phelps

and after today's event (which caused a lot of changes in the standings, some of them really unexpected) we also have the second definitive seedings and table draw of the Rio 2016 Fencing competition, the Women's Team Epee... Seedings #1 China (348 points) #2 Romania (340 points) #3 Russia (324 points) #4 Estonia (290 points) #5 South Korea (266 points) #6 France (235 points) #7 United States (234 points) #8 Ukraine (215 points) #9 Brazil (in as hosts, 86 points) therefore, the table draw of the Olympic tournament should look like this: Preliminary Round: #8 Ukraine vs #9 Brazil Quarterfinals: #1 China vs UKR/BRA #4 Estonia vs #5 South Korea #3 Russia vs #6 France #2 Romania vs #7 United States Semifinals: CHN/UKR (BRA) vs EST/KOR RUS/FRA vs ROU/USA

Fencing European Championships 2016 Final Medal Table Russia, 6 - 1 - 3 France, 2 - 4 - 3 Italy, 1 - 4 - 1 Romania, 1 - 1 - 2 Germany, 1 - 0 - 2 Estonia, 1 - 0 - 0 Hungary, 0 - 1 - 1 Switzerland, 0 - 1 - 0 Ukraine , 0 - 0 - 4 Great Britain, 0 - 0 - 1 Poland, 0 - 0 - 1

Fencing European Championships 2016 Women's Team Epee Semifinals Estonia 39 - 30 Hungary France 41 - 36 Romania Bronze Medal Final Hungary 19 - 27 Romania Gold Medal Final France 28 - 33 Estonia Men's Team Sabre Semifinals Russia 45 - 32 Romania Italy 45 - 43 Hungary Bronze Medal Final Hungary 32 - 45 Romania Gold Medal Final Russia 45 - 42 Italy

spectacular race between Kromowidjojo and Pellegrini in the 100m Free today in Rome, with the Dutch edging the Italian star by just 0.04 secs in a very quick event, especially considering the full training period (53.14 to 53.18, which is also a new Italian Record for Pellegrini, who destroyed her previous best time - 53.55 - dating back to the rubbish...ehm...rubber era in 2009)... in the same pool, Inge Dekker was 5th in the women's 100m Fly in 59.26...and Gregorio Paltrinieri just took a bath for the fans in the men's 1500m Free (he won in 14.51.something)... yesterday there was also a very good and promising time by Gabriele Detti in the men's 400m Free (3.44.21), once again in full training period and just after getting back from altitude training in Sierra Nevada (today he swam 1.46.78 to win the men's 200m Free ahead of Dominik Kozma, HUN, who was just above 1.47)...

great night for Matthews and, above all, for the Finns and the US boys in general...they really dominated this draft... and very interesting moves on the market, too... the next NHL season looks more interesting than ever...I just can't wait for October, 12th... by the way, the other big news of the week is the official birth of the 31st franchise of the NHL, Las Vegas... they will start playing from the 2017/2018 season... https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-expands-to-las-vegas/c-281010682?tid=281011650 meanwhile Quebec City's dream to get their NHL team back must still wait...

and finally we have our first final and definitve Olympic seedings and table draw... here it is how the Men's Team Foil Olympic tournament looks like: Seedings #1 Italy (384 points) #2 United States (344 points) #3 Russia (330 points) #4 France (304 points) #5 China (266 points) #6 Great Britain (231 points) #7 Egypt (206 points) #8 Brazil (176 points) Table Draw Quarterfinals: #1 Italy vs #8 Brazil #4 France vs #5 China #3 Russia vs #6 Great Britain #2 USA vs #7 Egypt Semifinals: ITA/BRA vs FRA/CHN RUS/GBR vs USA/EGY

