phelps

I don't know if in the past it was not allowed, but surely it's quite a long time (I mean, it's many years) that you can use a longer distance to try and get an official clocking over a shorter race. The only rule as far as I know is that you must complete the full "original" distance to have your time over the shorter one to be recognized (it also happened at the Glasgow Europeans last Summer...Pernille Blume did try to get a fast time over the 50m free during the semifinals of the 100m and then did slow down badly in the second half of the same heat and finished outside the qualifying places -and she could even get a medal in those 100m free )... p.s. and when you try this kind of things you should alert the other swimmers of the same heat before, otherwise it's considered an act of disrespect...

meanwhile the European qualification tournament will be played in September almost certainly in Italy (historical baseball cities Bologna and Parma are the proposed venues)... that time period would eventually hurt Italy and the Netherlands (ITA more than NED) a lot (as it means that they won't be able to start their MLB players), even if I think that there's no chance any other European Nation can upset both of them (maybe 1, but definitely not 2)...

Czech Tv is also broadcasting a lot of show jumping events (in very favourable time slots, often live) in the past couple of seasons, so I guess they have quite a good interest and power in supporting their local organizers, if they want to host any kind of tournament... and I think Italy would eventually ask for hosting next year's Nations Cup Finals...

Missy Franklin retires

men's WSL 2018 finally, it went exactly how it was supposed to go... Gabriel Medina won the Billabong Pipe Masters (defeating in the final ride his main rival, Julian Wilson) and secured his second overall WSL title, after 2014 (first Brazilian ever to win 2 championships)... from WSL site: 'Brazil takes the day (and year) In dominating fashion Gabriel Medina has won the 2018 World Title and the Billabong Pipe Masters. Clinching the World Title in the Semis, Medina kept the ball rolling beating rival Julian Wilson in a hard-fought Final; a repeat match up from the 2014 Pipe Masters, where Wilson won the event and Medina the Title. "I think winning Pipe is the hardest one to win. You have to be good at Backdoor and Pipe at the same time. Just getting barreled is not enough. You have be be deep, you have to get the best ones," said Medina before the awards ceremony on the beach. "It's great to have this opportunity and put my name alongside all the other Pipe heroes." In a year where Brasil has won nine of eleven Championship Tour events, Medina sat atop the Jeep Leaderboard coming into the winter surf season in Hawaii, but Wilson and Filipe Toledo, knotted in a tie for second, had every intention of stopping his quest for a second World Title. But in the end, Gabe's momentum was unstoppable even when Wilson threw his best at him in the Final. "It was a good event, it came down to the end, it came down to the last heat of the year to decide the Title, so yeah, it's disappointing, but it was a good year," said Wilson after the Final. "Filipe and Julian have been surfing really good all year long," said Medina. "They've been pushing the limits. It's been an honor to be in the World Title race with them. I think they are the two best on Tour. I'm a big fan of them." From his first heat of the Pipe Masters to the Final, Medina was locked in and focused on the task at hand throughout the waiting period. He charged into Finals day with a strong Round 4 performance, making short work of Sebastian Zietz and Michel Bourez. "It's all about God's plan. I believe in that. Every single heat I had the faith. I tried my best until the end," said Medina as champagne showered him and the victory celebration raged on. In the Quarterfinals, Conner Coffin jumped out to an early lead, but true to form, Medina didn't flinch. He quickly bagged a near-perfect 9.43 for a deep Pipe tube and lofty frontside air. Not content with that score, he locked into a gapping Backdoor cavern. Pulling into the tube without grabbing the rail, he pumped and drove through the pit, eventually getting spit out down the beach near Off The Wall. The judges awarded him with the only 10-point ride of the 2018 Pipe Masters (although Kelly Slater came dangerously close with a 9.93 in the Quarterfinals). "I was stoked to find that right, that right was sick. It was the best ride I've got at Backdoor," smiled Medina. By the time the Semifinals came around Medina was clearly on a roll. Facing Jordy Smith, who was still in contention for the Vans Triple Crown Title, once again Medina got down to business. He only caught three waves in the heat, but one of them was a 9-point ride. With Smith's elimination, Brazilian Jesse Mendes captured the Vans Triple Crown Title. "It feels like I don't even deserve to be here," said Mendes. "Growing up, the guys winning the Triple Crown were untouchable." "We've kind of taken over. The Title is ours, the Triple Crown is ours, those are two of the biggest titles you can win in surfing. The Pipe Masters is the biggest event you can win all year, so we have everything," said Mendes. "It just shows all the work we put in back in the day when we were groms competing against one another and being united. Now we've taken it to the big stage and it just made us develop so much. It's working out." Today was a huge moment in Basilian surfing. It wasn't but a couple of years ago that the "Brasilian Storm" was capturing the attention of surf fans and making headlines. Now, Medina, Mendes and their fellow countrymen sit at the pinnacle of the sport.' men's 2018 events recap: http://www.worldsurfleague.com/events/2018/mct men's final ranking: http://www.worldsurfleague.com/athletes/tour/mct?year=2018

