phelps

p.s. having the super-Heavyweights as the first class to start the session is really anti-climatic...

and the Swedish girl gets it done, somehow...and she wins the second Bronze Medal in the women's +68kg... Hana Antunovic b. Anne Laure Florentin 2-0

Antunovic just broke Florentin's nose here...I hope she doesn't get a DQ...

the 1st Bronze of this year's Worlds goes to Shymaa Abouel Yazed, who beat Ramona Bruederlin 7-3 in the women's +68kg...

and for those who are watching, we finally have just seen the "new" video review situation, with the video judges in a separate room and their pictures show also to the audience...

by the way, let's stop with politics and history... it's time for the first medals to be awarded...the first Bronze Medal match has just started... here the Italian Live broadcast (totally free)...

Puerto Rico is in the same situation as Hong Kong and co...there are no political controversies around them, it's just a different status recognized by political and sports authorities... Kosovo is a totally different question (and I wouldn't compare that even to the most recent attempt of the Catalan people to part ways from the rest of Spain, since Kosovo is just part of the ancient Serbian territory -it goes back to Alexander the Great Macedonian Empire and then to the Roman Empire, with the Turkish domination of that being only a 500-year long but marginal part of the story- stripped from the Serbian State thanks to a war that only the USA and Germany wanted, despite having the "umbrella" of those bunch of *** of the UN)...

if google translate has not gone crazy (at least, not more than usual ), it looks that Friday's games @ the Gdansk tournament have just been cancelled and won't count for the final standings, if not only as a tie-breaker for those teams who played each other and should they end up with the same amount of points after Saturday and Sunday matches, which have been confirmed as of the original schedule... here the original news in Polish... Gdansk Tournament news

Munich 1972...

definitely not a good day for IIHF Hockey... hopefully tomorrow will be better...

In the Olympic "Park" competition, Great Britain dominated the men's qualifiers, with James Jones and Jack Clark 1st and 2nd respecitvely... the recently crowned World Cup Champion, Marin Rantes, ended up only in 44th place and he didn't even qualify among the 24 riders (coming from 14 Nations) who will start the semifinal round... the women's event didn't have any qualifying round and will start directly from the semifinals (even if they still call them qualifiers)...

BMX Trial, Team Competition Gold: Spain Silver: Germany Bronze: France Full Results https://prod.chronorace.be/angular/results.html#/uci/event/20181104_urban/TRIAL/Teams

Spain claims first gold medal of the 2018 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships Alejandro Montalvo’s Spain took victory in front of Germany and France in Chengdu, China, on Wednesday, the opening day of the UCI World Championships for trials, mountain bike Eliminator and BMX Freestyle. The Spanish trials team scored 580 points thanks in large part to its young star Alejandro Montalvo, a Junior 20” rider who nonetheless won the Elite UCI World Cup this year, and Sergi Llongueras (Men Elite 26”). Both athletes scored 150 points. The Spaniards finished just 20 points in front of Germany with the imperial Dominik Oswald (150), and 60 points in front of France, which had the highest individual scorer thanks to Nicolas Vallée (160). Spain hadn’t featured on the highest step of the podium since 2010 but proved itself this year despite a late arrival the night before, the last delegation to reach Chengdu, after a long journey: “We were tired,” explained Irene Caminos, “but we took it very seriously today and this gold medal is a great reward for the team. Now it’s time for the individual events.” The silver medal was bitter-sweet for Germany - winner of the bronze medal in 2015 and 2016 then silver last year - as they were tied with Spain for much of the competition: “We have no regrets, we did good rides, good jumps, we were just 20 little points short,” said Nina Reichenbach. “Hopefully next year we will be at the top of the podium.” Under the watchful eye of Vincent Hermance, in charge of the group for the team event, France, trying for a fourth title, had to make do with third place: “We have no regrets,” said Nicolas Vallée. “We are on the podium with a very different team. This medal is there to build the future.” Trials action continues Thursday and Friday with the semi-finals of the individual competitions for the Women, Men Junior and Men Elite. The five titles will be awarded on Saturday.

it's not a question between ESP and KOS directly, but Spain is one of those Nations that don't recognized the "new" Republic of Kosovo yet (only 113 Countries around the world currently recognize Kosovo as a legitimate indipendent State...Italy unfortunately is among them )...

Women's Team Kumite Gold Medal Match: France vs Japan Bronze Medal Match #1: Spain vs Iran Bronze Medal Match #2: Egypt vs Switzerland

and France are alredy through to the Gold Medal match...

women's Kumite, semifinals Spain vs Japan France vs Egypt

Men's Team Kumite Gold Medal Match: Iran vs Turkey Bronze Medal Match #1: Azerbaijan vs Japan Bronze Medal Match #2: Italy vs Senegal

Iran won and so they're once again through to the Gold Medal match...

men's team Kumite, semifinals Azerbaijan vs Turkey Iran vs Italy

Swimming Marathon World Cup, Final Overall Standings Men 1st, Ferry Weertman 2nd, Jack Burnell 3rd, Simone Ruffini Women 1st, Ana Marcela Cunha 2nd, Rachele Bruni 3rd, Sharon Van Rouwendaal Full Final Standings (when they update the page with today's results) here: http://www.fina.org/content/ranking-finahosa-marathon-swim-world-series-2018

