice since the beginning...I hope they make up their minds and move that sport in Milan, where we have at least 2 or 3 places suitable to host it. p.s. in the coming weeks/months rumors about Turin will come out once again (for speedskating, but also other disciplines, the sliding sports track included)...don't trust them at all! it's only a new attempt by the new city council to put their hands on the IOC funding, but there's no way the current stakeholders would allow any steal of that kind.

my pick is: 3 categories (it would make it easier to put the appropriate team in the appropriate category, with no margin for interpretation nor misunderstanding).

no, also because we don't know where some sports are going to be hosted (it's almost sure that Speedskating won't be in Baselga, for instance). as usual, Italy is way, way late in the organizing questions...

Happy new Year to all the Totallympians and all the people around the World celebrating it right now!