I should check it out, but I'm too lazy... as far as I remember, this tournament is awarding a lot of ranking points (1800 to the winner, compared to the 2000 for the world champion in each class), meanwhile the next edition will award also a direct spot to the winner (and those winners will prevail over the other rankings awarding direct Olympic spots)... but I'm not sure at 100%...I'll give a look to the rules as soon as I can (=I win the fight against my laziness)...

yeah, I'm pretty sure he didn't do anything intentional to lose it...he didn't need it, as the Japanese guy is very good (I only saw the Gold Medal match)...

it looks that Mollaei decided to not take any risk and lost to the Japanese guy (who however went on to win the Gold Medal)... p.s. in the following bout, Casse (BEL) beat Muki (ISR)...

some news about Gisin... it's confirmed that he has a fracture in the pelvis, 3 broken ribs and a severe concussion... now he's been transferred to Luzern (in Switzerland), where he's going to receive proper treatment closer to home...

Finally, Mardani won the Gold medal...and I'm sure you're gonna like how he won... be careful...take care of your heartrate...

2018 WT Grand Slam Champions Series (Wuxi, CHN) Final Medal Table GBR, 2 / 2 / 0 CHN, 2 / 1 / 2 KOR, 1 / 3 / 2 IRI, 1 / 0 / 1 RUS, 1 / 0 / 0 THA, 1 / 0 / 0 TUR, 0 / 1 / 0 USA, 0 / 1 / 0 AZE, 0 / 0 / 1 CIV, 0 / 0 / 1 POL, 0 / 0 / 1

2018 WT Grand Slam Champions Series (Wuxi, CHN) Day #5 (Finals) Results women's -49kg Gold: Panipak Wongpattanakit Silver: Ha Min-Ah Bronze: Tan Xueqin women's -57kg Gold: Zhou Lijun Silver: Jade Jones Bronze: Lee Ah-Reum women's -67kg Gold: Lauren Williams Silver: Nur Tatar Askari Bronze: Ruth Gbagbi women's +67kg Gold: Bianca Walkden Silver: Madelynn Gorman-Shore Bronze: Aleksandra Kowalczuk men's -58kg Gold: Jang Jun Silver: Liu Yushuai Bronze: Armin Hadipour men's -68kg Gold: Zhao Shuai Silver: Bradly Sinden Bronze: Lee Dae-Hoon men's -80kg Gold: Maksim Khramtcov Silver: Hwan Nam Goong Bronze: Milad Beigi men's +80kg Gold: Sajjad Mardani Silver: In Kyo-Don Bronze: Song Zhaoxiang

just on page #1... Benin...Fencing, men's Sabre (Yemi Geoffrey Apithy, who already qualified to the Rio Games) Bosnia...Karate, also the women's +61kg are not out of order (Ivona Cavar, European Bronze medallist and 5th & 7th in 2 different K1PL stages this year)

it looks that Gisin has "only" a fracture in the pelvis (and of course all the troubles related to the fact that he lost consciousness for quite a while on the track before being transported to the Bozen Hospital by helicopter)... however, his condition is defined as "stable" and is future life is not under threat (the consequences to his sports career remain to be evaluated later in the next weeks/months)...