Definitive Situation, updated after the end of both the European and the Pan-American Championships Men's Team Epee, Seedings #1 France (348 points) #2 Ukraine (340 points) #3 Italy (312 points) #4 South Korea (262 points) #5 Hungary (249 points) #6 Switzerland (240 points) #7 Russia (231 points) #8 Venezuela (197 points) #9 Brazil (in as hosts, 82 points) therefore, the table draw of the Olympic tournament should look like this: Preliminary Round: #8 Venezuela vs #9 Brazil Quarterfinals: #1 France vs VEN/BRA #4 South Korea vs #5 Hungary #3 Italy vs #6 Switzerland #2 Ukraine vs #7 Russia Semifinals: FRA/VEN (BRA) vs KOR/HUN ITA/SUI vs UKR/RUS

Fencing European Championships 2016 Provisional Medal Table after Day 5 Russia, 5 - 1 - 3 France, 2 - 3 - 3 Italy, 1 - 3 - 1 Romania, 1 - 1 - 0 Germany, 1 - 0 - 2 Hungary, 0 - 1 - 1 Switzerland, 0 - 1 - 0 Ukraine , 0 - 0 - 4 Great Britain, 0 - 0 - 1 Poland, 0 - 0 - 1

well, the Gold medal chances won't be influenced that much because France is still the strongest team by far, even if they should drop to the second place of the WR... what would change a lot are the chances of the other teams to get the other medals, especially Italy and Ukraine, who are at the moment the most credited teams to win the Silver medal in Rio (and having France in the same half of the draw would make that impossible for Italy, for instance)... in my opinion, with France in the bottom half, that one would be slightly stronger than the top half (because Switzerland, despite their 6th place in the WR, is a very strong team, with very strong individuals like Heinzer and Kauter), but in this particular event all the 7 teams behind France are very, very close to each other, so I think that it's almost impossible to make a prediction here...I wouldn't count out of the medal chances even Venezuela... by the way, I think that tonight France are going to win Gold without too many troubles...I'd be very surprised if Italy can even get close in the score at the end...

and here we go again...today it's time to make a quick preview of the Men's Team Epee Olympic tournament, even if at the moment we still have to wait for the last updates on the European and the Pan-Am Champs... however, let's have a look at how the seedings should be at the end of the previously named events: Men's Team Epee #1 France or Ukraine (France would end up on top of the ranking only if they win the European title, in which case they would sum up 348 points, meanwhile, in case they lose the final bout to Italy, Ukraine would overtake them, since the East Europeans will have 340 or 344 points at the end of the day and France would drop to 336 poits with a European Silver medal)... #2 Ukraine or France #3 Italy (312 or 324 points, depending on their possible Gold or Silver medal later today) #4 South Korea (they're already done with 262 points) #5 Hungary (248 or 249 points) #6 Switzerland (240 or 245 points) #7 Russia (they can finish their pre-Games campaign with a score from 225 to max 231 points) #8 Venezuela (they can't score more than 197 points in any case) therefore, the table draw of the Olympic tournament should look like this: Quarterfinals: #1 France (or Ukraine) vs #8 Venezuela #4 South Korea vs #5 Hungary #3 Italy vs #6 Switzerland #2 Ukraine (or France) vs #7 Russia Semifinals: FRA (UKR)/VEN vs KOR/HUN ITA/SUI vs UKR (FRA)/RUS The first thing that should be noticed is that France and Italy tonight have the chance to determine by their own a lot of changes in the final picture...basically they can choose which opponent they are going to fight against in their whole Olympic journey, first in QTRs (actually, only France can change that for themselves) and then in SFs (and here they both have a shot in the possible developments)...

Fencing European Championships 2016 Women's Team Foil Semifinals Italy 45 - 29 Hungary France 30 - 45 Russia Bronze Medal Final Hungary 30 - 45 France Gold Medal Final Italy 38 - 45 Russia Men's Team Epee Semifinals France 45 - 32 Switzerland Italy 29 - 28 Ukraine Bronze Medal Final Switzerland 31 - 45 Ukraine Gold Medal Final France 45 - 40 Italy

Fencing Pan-American Championships 2016 Men's Individual Sabre Gold: Renzo Agresta Silver: Andrew Mackiewicz Bronze: Eli Dershwitz & Josè Quintero Final Renzo Agresta 15 - 5 Andrew Mackiewicz Women's Individual Foil Gold: Lee Kiefer Silver: Nicole Ross Bronze: Alanna Goldie & Kalleigh Ryan Final Lee Kiefer 15 - 7 Nicole Ross

it's because of the relays...he still needs to be in the top 4 if he wants to take part in the quick freestyle relay and try to increase his amount of Olympic medals... and also the 200m free probably will be used in that sense (frankly I don't see how he could be a gold medal contender in this event)...I think that he's going to focus only on the 100 & 200 fly & the 200 IM races as individual targets...

