phelps

meanwhile in Italy we expect France to win 25/30 gold medals in 2024...

Bocchi (triple jump) getting a no jump like the British guy in the long jump last night... at least this time they didn't need to wait for an appeal against the Italian...

very, very difficult...now we have a golden generation with Ceccon, Martinenghi, Miressi, Razzetti, Burdisso and Quadarella and we also are lucky to take advantage of the particular political situation of these days... but I don't think we'll be able to sustain that...in a few years we're gonna pay a very high prize to the covid stop between 2019 and 2022, when most of our sports suffered a big loss of kids practicing sports, especially swimming and combat disciplines, which weren't allowed to restart in full until late last year if not even this year... and if we add what's gonna happen in the next months/years after September's elections, we're destined to a quick decline...

may I write "God bless RTVS :SPORT"?

Nairo Quintana disqualified from TdF because of prohibited painkiller (but not going to face any further ban)... https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/quintana-disqualified-from-tour-de-france-following-tramadol-positives/

wait, Mahuchikh (and a couple more high jump specialists) don't agree at all...

it's too hot for them... they are melting in the sun like ice cream...

yeah, that's a shame! why? he would have been the main show of the last day of the championships... now the Germans might get a 1-2 in the race, if Auboeck doesn't perform at his best...I don't see the Italians having anything left in the tank to be among the main contenders... more news...Florian Wellbrock pulled out from the Open Water Swimming races, he said he's too tired and not very well trained after the covid issues he had to face after the world champs...

well, in Italy we're a bit luckier...our commentators usually pay good attention to the field events (especially when the Italians are there, of course, but not only in that case)... sure, last night with Jacobs ready to go in the 100m final, they missed to show the last throws in women's discus, but that's excusable...

well, apart from their excessive British-centric commentary, at least BBC people know what they're talking of... but those commentators on the international feed are often a true disaster, they don't even know the basics of the sport they're watching (I read some heavy critics also against sky UK for their coverage of the AUS vs ARG rugby match last weekend, talking of disappointing international feeds)...

update... not only the races have been rescheduled, but also the start/finish procedures will be very different from what was initially established... there will not be any usual pontoon, the start of each race will be from the beach (with the swimmers running a few meters to reach the water) and the finish will be in truly open water, about 200m from the shore (and not close to the audience, as it usually happens nowadays)... moreover, not so flat sea is expected during the weekend, so we might be able to watch quite a different kind of races than the most recent events (very curious to see how the pool specialists will adjust to that, in case)...back to the old glory days of open water swimming!

scary appearance by Popovici in the heats of the men's 400m freestyle... he did swim 3.47 with such an easy, relaxed stroke... I think he's going 3.42 with one arm later this afternoon, if he only wants...

no, there isn't a dedicated thread, but we can use this for sure (I don't think there will be many posts about diving, even if the Europeans without Russia are more interesting than ever)...

No, the point of the foot is beyond the line of fault... they changed the rules a couple of years ago and now it's not the sign on the board counting anymore, it's the projection of the entire foot that must be behind the line... actually, I was surprised he wasn't given a red light just after the jump...

very slow semi #2 in the women's 100m... the track must not be the fastest in the world...

only if they jump over Trump's wall...

he has to stay healty, first... the muscular injury that took him out of the worlds' semis was a serious thing... he shouldn't have won the world championships over the 60m in March, then (beating left and right Kerley and Coleman through the whole indoor season)...

Paltrinieri's race was really a big blow for us, but we immediately made up for that with the unexpected gold in the women's 100m backstroke... unfortunately the women's 50m breast are out of reach tomorrow... and I'm really curious to see Popovici over the 400m free...I think he may well shock the world...

easy win for her...

she's a very good talent, but she's managed very poorly... she competed in way too many events this summer, she should save herself for more selected appearances to be more effective... by the way, last night part of the infrastructure in Ostia, where the Open Water Swimming competitions will be held, has been damaged by the bad weather... therefore the Open Water events have been rescheduled and will start on Friday instead of Thursday to complete the necessary repairings...

and what a race! OK, the final stint was really messy because only 6 teams were good enough, but it's beginning to look like a true deserving race for what concerns the top teams... and for sure it was highly entertaining (even if the tv director should be someone who understand a bit of cycling)...

yes, however also Ehammer has thrown a lot of points away in the discus event, he was almost 5 meters below his PB... on the other hand, since Dester has already improved by quite some margin his PBs in both Shot Put and Discus Throw, I expect him to do the same in the Javelin Throw, which would give him a chance to fight for bronze (and it would be the first ever medal for Italy in decathlon/eptathlon at the European champs -not to mention Worlds and/or Olympics)

should the current top 10 decathletes match their season best in both the last 2 events, this should be how it's going to end... Ehammer 7202 + 1070 = 8272 (silver) Dester 6852 + 1320 = 8172 (5th) Uibo 6788 + 1400 = 8188 (4th) Oiglane 6779 + 1450 = 8229 (bronze) Kazmirek 6757 + 1330 = 8097 (8th) Skotheim 6757 + 1390 = 8147 (7th) Kaul 6682 + 1650 = 8332 (gold) Nilsson 6666 + 1500 = 8166 (6th) Wiesiolek 6587 + 1440 = 8027 (9th) Helcelet 6576 + 1310 = 7886 (10th)

yeah, they also did very well at the Cadets Worlds in Rome a few weeks ago...