Wellbrock and Bridi win last stop in Abu Dhabi Florian Wellbrock (GER) and Arianna Bridi (ITA) were the winners of the eighth and final leg of the FINA/HOSA 10km Marathon Swim World Series, held in Abu Dhabi (UAE) on November 9, 2018. In a very close finish among men, Wellbrock touched in 1h53m00s9, while Bridi managed to get some advantage over the pack in the final metres to earn the gold in 2h00m21s8 It was the second win of the year for both swimmers, with the German athlete previously prevailing in Lake Balaton (Hungary) and the Italian ace dominating operations in Seychelles. The minor medals in Abu Dhabi went to Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA), silver in the men’s race in 1h53m01s4, and to Kristof Rasovszky, from Hungary, third in 1h53m01s7. In the women’s category, Italy was once more in evidence, with the second place of Rachele Bruni (2h00m25s7), while Ana Marcela Cunha, from Brazil, touched third in 2h00m26s2. “The race started really slow and it remained like that until the 5km mark. Then, things got a bit faster, but this initial pace allowed me to save some energy for the final. I could then manage to get into the last metres of the race with additional strength”, confessed Wellbrock after his effort. Also a pool swimmer, he sincerely hopes that he can compete both in the 1500m free and 10km marathon swimming race at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. “I’ll try to qualify for both. Here, it was an easy race – the water was quite flat, so I could imagine swimming in a pool”, he added, smiling. “I’m happy, because being only my second race of the season, I won both!” Wellbrock concluded. On the women’s side, Bridi, winner of the Series in 2017, was also thrilled with the outcome of the race: “My tactics was to stay as much as possible in the pack, and then push faster in the last km. It worked quite well and I even managed to arrive ‘comfortable’ to the finish. Open water races are today very tight, so I was happy to get some advantage in the final metres”. On her 2018 season, the Italian admitted: “I am not disappointed as I didn’t compete enough to accumulate points. I only did five races, but I won two – it’s good”, she said. With these results, Cunha confirmed her overall lead of the World Series ranking, finishing the season with 112 points. The Brazilian star had been the best already in 2010, 2012 and 2014. With her silver medal in UAE, Bruni also gets the second position of the 2018 ranking, with 84 points. In third, the 2016 Olympic champion Sharon van Rouwendaal (NED), who finished only sixth in Abu Dhabi. “I have done a very regular season, so this is a happy conclusion of it. I couldn’t be on the podium in all races, but this is of course a very positive outcome. This is a year without World Championships, so this is the main competition for us. Now, it’s time to take a short break and to prepare for 2019, where we will have the FINA World Championships in Korea. We will be in all individual events, plus the team, so we hope we can do well, and, who knows, get a fourth title in the 25km”, admitted Cunha. The Brazilian ace has accumulated nine medals at FINA World Championships, including three victories in 25km (2011, 2015 and 2017). “Then, the Olympic Games, however I like to think about the upcoming goals once at the time. But I am quite optimistic”. In the World Series, Cunha has won the races in Hungary and Lac St-Jean (CAN), and had an additional silver from Seychelles. Among men, the overall winner was Dutch Ferry Weertman, who finished seventh in Abu Dhabi. Despite that, he had enough points to maintain his advantage, as his main challenger, Jack Burnell (GBR), was also not so much successful in UAE (12th). Weertman, 2016 Olympic champion in Rio, was the best in the initial race in Doha (QAT) and second in Lake Balaton. “It’s the first time for me that I managed to compete the series and win. I had Olympic, World, and European titles – only the World Series was missing. Now, it’s done. Moreover, finishing the year with a race like this in Abu Dhabi is fantastic. The highlight in 2018 was my victory in Doha – it was my first series’ victory!” considered Weertman. “I very much liked the overall experience – travelling to so many places, meeting the same people all the time. We are really an open water family! Now, it’s train, train and train to make the cut for the Olympics in 2020!” A total of 74 men and 46 women completed the 10km race in Abu Dhabi.

Swimming Marathon World Cup stage #8, Final (November 9th, 2018 @ Abu Dhabi, UAE) Men's 10km Gold: Florian Wellbrock Silver: Gregorio Paltrinieri Bronze: Kristof Rasovszky Full Ranking http://www.fina.org/competition-detailed-results/finahosa-marathon-swim-world-series-2018-men-10km/event-5 Women's 10km Gold: Arianna Bridi Silver: Rachele Bruni Bronze: Ana Marcela Cunha Full Ranking http://www.fina.org/competition-detailed-results/finahosa-marathon-swim-world-series-2018-women-10km/event-5

now it's official... tomorrow and saturday @ the Nico Sapio meet in Genua, Santo Condorelli will make his debut as an Italian swimmer... and if he gets the required clockings within the next couple of weeks, he's going to be part of our National Team already at the Short Course Worlds next month in China...

Today's action so far... Men's Team Kata Gold Medal Match: Japan vs Spain Bronze Medal Match #1: Turkey vs Iran Bronze Medal Match #2: Italy vs Malaysia Women's Team Kata Gold Medal Match: Japan vs Spain Bronze Medal Match #1: Italy vs Serbia Bronze Medal Match #2: Turkey vs Russia