phelps

now DEN are 14-9 ahead (halftime)... p.s. looking at the Dutch team, it's just like watching the L.A.Lakers in the NBA...out there, it's LeBron leading the time-outs and basically coaching the team...here's Polman doing exactly the same...

technically, here I am... the problem...I always make it crooked and I have to try at least 2 or 3 times before it comes out reasonably good... by the way, despite I like suits, I hate ties (I have a wide bull neck and it's always a torture to keep the top buttons of my shirt closed) and I try to avoid using them as much as possible...

obviously... it's the usual "flag ban" in international events (and they should also lose the chance to organized any international event in all the Olympic sports, even if there's already been some kind of negative reaction to that -IIHF has already stated that the 2023 Ice Hockey Worlds will stay in Russia, the junior's in Siberia and the senior's in St.Petersburg, as they already have signed a lot of sponsorship agreements and started the contruction of the new Arena in SPB)...

it happened yesterday...in the semifinals... and in fact she was advanced to the A final by the jury panel and then she won bronze... today she made a mistake by her own and ended up "only" 4th...

GER beat NED... this group is more and more interesting...

this week we had a totally different outcome than the Nagoya WC stage... if in Japan dominated the field, this time we had an extreme balance final medal table, with 5 Nations ( Canada, China, Hungary, Netherlands and South Korea) winning 2 Gold Medals each, meanwhile Russia took the 11th and last one... with Arianna fontana back home, this time Italy won "only" a bronze medal...pretty disappointing performance in any case, as there were 2 500m races, where Martina Valcepina should have done a lot better...

Stage #4 (Shanghai, CHN) men's 5000m Relay Gold: Russia Silver: Hungary Bronze: South Korea

Stage #4 (Shanghai, CHN) women's 3000m Relay Gold: Canada Silver: Netherlands Bronze: United States

Stage #4 (Shanghai, CHN) men's 500m, race #2 Gold: Shaolin Sandor Liu Silver: Lee June Seo Bronze: Steven Dubois men's 1000m Gold: Han Tianyu Silver: Shaoang Liu Bronze: Park Ji Won

Stage #4 (Shanghai, CHN) women's 500m, race #2 Gold: Fan Kexin Silver: Yara Van Kerkhof Bronze: Qu Chunyu women's 1000m Gold: Suzanne Schulting Silver: Seo Whi Min Bronze: Kim Boutin

great start of the season for the Italian alpine discipline specialists... after yesterday's silver & bronze in PSL, today in the PGS it was even better...gold & silver for our guys... Roland Fischnaller won ahead of Mirko Felicetti... and once again we had 5 guys in the top 16... among the girls, today Germany took their revenge over Switzerland, with Ramona Theresia Hofmeister winning the big final against Ladina Jenny...

Mixed Nacra 17 Gold: Maelle Frascari & Vittorio Bissaro Silver: Lin Cenholt & Christian Peter Lübeck Bronze: Lisa Darmanin & Jason Waterhouse Full Results: https://nacra17.org/events/2019-world-championship/#results Women's 49er FX Gold: Annemiek Bekkering & Annette Duetz Silver: Martine Soffiatti-Grael & Kahena Kunze Bronze: Ida Marie Baad Nielsen & Marie Thusgaard Olsen Full Results: https://49er.org/event/2019-world-championship/#49erfxresults Men's 49er Gold: Peter Burling & Blair Tuke Silver: Erik Heil & Thomas Ploessel Bronze: Dylan Fletcher-Scott & Stuart Bithell Full Results: https://49er.org/event/2019-world-championship/#49erresults

