phelps

yes, you're right... and vs vs vs 2x for 2 quota places among the women, with that could win only 1 (because they already have 1) and who's sure to qualify via WR in any case, even if she misses out in this specific final (if she gets a quota from this event, instead is to earn the WR spot)...

no one, as they all allow too weak teams (host Nation included, in some cases) to qualify despite the very small starting field in each of those sports... when winning a medal at some continental championships (not even saying the worlds) is harder than winning an Olympic medal (once you qualify), there's surely something wrong... so, I didn't vote in this case, as "no one" isn't an option, but if it suddenly would become available, that would be my pick...

2 and 3...maybe 5 (it wouldn't be the first time it happens in recent times)... but I think this time AUT would eventually take at least a medal home, so I only picked 2 and 3...

OMG! just another sport destroyed by this fuckin' obsession for mixed team farce events, as if the "combined thing" to find a place at the Olympics wasn't enough...

looking at the Italian tv schedule, it's definitely the local time... in Central Europe the tv coverage will start at 6 p.m.

at least he didn't try any dance footstep...

just another ordinary day at the office in this championship... Group B standings: 6th, 7th, 8th: SWE, CAN, ITA...all at 0 points... if I were told we would be tied with those 2 teams after 2/3 games, I'd have thought to be drunk big time...and instead...

moreover, they're the sponsor/owners of the team that allows the most people to go to their Baseball games (Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks are the best team of the NPB in the last decade)... hypocracy at its best...

yes, you're right... I thought there was 2 quota, but it's only 1... so, it's GER vs the 2 RUS for a single place...more entertaining...

GER and 2x RUS (Chernousov is already qualified) for the Olympic tickets... and since RUS can't get more than 1 (Chernousov's quota is just in this discipline), GER's quota is also safe... so, it will be an all-Russia affair between Aristarkhov and Mukhametyanov for the last quota remaining... my mistake, there's only 1 quota place available...

oh, yes...I didn't see the names below the MQS list... those are actually in competition, too (meanwhile those with MQS beside their names are not, of course)... however, the Belgian is the only one who made it to the final from the 2nd group...

Relay 2 is only about athletes out of the European Championships (looking for MQS and/or reserves for the actual competition allowed to have a training session)... p.s it's Ceccarello...

Women's Pole Vault Roberta Bruni, 4.70m (NR) https://www.worldathletics.org/athletes/italy/roberta-bruni-14400947 http://www.fidal.it/content/Bruni-decolla-a-Rieti-4-70-record-italiano!/133076

rather drop all lightweights...

well, we did save the face once again... one more reasonable loss...

by the way, yesterday we saw also a great performance by Yulimar Rojas in the women's triple jump... in Spain, she jumped 15.43m, the second longest jump ever, behind only Kravets' world record...

I can tell you immediately... without going back to his junior days (which would be senseless), in Doha (last world champs), he ran 10.07 (5th best) in the heats (so, not even going at 100%), but as usual, he had a cramp in his harmstring and then he tried to run also the semis, but of course he was too concerned about a possible injury and ran a disappointing 10.20... so, he wasn't far away from his best...he just proved himself to be fragile when going for more rounds in a day... this Winter/early Spring, instead, he improved race after race and in Torun he confirmed himself with a further improvement and destroying the field, starting as the favourite and dominating like the favorite should do... so, it's not that he can't reach his limits or sustain a strong mental pressure in the main event of the season... once again, it's only a question of not injuring himself, which is a big "if" in his case...

the problem with football is that it would draw all the attention from other sports, if they participate with the overall bests... it would be all day Messi and Ronaldo and Neymar, with no place on the stage for the Bolts, Karelins, Phelps of this world...

do you realize that he's been consistent at 10.0 in the last 2 years and he's already shown that this year he has dramatically improved on regular bases through the entire indoor season? 10.15 would be a slow time for him even in the heats of the Italian championship... His problem is the fact that he's too much injury prone (and 1cm wound in a leg is not a "not too serious of an injury")...

sure... but... a) FRA and GER are almost irrelevant...being ahead of the Eastern European nations (especially Russia and especially in the Pistol events) means being the best in Europe and it's something that basically never happens, so it's obvious that once we get there, it gives a huge boost to the whole movement... b) let's start being the best in Europe...starting from this point, we can work to try and catch the Asian powehouses... instead, being less than average even at continental level, it wouldn't leave any hope to be able to get close to the best in the world one day or the other (not that it will happen for sure, in any case...but at least now we have solid bases to build on)... c) considering how few youngsters practicing the sport we have and how difficult is to access to the shooting sport (especially rifle and pistol), from any perspective we look at it, even with all the "minus" we have to take into consideration, this is a huge improvement by our team...we can't always count on mega-talents like Campriani to appear from nothing (and watching him leave the stage earlier than expected)...

Men's K-4, I picked GER, but I hope it's ESP (or maybe SVK)... Women's K-4, I picked BLR, but I see many contenders here, from HUN to POL and maybe some unexpected crew...

Italy! it looks we have a good future ahead of us in this sport... Italy won 3 of the 4 Air junior events contested today... Danilo Dennis Sollazzo won the men's 10m Air Rifle, Federico Nilo Maldini won the men's 10m Air Pistol and Margherita Brigida Veccaro won the women's 10m Air Pistol... the only gold medal not gone to an Italian shooter is the women's 10m Air rifle, which was won by Julia Ewa Piotrowska...

clear emotional rebound after yesterday's triumph... tbh, I expected them to experience a lot of troubles tonight... meanwhile, the Swiss! it might really be the time for them to make history (I still think Sweden are stronger and moreover, they match very bad against Finland...but if they find the way to avoid those 2 teams in the knockout stage, they might really do it)...

by the way, Marcell Jacobs, after stunning the world with last week's 9.95 clocking in Savona, got an harmstring injury (1cm wound) and he's out for a while... hope he recovers in time to get back in his best shape for Tokyo, but I fear his season is heavily compromised...

no, no.1 is absolutely Francisco "Paquillo" Fernandez: "I tested positive because I used to practice cunnilinguus to my pregnant wife"...