phelps

not inviting at all...especially the "2" and "X2" should have been set a lot higher to draw some interest...let's say...more than 100,000 for sure... they should be a life changer with a few bucks bet...given that it's obvious it won't happen in any case... less than a 0-15 defeat would be a miracle (and I don't want to think of the CAN and FIN matches)...

in Italy, I think PMG sport (all medals matches on Saturday -morning and afternoon- and the team finals on Sunday)... but also on TV thanks to skysport Collection HD...but on this one, only the individual gold medal finals on Saturday (first half at Noon, second half at 6 p.m. CET) will be aired...

no, the last one was the 200m IM gold by Andreas Vazaios in 2016 (the last success by Grigoriadis dates back to 2012)...

I agree...and tbh, I'm OK with the current 2-athlete rule (I'd adopt it also for Track & Field among other sports)...I don't like the idea of too many clean sweeps of the podium places (actually, I hate all the events where the top 3 are from the same Nation/team)...

the problem of the point no.2 is just one (and it's the same in some track*** & field events)...there's too much of a risk to see some events with at least 5/6 guys from the same Nation* (and just 2 Countries** represented) in the final act... * = USA ** = USA & AUS ***= change USA and AUS with KEN and ETH

which is the normal rule in every other event outside the EChs... imho, this rule makes the EChs even more a 2nd tier event, as it's obvious that it's done to help the 2nd tier swimmers to gain some international experience, which they wouldn't get if the rules were the same of the other major competitions...

luckily it's only a European rule... unfortunately, this is the European championship...

ouch! that's painful...being the 3rd fastest overall and being eliminated because the top 2 are from the same Nation... Pilato being the losing side of the Italian internal fight in the women's 100m Breaststroke...

last world champs are 2 years away now... I think the results of the last 12 months are more reliable... in any case, also the composition of the various crews are to be considered... Italy will put all of their best rowers on those 3 boats (which wasn't necessarily the case 2 years ago, when trying to qualify the most boats as possible), many other teams won't, as they have other disciplines as their best option to get some medals... and this is the case of New Zealand in particular...they have placed all of their best rowers on the Eight (and the rules say that those who were on the boat at the repechage regatta last week must compete at the Games on that boat, they can't switch anymore, which makes NZL not a contender in M2- anymore... 4 medals is our target (add ML2X to these 3 boats)... by the way, it's just my prediction...not the Truth carved in the Stone...

sure, the 1st leg of any relay (except for the mixed gender one) is an official clocking, counting as NR, CR, WR, OR if that's the case and as OQT for those who haven't got it yet...

M2-, ITA vs CRO for gold, ROU best among the others... M4-, GBR vs AUS for gold, hopefully ITA edging out NED for bronze... M4X, ITA vs NED for gold...very open race for bronze (my pick is GER because of their tradition in this boat)...

Men's 20km walk Podebrady, CZE Francesco Fortunato, 1:19:43 Full Results (women's race, too), Here (I don't know if some more athletes qualified from the race or they were already in): https://results.onlinesystem.cz/ResultsOverall/Index/2148

I told you...better stay home... the team travelling to Riga is not much better than China playing only with their native guys at next year's Olympics... the triple digit scores are coming... my only hope is that also all the alternate players would be stopped at the border and not allowed to enter Latvia...

I expected the W4- to qualify (and being at least close to Ireland, if not even ahead of them) in Rowing and both Tacchini and the Craciun bros to literally dominate their respective races (plus Schera being closer to the top paddlers, even if "below the line") in Canoeing (where I also expected Ivaldi to qualify in Slalom last week)... imho, all these people underperformed badly (except for Ivaldi, who was just unlucky)...

-57kg: gold for Japan, Silver for USA and the it's a coin toss, everything will depend on the draw...my picks "just to play" are Belarus and Moldova...imho the 3rd and 4th best girls in this class... -62kg: Bulgaria's Huseyn is the best in this class, I hope she can show it on the mat... then my pick for silver goes to the current world champion and Kyrgyzstan's best hope for a medal, Tynybekova...for bronze, once again the draw will be a key factor, but my picks go to Japan's Kawai and Russia's Chumikova ("any other" in the poll)...

disappointing, shameful outcome for Italy... not a single qualification... this week, between Canoeing and Rowing we experienced a series of epic fails that should be remembered for the ages...

Alessandro Talotti died yesterday at the age of only 40 because of a cancer. He was 2 time Olympian in Athletics, men's High Jump (finalist in Athens 2004, out in the qualification round in Beijing 2008). His wife is multiple Roller Skating (Artistic) world champion Silvia Stibilj and they have a 1-year young baby, which makes Alessandro's death even tougher to be accepted... R.I.P.

women's karate, kumite, -61kg, Alexandra Grande could upset the main favourites and take a medal... they also have a good Skeet specialist in shotgun shooting (3rd in the last world cup, this week), but I fear he's not qualified to the Games, I should check...

many people will be extremely happy... the Swiss Federal Court denied Alex Schwazer in his last appeal to find the way to have his shameful, unfair suspension lifted and so try and earn a spot for the Tokyo Olympics... now he doesn't have any chance left to fly to Tokyo...major injustice has been done and kept until the end, despite the evidence of a criminal process that demonstrated how a shitty plot was put in place against him... I wish all those who conspired against him all the worst for the rest of their life...

I agree on almost every Flag in your prediction...I only have some doubts on the W1X (in particular on Dymchenko) and I hope that the second quota in the M2X goes to ITA and not Russia (but it's gonna be very, very difficult)...

it looks that's nothing too serious... she did even find time to joke on social media about the doctor who took care of her... https://www.pinkbike.com/news/pauline-ferrand-prevot-crashes-out-of-nove-mesto-xcc-short-track-race.html

gold for San Marino! Alessandra Perilli just won another world cup, beating Madelynn Ann Bernau at the shoot-off. Fatima Galvez got bronze ahead of Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova. Awful day for Italy, with no girls in the final...

men: I hope Italy can finally win the gold medal, but I fear Denmark will be a very tough opponent...meanwhile GBR should edge AUS out for bronze... women: USA, GBR and AUS...not necessarily in this order...

NED for gold and GBR and GER fighting for silver and bronze among the men... much closer among the women...I picked GER, CHN and RUS, but frankly I don't even imagine in which order...

please, can you fix Maggetti and Noceti-Klepacka's names in the poll?