Epic Battles determine three World Titles Auckland witnessed the climax of three tensely fought World Championships, where none of the victors had it easy Challenging Auckland wind and waves played their part in determining the outcome of the Hyundai 49er, 49erFX & Nacra 17 World Championships. We have three winners, but anyone watching the groundbreaking live coverage will know that there were no runaway winners from this epic regatta. Italians prevail in 3-way catfight The Nacra 17 Medal Race was a three-way battle for gold, with only 3 points separating Bissaro/Frascari (ITA 5), Cenholt/Lubeck (DEN 71) and Waterhouse/Darmanin (AUS 2). Each of these three teams took different paths up the first beat, none of which worked out tremendously. However it was the Italians who were ahead of the Danish, with the Australians back in last place. The Italians shifted over in the second upwind and forced the Danes backwards with a tight cover on DEN 71. The Danes had one final chance to make the pass they needed on the final downwind, but the Italians were not to be denied and took Championship victory by just a few boat lengths. For Bissaro and Frascari the victory couldn’t have come at a better time. For most of this Olympic cycle since Rio 2016, Tita and Banti (ITA 26) have been the dominant force. However, the outgoing World Champions struggled to find their form until late in the regatta. A victory in the Medal Race helped lift them to 7th overall, but Bissaro and Frascari have been the class act throughout the week. Finishing last in the Medal Race meant Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin had to settle for bronze, six points in front of John Gimson & Anna Burnet (GBR) who led the early part of the week. Earlier in the regatta Gimson and Burnet had put themselves in the box seat for Olympic selection but the fast-closing Ben Saxton and Nikki Boniface (GBR) closed the gap by the end of the regatta, finishing 2 points and 2 places behind their British selection rivals. Sandwiched between the British crews in 5th place overall was Tara Pacheco and Florian Trittel (ESP), who are one of many that have a serious shot at an Olympic medal in the Nacra 17 next summer. 49er: Heil & Ploessel make Burling & Tuke sweat for their 5th world title Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have won a fifth world title to add to the four consecutive victories they enjoyed between 2013 and 2016. This will be one of the sweetest victories, however, not least because it’s on home waters, but also because of how hard the Kiwis were forced to work for this gold medal. Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel had made a bit of a mess of the previous day’s racing but the Germans really turned it on at the end of the competition. With Burling/ Tuke forced out of the first Gold Fleet race of the morning due to a broken tiller extension, the Germans had the opportunity to close the points gap. Heil/ Ploessel came from deep in the pack to record a ninth place and then were fast out of the blocks in the next race, winning that one at a canter. Fortunately for home fans Burling/ Tuke had recovered their composure to finish third behind the Germans. This gave New Zealand an 8-point gap going into the double-points, 10-boat Medal Race, effectively a four-boat buffer on their German rivals. As good as in the bag for the talented New Zealanders, surely. But no! While racing up the first beat the Germans forced the Kiwis to tack off and Burling slipped from his trapeze handle during the tack to almost capsize. Rounding the windward mark in ninth and out of gold medal position, Burling and Tuke turned on their downwind jets – moving up the fleet and with a few more passes were up into fourth. With the Germans in second there was nothing left that could be done by Heil and Ploessel. Burling and Tuke rose to the occasion despite showing some rare unforced errors, and were pushed hard all the way by Heil and Ploessel. After a bronze medal at the Rio 2016 Games, the Germans have displayed sufficient class to be able to dream of beating the New Zealanders to the top step at Tokyo 2020 next summer. After looking like they might not even make the 25-boat cut for Gold Fleet earlier in the week, Diego Botin & Iago Marra (ESP) made the comeback of the regatta. The Spanish had a shot at the bronze medal if things went their way, and winning the Medal Race was the best way for them to conclude their time in Auckland. The 2017 World Champions Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell (GBR) looked to be in trouble but the Brits finished 8th in the Medal Race which was sufficient to hang on to the last medal by a single point from the Spanish. At least the Spanish have done enough to secure a spot for the Olympic Games after failing to make the Gold Fleet at the previous Worlds in Denmark. 49erFX: Brazilian capsize confirms 49er FX title for the Netherlands The 49erFX Championship was a prize fight between the Olympic Gold medallists Martine Grael & Kahena Kunze and the reigning World Champions Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz. The Brazilians used some downwind magic in the first race of the morning to pull in front, but the Dutch sailed perfect beats in race two. The overall lead changed in both races with the Dutch ultimately taking a 2-point advantage into the Medal Race. In other words, no advantage at all, under the double-points format of the Medal Race. With a who-beats-who medal race the Dutch and Brazilians were in lock step up the beat with wind and wave conditions getting even more challenging than the 49er race seen earlier. The action started when race leaders and potential bronze medallists Tina Lutz and Susan Beuke (GER 29) went for their gybe and hit a wave midway through – forcing an expensive capsize. With the rest of the fleet hurtling toward the leeward gate the Dutch played it fairly safe and rounded but the Brazilians, hot on their tail, couldn’t release the spinnaker halyard and ended up in a spectacular capsize with Grael jumping clear of the boat as they flipped over the leeward mark. Essentially the race for gold was over at that point, with the Dutch guiding their boat safely around the course to claim their gold. The Danish team of Ida Nielsen and Marie Olsen took a second place in the race to pass the Norwegians and Germans to claim the bronze medal. Bekkering and Duetz are now the only two-time 49erFX World Champions in the history of the skiff class, and they won the European Championship earlier this year as well. While Grael and Kunze are never to be ignored, the Dutch may have taken over their status as favourites for Tokyo 2020 next summer.

