phelps

detailed schedule of events... https://www.sportdata.org/wkf/ausschreibungen/386/DTM_event_schedule_386.pdf the official draws... https://www.sportdata.org/wkf/ausschreibungen/386/Tokyo_2020_-_Qualification_Tournament_-_Paris_draws.pdf

yeah...let's call that "impressive"...

and the farce goes on...

remember the rule...if Canada (or any other Nation) can't start any girl in the 70, 78 or +78kg classes just can't take part into the team event, even if you have a quota place for that...

it's been discussed since a long time...Nordic Combined would likely feature men's and women's individual races and a mixed relay event by 2026... with truly remote chances to add also the sprint relays for both women and men... "small" hills will be abandoned with time...

I know that...it's 50/50 the chance to have him in the same half of the draw (and therefore facing him before the final)... technically, it's only 1 out of 20 to get him in round 1, but since it doesn't change anything if he's there in the actual 1st round or in the quarterfinals or in the semis, I just simplified the concept... but to me it was quite clear what I meant...

no, the only source I have is our main sport website, OA... no words yet by Frank nor the coaches (but they let people intend that he would only make the minimum effort to secure the no.1 seed in the interviews before travelling to Poland)...

not almost...it's definitely harder to qualify than winning a medal once you're in... especially in certain weight classes of kumite, it's really just up to that given day's shape...

officially he was slightly injured, the true reason is that he was only interested in keeping the Kazakh guy at bay and be safe as no.1 seed in Tokyo (even if our media probably don't even know that it's still 50/50 to get a Kyle Dake in round #1)... by the way, I think today he would have lost to Hosseinkhani, since he just won by the smallest of margin against the Kazakh guy himself, the Ukranian he normally beats by superiority every time they face each other, even an unknown German in the preliminary round... I mean, I'm pretty sure he wasn't even at 50% of his shape (and most likely he wouldn't even participate in this tournament if it was his decision, but he was somehow "convinced" by our coaches)...

notable absence, Kazakhstan has chosen Nurkanat Azhikanov instead of the well known and higher ranked Yermek Ainazarov in the men's -75kg... imho, this tournament is going to be absolutely unpredictable, but the women's -55kg and +61kg classes are even ,ore than that, they will be an absolute mess...there are at least 12/15 girls in each of the 2 classes with real chances to make it...and only 3 spots up for grabs...

if they're going to be based on the OQR, these are the top 4 ranked among all the people on the entry list in each class: women's kata 1) Dilara Bozan 2) Alexandrea Anacan 3) Jasmin Juettner 4) Maria Dimitrova women's -55kg 1) Jana Messerschmidt 2) Li Ranran 3) Junna Tsukii 4) Yassmin Attia women's -61kg 1) Leila Heurtault 2) Rozita Alipour 3) Haya Jumaa 4) Alexandra Grande women's +61kg 1) Feryal Abdelaziz 2) Elena Quirici 3) Eleni Chatziliadou 4) Sofya Berultseva men's kata 1) Ariel Torres Gutierrez 2) Ilja Smorguner 3) Ahmed Shawky 4) Adnane El Hakimi men's -67kg 1) Eray Samdan 2) Vinicius Figueira 3) Kalvis Kalnins 4) Sadriddin Saymatov men's -75kg 1) Thomas Scott 2) Abdalla Abdelaziz 3) Erman Eltemur 4) Gabor Harspataki men's +75kg 1) Gogita Arkania 2) Daniyar Yuldashev 3) Valerii Chobotar 4) Farouk Abdesselem the full entry list of the tournament is here: https://www.sportdata.org/wkf/set-online/veranstaltung_info_main.php?active_menu=calendar&vernr=386&ver_info_action=catnennlist#a_eventheadend

they might have foreign origins, but they are all born and raised in SUI or either they are sons of Swiss citizens (who have passed those examinations, therefore)... so, nothing wrong with that...

well, I agree, but I think they're a bit too demanding...I read some examples of those question and they're about very particular and not so famous sites and episodes even among the Swiss people... obviously there's also a language examination...and that's absolutely fine to me...I'd like Italy to require that, too...but our politicians have different opinions...

no, for sure because Switzerland has really different laws about citizenship... actually, they have some of the most demanding laws to get their citizenship (including an examination on historical, geographical, political, social, economical and cultural themes)...

1) (not necessarily in this order) 2) (superstitious prediction) side polls... 1) no chance for surprises...Italy can only hope in Lodadio (men's rings) or the women's team (but it would take a miracle to repeat the last world champs' bronze)... and neither of the 2 would be a huge surprise for our media and fans...actually, most of them expect those 2 medals... 2) jury is still out... 3) I see it coming...unfortunately... but I still hope in the next IOC president, board and sports commission...I know, I'm a naive optimist... 4) Biles is a safe Gold among the women (no idea for silver and bronze)... then, I think the Russian guys are the favourites in the men's all-round, with Verniaev and some Chinese and Japanese guys as the main opponents...

he's high in the rankings because he was 5th at the last World Champs, he won the silver medal at the last European Games, he has a silver and a bronze medal at the European champs and he did perform well in the ranking series tournaments... he's definitely not one of the top 4 guys in the class on paper, but he's quite good in any case...for sure, he's not anymore a one-hit wonder...

tbh, I don't agree that much... as it happens in so many disciplines, every team has to make their internal selection...and the Worlds and Olympics should stay as the challenge of Nations (so, with only 1 representative per Country)... franlky, I don't find as attractive a tournament with 2 japanese (or 2 fighters from the same Nation in general) in the final (like it often happens now)...

or just give the top 2 or 3 european Nations in the WR instead of only the Netherlands the chance to play in this tournament... I'm pretty sure that LatinoSpain and USItaly would be able to set good teams up quickly...

or just another option... full broadcast by the Czech TV CT Sport (you need a Czech vpn for that...the free one Hola works perfectly)... https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/14165117885-ms-v-lednim-hokeji-2021-lotyssko/221471291160064-finsko-kanada/

you have to search for it on the website of the TV Network that broadcasted the game live (no idea who had those rights in HUN)...

it might not be so easy... I mean, certain athletes have the body structure that helps them to change weight class without too many problems, but others are just built into a single class... looking at her, Deguchi surely can't even think to go up to 63kg...and I don't think she could either go down at 52kg... on the other hand, also Klimkait is a bit too short to risk the 63kg swap (where she might be a lot less effective), if she doesn't have any issue with the current weight... not to mention the mental struggle and consequences a weight class change can have on some people, especially among the women... it's a very delicate question, especially in Countries where the individuals always have the last word...

yes, it's the "classic" 1 & 8, 2 & 7 and so on...

has this been already decided by your NOC? was this championship a direct playoff for the Olympic spot? because the rules don't say she's automatically out...once an athlete is in qualifying position, it's up to the single NOCs to choose who will represent them at the Games (they might still opt for the lower ranked player)...

the OC commentators are biased as very few others... it's not a question of Greece having any influence, it's a question of Italy being the Nation to be destroyed because of what our former president Falcinelli did in the past few years (basically he was the main opponent of the mafia gang ruling AIBA since the early 2010s but at the same time he's always been a fierce rival of the British officials, also those who were by themselves against the former AIBA "owners"...so, Italy was killed many times during the previous AIBA tenure but we are heavily penalized also right now because we're always in the black list of those who got the power )...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Sahara