phelps

I think the "games yes/games no" dispute and all the disappointment they gave to IOC after the pandemic started, would eventually have more influence... not so sure they would get all the favourable scores in judged sports like gymnastics, diving, skateboarding and surfing anymore... however, they still have a mighty squad in many disciplines and I think they will do well under any circumstance...

(in this order)

also the "perfect year" (or "Golden Slam", if you prefer) with 4 GS tournaments and the Olympic Gold medal (only time that happened, 1988, Steffi Graf) is something I'm sure he's thinking of...

considering what happened to Jon Rahm a few weeks ago, I'd say that not only he'll be fine, but also that we already have our Olympic gold medallist...

I think they will use the same list they used to allocate the spots, which is the IJF World Ranking List as of 28th June 2021...

or the next 2019 World Cup... for sure, when they lose an exhibition game, then the big tournament doesn't go that well... by the way, for those want to watch the full game, you can find it here:

2020/2021 Hockey season ended just a couple of days ago... but, hey, man! we're already into the new sason! KHL revealed their 2021/2022 schedule the new campaign will start on September, 1st with the classic season opener between last year's finalists, CSKA Moscow @ Avangard Omsk (in Balashika)... among the news, for the 1st time since the Lokomotiv's air disaster, a game will be played on september 7th, which this year marks the 10th anniversary... and it will happen because it was the Yaroslavl's team itself that asked to host a home game to celebrate that day as it deserves (they will host Dinamo Minsk)... more infos and details, here: https://en.khl.ru/news/2021/07/09/485903.html the full RS schedule, instead, is here: https://en.khl.ru/calendar/

basically, it's the same in all Countries... the difference starts on Saturday (in Italy, the 2 TV channels will show basically very few and often useless events because they want people to subscribe Discovery+ )...

no, of course...if necessary, the course marshalls send them away before golfers play their game on each hole...

Testa is a lock, if they don't allow her to win the Gold medal is a scandal...she's by far the best boxer in her weight class (and she did show that also at the OQT in Paris)... by the way, also Carini, with a favourable draw, can get a medal...she's still the reigning world silver medallist... p.s. and Nicoli and Sorrentino are not that bad, too...it's only a question of fair judging, but they could all 4 win a medal...I'm sure at least 1 will come home from boxing... my biggest doubt is about taekwondo (I'm not sure Dell'Aquila is the same guy who won the world GP in 2019 anymore...his last outing was really scary and depressing)

the player can drop a new ball (with no penalty) where the thing happened... p.s. it's already happened in the past...more than once (the yearly tournament in New Orleans is famous because it often has alligators sunbathing on the side of the artificial lakes around the course)...

Karate gives 4 medals (2 Bronze to the semifinals' losers)... Russia here is like ITA and FRA...we and our neighbours only have 1 shot in wrestling, but it's a very strong one (I see TKD more at risk for both of them)...Chernysheva has very good chances of a medal in Karate (where actually anything is possible, especially in Kumite)... Turkey have definitely more chances of anybody else...

(in this order)

maybe all the other Nation have at least 1 black hole... by the way, ITA and FRA only have 1 real shot in Wrestling...so, it will be difficult also for them...RUS and TUR are the only safe picks...

nice season despite the pandemic troubles... I didn't appreciate too much the "new" RS divisions, or, rather, the games being played within each team's division only (definitely, I can't stand the same match 8 or 9 times already during the RS and I missed the East vs West games, as well)... but in the end, the playoffs had some very entertaining series and some quite surprising results... the Finals were not so exciting, because it was clear since game #1 that Tampa is on another level than Montreal, but still we saw some better hockey overall if compared to last year's (despite the score was closer last season)... now, as usual, I'm a bit depressed as the hockey season is over... but fortunately in 2 weeks time the Olympic Games start and it will make it easier to get to September and the new Hockey season (can't wait already for the next KHL season to open my personal campaign )...

yes... and of course the news was reported also by the Italian newspapers that never write about sport in general (not to mention Equestrian in particular) only because of her family name... p.s. I'd have liked to see also his life mate (Lorenzo De Luca, for those who don't know that) among the starters in Tokyo, but Italy first threw the team qualification away with crazy selections at the qualifying events, then they decided to blow him individually...

yes, Eurosport1 is the same continent-wide, but Eurosport2 is localized, with different scheduling in each Country (normally, for the Olympics it might be that both Eusp channels are localized -I remember in Pyeongchang in Italy both channels were local, with the second channel showing almost every hockey match and the first showing the individual sports with special attention to the Italian athletes)...

some technical specs over the Olympic broadcasting... https://postlmg.cc/sQJzVcJG https://postlmg.cc/Yjpkd5p6

I hope it's not what it looks... OK, he's very young, but almost 3 seconds of improvement in a year...

just choose a Championship Tour event and enjoy... https://www.worldsurfleague.com/

main poll... Yes, in terms of the number of qualified athletes, who are way more than expected... Not so much, in terms of who actually did get a spot in a few events... side polls... A - men's basketball team for sure...I think nobody expected us to win the qualification tournament in Belgrade against Serbia... B - it should be quite a long list, but just to make it simple, women's waterpolo and men's football in team sports, men's full squad in archery, second quota in men's Trap (shotgun shooting), men's C1 in slalom canoeing, men's boxing (in full) among the individual sports...

Yes to all 3 questions... for what concerns the chance to change the format, I'd like to get back at least to the 1-day event like it was until London 2012 (with no ranking and bonus round in fencing, just the simple round robin as it once was)... the wet dream is to get back to the good old 5-day format, but I admit it would be quite anachronistic... A - it doesn't make sense to me...as I wrote, I'd rather be back to what MP once was, not going forward to more absurd formats... B - men: / women: we have a couple of girls competing, but I think only Elena Micheli has a chance to shine... unfortunately, for the first time we don't have any man qualified to the olympic event...what a shame!

55kg: 76kg: 87kg: side poll... +87kg:

no...at least, not with a chance of being replaced... NOCs had to confirm their final lineups by July, 5th...