and this makes the Italian internal qualification battle a mess...2 different pairs back-to-back world champions... I think this is an absolute premiere for our Olympic Sailing classes...it never happened before even in our very successful women's windsurfing history... now...who do we have to choose to go at the Olympics?

no, not so many...Milak and a few other Hungarians (but Hosszu is there), Wellbrock in the freestyle long distances, Sjostrom, Belmonte, Efimova, Chupkov and the already named Peaty are the most notable European swimmers missing the whole championship... then, of course, many of those who are in Glasgow are not really in top shape, so some results might be deceptive... however, Kamminga and Toussaint are having a great week and surely they're taking advantage of the 25m pool more than many other swimmers...

Monday it's the day of the CAS decision over the wada executive committee recommendation to ban Russia for 4 year from every sport activity... I hope they won't be so stupid, but there's a high risk they'll take really tough decisions against the Russians (according to some rumors, the full exclusion from the Tokyo Games is almost certain)...

like Johaug, don't like Klaebo...like all Norwegian women...don't like all Norwegian men... oh, wait...it's the same for every Nation! like all the women, don't like all the men!

I don't think he'll be caught...but tomorrow is likely his last day on the tour...

oh, yes...at that moment I didn't realize that Spain already had 2 more men among the qualified fighters... however, I hope also Kanaet makes it from the OQR...the less risks we take, the better it is... however, I'm really impressed with Dell'Aquila's performance in this weekend...I didn't really expect him to beat with such margin (well beyond the final score) someone like Jang Jun... I'd be really happy if in Tokyo we have a gold medal match between him and Hadipour (with Vito winning, of course )...

only if Jang Jun wins the Grand Slam ranking, but CHN should still have a theoretical chance to grab that spot and leave Wolley out...

yeah, I remember my first speedskating races...those 2 unbelievable clashes over 5 and 10 kms between Thomas S. Gustafsson and Igor Malkov at the Sarajevo Olympics... 5k 10k

I know you're obsessed with outdoor venues (and I admit you have a good reason), but also these new indoor venues can be state-of-the-art and a beautiful "landscape"... I like this one in Nur-Sultan...the only problem to me is the lack of audience and "pathos" (as if it was nothing )...

it's a pity that's so dead an empty (at least, yesterday...I didn't watch today's session yet)... it's such a wonderful venue... if only Kazakhs speedskating fans were so many and so passionate as Thialf's...

I agree...it's really a nonsense to have different rules for the same event in different competitions... but ISU wants it and we can only take it as it is, like it or not...

Stage #4 (Shanghai, CHN) women's 3000m Relay teams qualified to the A Final South Korea United States Canada Netherlands men's 5000m Relay teams qualified to the A Final South Korea Hungary Russia Netherlands