phelps

well, first the switch to Italy didn't pay out well for anybody (himself, but also our team, we expected him to boost our chances in more than one event and he just was good enough for the relay's prelims)... now this...even if I also think that it's because he basically stopped swimming at the highest level after Tokyo...we've never seen him in Italy after that competition...

it looks they want to make it a new World Baseball Classic, then (I mean, with teams based mainly on marketing interest of the NHL)... this might lead to make Italy a powerhouse, having a team filled with all the NHL players with Italian heritage (who normally can't play with us because they've never been in our Country)...

that's a bad situation... I didn't know... wow! I hope it could be fixed as soon as possible...

let's keep politics and the war aside for a while... the long term solution is as simple as a 12-year ban for all the Russians because of the shameful doping issues they had in the 2008-2014 span and they were never really punished for... Belarus also had some heavy doping issues in that period (remember the full canoeing and weightlifting teams not allowed to enter the Rio Olympics?), so an 8-year ban for them will work, too... and we're perfectly done until at least 2030 for BLR and 2034 for RUS... then, and only then, we could start to reconsider their position...

don't laugh now...wait to see the Italian roster, first! (at least, I hope we have to laugh on that, because I fear we'll have to cry if there are more than 2 Italian born Italians on that team)...

I saw that Sunday afternoon the big match between Kosice and Slovan is live on RTVS :Sport will you attend in person or just watch it on tv?

busy week in the European Hockey... after the first CHL stint, now it's time for the beginning of almost all the main European domestic leagues... Finnish Liiga is underway since Tuesday, yesterday the Swiss NLA started. Tonight it was time for the Czech Extraliga and the German DEL to open their campaign, meanwhile tomorrow it's time for the Slovak Extraliga and the Austrian ICE League (with 3 Italian teams). Saturday the Swedish SHL will begin, too. All this, waiting for the NHL to start their show. I'm ready for the full immersion... p.s. @hckošice I saw that the AMC channels replaced the KHL (gone for obvious reasons) with the Swiss NLA I'm almost in tears (of joy, of course)...

and here we go...another idiot... Santo Condorelli 18-month ban for whereabouts failures... https://swimswam.com/tokyo-medalist-santo-condorelli-given-18-month-fina-ban-for-whereabouts-failures/

I want better picture quality! = 50/60 fps and a better working app for android TV, but that's another issue...

by the way, just got my padel local club subscription...

3x3 is just fun to play, its popularity as a sport to watch doesn't really exist... basketball is another thing, people around the world want to watch Steph, Giannis, Luka, KD...some of them (and I don't understand how they can stand him) even LeFlop...ops, I mean LeBron...

no, in all the ISSF events (shotgun, rifle, pistol) only 1 quota per competition can be earned by a single Country

at least Raffaeli won it all today...

WTF? Germany in the top 3? Italy not 1st & 2nd? what a sh*tty day for our sports!

Men's 50m 3-Position Rifle Gold: Petr Nymbursky Silver: Jon-Hermann Hegg Bronze: Jiri Privratsky Olympic Quota Places (to the NOCs, NOT to the athletes): Petr Nymbursky & Jon-Hermann Hegg

Men's Rapid Fire Pistol Gold: Clement Bessaguet Silver: Oliver Geis Bronze: Pavlo Korostylov Olympic Quota Places (to the NOCs, NOT to the athletes): Clement Bessaguet & Oliver Geis

if Luka Magic doesn't pull out a true miracle, I'm close to abandon basketball and going to play padel for the rest of my life...

don't even try and watch the last minute of a close NBA game, then... normally, it takes 25/30 mins to be completed (in the NBA both teams have 7 timeouts each in the second half -and they usually keep at least 4 or 5 for the decisive moments- and they are about double time long compared to the FIBA habits)... however, despite that, basketball can be really exciting and make you jump from the couch...but sometimes it can also be so cruel and make you cry and get mad because your team loses a match that they already had in the bag (any reference to this afternoon's game is purely intentional )... p.s. tbh, I saw also some hockey games where the last minute of play took more than 10 mins of real time (and no fights were included)...

Women's 25m Pistol Gold: Doreen Vennekamp Silver: Klaudia Bres Bronze: Renata Sike Olympic Quota Places (to the NOCs, NOT to the athletes): Doreen Vennekamp & Klaudia Bres

Sike out, Poland and Germany get Olympic quota places

Fuck! Varricchio out...no quota place for her... and it was the easiest event to get it (and it's so important for us to have a woman getting a quota place and being somehow competitive)...

Women's 25m Pistol Ranking Match #1 Doreen Vennekamp, 17 (Q) Maria Varricchio, 13 + 4 (Q) Joana Castelao, 13 + 2 Antoaneta Kostadinova, 11 Ranking Match #2 Klaudia Bres, 13 (Q) Renata Sike, 12 (Q) Anna Korakaki, 11 Camille Jedrzejewski, 10

Athletics, men's Javelin Throw...this is a no brainer, Jan Zelezny is "the" javelin made person. Boxing, men's Flyweights...another easy choice... Robeisy Ramirez was certainly the strongest and the most entertaining fighter in this and the immediate heavier class (where he won the Olympic Gold in 2016). Boxing, men's Featherweights... Vasyl Lomachenko...a flash in the dark...his 2008 Olympic Tournament was one of the most dominant performances I've ever seen. Wrestling, Freestyle, men's Bantamweights...most likely he isn't the strongest Olympic Champion ever, but surely he's been one of my first truly favourite freestyle wrestlers...my pick is Alì Reza Dabir. Wrestling, Greco-Roman, men's Bantamweights...the GOAT, the one and only Hamid Sourian. @MHSN is Dabir the correct "western version" of his family name or is it Dabiri, like I've read many times in websites and TV graphics?

yeah, but they not always play according to their characteristics...more than once, I saw them messin'it up at the first trouble (like they did against Italy in Tokyo last year, for instance)... yesterday they were really focused and inspired (considering they're also missing some very strong players)... I was a bit disappointed by Greece, though... after they played so well in Milan in the group stages, they just went a level below in Berlin (they already struggled more than expected in the round of 16)...

yeah, the double elimination format is really...out of date, let's say...