Fencing European Championships 2016 Provisional Medal Table after Day 4 Russia, 4 - 1 - 3 France, 1 - 3 - 2 Italy, 1 - 1 - 1 Romania, 1 - 1 - 0 Germany, 1 - 0 - 2 Hungary, 0 - 1 - 1 Switzerland, 0 - 1 - 0 Ukraine , 0 - 0 - 3 Great Britain, 0 - 0 - 1 Poland, 0 - 0 - 1

Fencing European Championships 2016 Women's Team Sabre Gold: Russia Silver: France Bronze: Ukraine Women's Team Sabre Bronze Final Ukraine 45 - 42 Poland Women's Team Sabre Gold Final Russia 45 - 39 France Men's Team Foil Gold: Russia Silver: Italy Bronze: Great Britain Men's Team Foil Bronze Final France 28 - 45 Great Britain Men's Team Foil Gold Final Italy 42 - 45 Russia

sorry for cross-posting, but I just realized that this thread is more appropriate for this one... and so...according to my quick (very quick, therefore with high chance of mistake) calculations, considering the best possible result in the remaining Continental Championships for the teams that yet have to complete them, the Olympic seedings in the Men's Team Foil and in the Women's Team Sabre should be as follows: Men's Team Foil #1 Italy (384 points) #2 United States (they can't score more than 344 points, provided they're going to win the Pan-Am Champs...and they would get 332 points if they end up in 2nd place in Panama - I just can't think of them not making at least the final) #3 Russia (330 points) #4 France (304 points) #5 China (266 points, they have already ended their pre-Games campaign) #6 Great Britain (231 points) #7 Egypt (206 points, same situation as China) #8 Brazil (they can't score more than 188 points in any case) therefore, the table draw of the Olympic tournament should look like this: Quarterfinals: #1 Italy vs #8 Brazil #4 France vs #5 China #3 Russia vs #6 Great Britain #2 USA vs #7 Egypt Semifinals: ITA/BRA vs FRA/CHN RUS/GBR vs USA/EGY in the Women's Team Sabre, meanwhile, the situation is already established and no changes will happen to this ranking (obviously for what concerns the final positions...there will be of course some scoring adjustments)... #1 Russia (424 points) #2 Ukraine (364 points) #3 France (308 points) #4 United States (they can't score more than 274 points and they will go down to 262 if they get only a 2nd place at the Pan-Am Champs...once again, I can't even imagine them finishing lower than that...and in any case even switching position with Poland would mean nothing for both of them) #5 Poland (248 points) #6 Italy (236 points) #7 South Korea (230 points, they have already ended their pre-Games campaign) #8 Mexico (they can't score more than 189 points in any case) so, also in this case the table draw of the Olympic tournament should look like this: Quarterfinals: #1 Russia vs #8 Mexico #4 USA vs #5 Poland #3 France vs #6 Italy #2 Ukraine vs #7 South Korea Semifinals: RUS/MEX vs USA/POL FRA/ITA vs UKR/KOR post updated after the end of today's finals at the European Championships