to me, it looks like he's gone down more on his shoulder/back first, so maybe the hit to the head wasn't that hard... but at the same time he's clear that he lost his senses, so that's really scary... luckily the medical team and the helicopter were very quick to react, so hopefully he's gone to the hospital early enough to prevent more serious consequences... by the way, still no news...the Italian TV closed down their broadcast 2 minutes ago and they couldn't say anything about him yet...

there's a chance Kim Tae-Hun won't show up tomorrow in the Bronze Medal match (in Fujarah he gave up once he wasn't in the big final, as it looks he's not 100% healthy)...

such a crazy and busy day... already gone: Biathlon, World Cup (women's pusuit); Hockey, EHT (SWE vs FIN); Taekwondo, World Grand Slam (semifinals in all the Olympic weights) almost gone: Alpine Skiing, World Cup (men's DH) & Swimming, World Short Course Championships comin'up next: Biathlon, World Cup (men's pursuit), Hockey, EHT (RUS vs CZE); Cross-Country Skiing, World Cup (men and women's sprint); Snowboarding, World Cup (men and women's PGS); Speedskating, World Cup; Field Hockey, Men's Worlds Semifinals later tonight: some NCAA Football Bowls (because, yes! it's Bowl season! )...

no news on Gisin's condition yet...not promising at all... by the way, he was not wearing the airbag on his back, which is always not a good idea...

*=better say that those are the local times in Moscow... I'm watching right now FIN vs SWE (and FIN just took the lead, 3-2, with less than 3 minutes to go)... and...it's quite strange to watch Live Hockey (starting) at 9.30 a.m. when it's not Olympic games time

Interesting? Scary? Insignificant? Dangerous? article related to blood doping research... Danish researchers show performance gains from 135ml autologous transfusion

2018 WT Grand Slam Champions Series (Wuxi, CHN) Day #4 (Semifinals) Results women's -49kg Panipak Wongpattanakit b. Kang Bo Ra Ha Min-Ah b. Tan Xueqin women's -57kg Jade Jones b. Marija Stetic Zhou Lijun b. Lee Ah-Reum women's -67kg Lauren Williams b. Ruth Gbagbi Nur Tatar Askari b. Guo Yunfei women's +67kg Bianca Walkden b. Aleksandra Kowalczuk Madelynn Gorman-Shore b. Rebecca McGowan men's -58kg Liu Yushuai b. Kim Tae-Hun Jang Jun b. Armin Hadipour men's -68kg Bradly Sinden b. Lee Dae-Hoon (1st loss of the entire season for him...and it came with a spectacular kick to the head at the last second of round #2 by Sinden...top hit of the year, for sure) Zhao Shuai b. Javier Perez Polo men's -80kg Maksim Khramtcov b. Chen Linglong Hwan Nam Goong b. Milad Beigi men's +80kg In Kyo-Don b. Sun Hongyi Sajjad Mardani b. Song Zhaoxiang

2018 WT Grand Slam Champions Series (Wuxi, CHN) Day #3 (Quarterfinals) Results http://www.worldtaekwondo.org/results-day-3-wuxi-2018-wt-grand-slam-champions-series/

to be honest, it was quite a boring match... this Russia "2" is really a modest team, but SVK didn't do anything to put them under serious pressure, especially when the score was still tied... by the way, I also noticed that SVK gave up too many stupid penalties...and this lack of discipline may hurt the team more than the poor shooting efficiency, as you just can't even try to build some chances if you spend most of the time killing pens... meanwhile, the EHT match between FIN and CZE was quite entertaining, especially in the 3rd period, when CZE did comeback from a 0-3 hole to a 3-3 tie before the great Dominik Kubalik gave them the final victory at the shootouts (he first tied the lone Finnish score in the "regular" series of 5 GWS with the last shot and then won it with the 1st extra-GWS)... as a fan of Ambrì Piotta, I couldn't be happier, right now... unfortunately, i couldn't watch the other EHT game, where Russia won (3-2) also at the shootouts against Sweden in Moscow... it should have been a good one, too...

OMG!!! Ochner beating Ledecka! (and doing on the track, not because of a fall or something)... that it's what we can call a major upset...