and so...according to my quick (very quick, therefore with high chance of mistake) calculations, considering the best possible result in the remaining Continental Championships for the teams that yet have to complete them, the Olympic seedings in the Men's Team Foil and in the Women's Team Sabre should be as follows: Men's Team Foil #1 Italy (384 points) #2 United States (they can't score more than 344 points, provided they're going to win the Pan-Am Champs...and they would get 332 points if they end up in 2nd place in Panama - I just can't think of them not making at least the final) #3 Russia (330 points) #4 France (304 points) #5 China (266 points, they have already ended their pre-Games campaign) #6 Great Britain (231 points) #7 Egypt (206 points, same situation as China) #8 Brazil (they can't score more than 188 points in any case) therefore, the table draw of the Olympic tournament should look like this: Quarterfinals: #1 Italy vs #8 Brazil #4 France vs #5 China #3 Russia vs #6 Great Britain #2 USA vs #7 Egypt Semifinals: ITA/BRA vs FRA/CHN RUS/GBR vs USA/EGY in the Women's Team Sabre, meanwhile, the situation is already established and no changes will happen to this ranking (obviously for what concerns the final positions...there will be of course some scoring adjustments)... #1 Russia (424 points) #2 Ukraine (364 points) #3 France (308 points) #4 United States (they can't score more than 274 points and they will go down to 262 if they get only a 2nd place at the Pan-Am Champs...once again, I can't even imagine them finishing lower than that...and in any case even switching position with Poland would mean nothing for both of them) #5 Poland (248 points) #6 Italy (236 points) #7 South Korea (230 points, they have already ended their pre-Games campaign) #8 Mexico (they can't score more than 189 points in any case) so, also in this case the table draw of the Olympic tournament should look like this: Quarterfinals: #1 Russia vs #8 Mexico #4 USA vs #5 Poland #3 France vs #6 Italy #2 Ukraine vs #7 South Korea Semifinals: RUS/MEX vs USA/POL FRA/ITA vs UKR/KOR post updated after the end of today's finals at the European Championships

Fencing European Championships 2016 Women's Team Sabre Semifinals Russia 45 - 35 Poland France 45 - 40 Ukraine Women's Team Sabre Bronze Final Ukraine vs Poland Women's Team Sabre Gold Final Russia vs France Men's Team Foil Semifinals Italy 44 - 28 Great Britain Russia 45 - 34 France Men's Team Foil Bronze Final France vs Great Britain Men's Team Foil Gold Final Italy vs Russia

I just can't believe Cavallaro lost to Achilov (TKM)... I couldn't watch the bout, but looking at the close score (2-1, with all the judges scoring 29-28, 1 for the Italian and 2 for the Turkmen) and thinking about the close ethnic relationship between Azeri, Turks and Turkmen, I can only hope the score is fair... by the way, it's a complete disaster for Italy...Rio 2016 it's gonna be our lowest point in Boxing since the absolute 0 we got in Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 (in terms of participation, it's already our smallest team ever)...

as expected, Picardi lost to the American Antonio Vargas (-52kg)... now I can only hope that the Panamerican Champion of 2015 would go on winning the tournament...

Fencing European Championships 2016 Women's Team Sabre Semifinals Russia vs Poland France vs Ukraine and this simply means the end of any hope for Italy to get a favourable draw at the Olympics... therefore, no chances of getting at least a semifinal place in this discipline for us... Men's Team Foil Semifinals Italy vs Great Britain Russia vs France meanwhile our defending champions still have all the chances of getting one of the top 2/3 seeds in Rio, which means they will have at least a not so complicated quarterfinal round assault in August...

Fencing Pan-American Championships 2016 Men's Individual Epee Gold: Yunior Reytor Venet Silver: Jason Pryor Bronze: Maxime Brinck-Croteau & Reynier Henriquez Ortiz Final Yunior Reytor Venet 15 - 14 Jason Pryor Women's Individual Sabre Gold: Ibtihaj Muhammad Silver: Mariel Zagunis Bronze: Maria Belen Perez Maurice & Paola Pliego Final Ibtihaj Muhammad Walkover Mariel Zagunis

but will this ban start after the OG or does it mean that those 3 Countries won't take part in the Weightlifting competition already in Rio?

just 2 words...no comment...

Fencing European Championships 2016 Provisional Medal Table after Day 3 Russia, 2 - 1 - 3 France, 1 - 2 - 2 Germany, 1 - 0 - 2 Romania, 1 - 1 - 0 Italy, 1 - 0 - 1 Hungary, 0 - 1 - 1 Switzerland, 0 - 1 - 0 Ukraine , 0 - 0 - 2 Poland, 0 - 0 - 1