heywoodu

Littler is by far the oldest 16 year old I've ever seen in sports outside of athletics Be that as it may though, the way he is playing is absolutely phenomenal. Whether he's 16 or 46, the level of play he has shown from his very first match to yesterday's semi is something else entirely. Especially in his own legs he is just nearly unbeatable....he hit an average of 123 points per turn in his own legs against Van Barneveld and even the ever so negative Van Barneveld had to admit that there's just nothing you can do against that. If your opponent plays like that, you need to hit multiple nine-dart finishes just to be able to take one or two of his sets (and then hold on for dear life in your own sets). Then again, Humphries was sensationally good as well yesterday, after a bit of a rough start in the tournament he seems to have hit his stride. Of course it always remains to be seen what the pressure of a final does to both, but Humphries has been in major finals before and Littler has clearly shown he doesn't give two shits about the pressure so far, so....at least potentially it could be a sensational final tonight

I am genuinely curious how on earth they got a biathlon spot. For the Olympics that is near impossible for 'exotic' nations, which is why most aspiring biathletes from countries like that might very much prefer biathlon, but are forced to go for a spot in cross-country skiing. Where, oddly enough, Chile doesn't have any girl apparently (they do have a small and young team, but latest I've heard is that they are basically all too busy with school to really be able to train well).

Big Hamas terrorist had a bad day yesterday. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Saleh_al-Arouri

Happy New Year everyone Hope everyone still has all their fingers and such after the fireworks

Australian former pro cyclist Melissa Hoskins-Dennis has died after being hit by a car, aged 32. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Hoskins Said car was presumably driven by her husband, (since the end of this season ex-)cyclist Rohan Dennis, who has been arrested and charged and will have to appear in court in March...

It's an iPhone, who would like that nonsense

Easiest quiz ever https://fasterskier.com/2023/12/do-you-know-your-suits-beginner-to-expert/ I had one mistake, but am not blaming myself for not knowing that obscure one

Which story? There have been tons and tons and tons of stories of students being threatened by other students, due to not being pro-Palestine (enough) or something like that, that's been the main kind of actually visible reaction here. Other than that, not much going on.

First time? I think you missed the gazillion others.

Wow, that's long ago since I heard that name

Happy holidays to you as well

Didn't know there was controversy around for example Melissa Bishop, who beat her in two global finals in two years

1. Denmark 2. Johannes Dale 3. Kaori Sakamoto 4. Viktor Hovland 5. Canada 6. France 7. USA 8. USA 9. Coco Gauff 10. Texas Rangers 11. Novak Djokovic 12. Max Verstappen

Yeah, I'm fine with the cross for the YOG, but just would have liked to see a bit more than this. The entire YOG program now is smaller than some World Cup weekends. It should at the very least have a mass start distance event, like the skiathlon indeed. Wouldn't say I'd be much impressed with another sprint event, with the individual sprint and only 5k in the relays the short-distance specialists, even for youth athletes, already have (relatively) enough to shine. Would have been better to add a skiathlon of at least 10k, youth athletes are young, but not incapable of racing

Apparently Norway has, for whatever reason, refused every single quota in cross-country skiing and alpine skiing

Which is excellent in the cross-country skiing. The Brazilian federation already made their choice for the one boy and one girl long ago (despite the fight in the boys' race still going on, they wanted to have one person to focus on, as per their usual modus operandi), but strangely suddenly switched the boys' choice one or two weeks ago, basically out of nowhere and without really any clear reason. Now that they've got two spots for both the boys (so both can go) and the girls (where the choice really is super easy), that problem is solved nicely

What's going on with the cross-country skiing program being cut to almost nothing? It's only an individual sprint, an individual short-distance race and a mixed relay...and that's all. At least alpine skiing has a somewhat decent program, but damn. I know it's the Youth Olympics, but one would hope the 'development' part would be more in terms of the athletes than the program still being underdeveloped Not that this, or the whole scheduling thing, will matter at all here in the Netherlands. It's the Youth Olympics, nobody will even know it's going on except for people who are on super niche forums like this one (which is how I know)

Yeah, too bad, definitely one of my all-time highlights in sports. I even decided to wake Bruna up from her post-training nap because I felt this was such a historic moment, she really shouldn't miss it It is fun to see everyone's opinions though. Plenty of people won't even know this happened, while someone else's sports moments (like the Edin one mentioned) may make me go "Huh?" in return

That's a matter of opinion of course. As someone who is neither Italian nor a big follower of tennis, I very much find it understandable given the historic value of it. Much more so than for example one of gazillion swimming relays, but that's the thing: other people might value that one more, and that's fine too

Dear Lord, how could I oversee Jordan Stolz, the premature reincarnation of Eric Heiden? See? That's why I need to write things down

I always think the 'sports moment of the year' category is by far the most open and diverse There's honestly going to be dozens of moments that made me go "wow!" this year, which I just can't remember off the top of my head. Like I said before, I really need to write those things down when they happen

Merry Christmas everyone, may the food be tasty As for gifts: some people in the Netherlands participate in it, others don't, as always because especially for families with children there was 5 December As for my own family: we've got a few presents under the tree, which will be opened on New Year's Eve for practical reasons - my sister and her boyfriend can't come on Christmas due to my sister having to work night shifts at the hospital, so they'll visit on New Year's Eve and then we open the Christmas presents.

BEST MALE ATHLETE for sportsmen in Olympic sports #1: Mathieu van der Poel (road cycling) #2: Johannes Thingnes Bø (biathlon) #3: Noah Lyles (athletics) #4: Marco Odermatt (alpine skiing) #5: Leon Marchand (swimming) #6: BEST FEMALE ATHLETE for sportswomen in Olympic sports #1: Faith Kipyegon (athletics) #2: Mollie O'Callaghan (swimming) #3: Xandra Velzeboer (shorttrack skating) #4: Simone Biles (artistic gymnastics) #5: #6: BEST NON-OLYMPIC ATHLETE for athletes in Non-Olympic sports and disciplines #1: Max Verstappen (F1) #2: Francesco Bagnaia (MotoGP) #3: #4: #5: #6: BEST PARALYMPIC ATHLETE for athletes with a disability #1: Aline Rocha (wheelchair racing, cross-country skiing) #2: #3: #4: #5: #6: BEST YOUTH ATHLETE for athletes up to 18 years old (born after January 1st, 2005) (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: #2: #3: #4: #5: #6: BEST MEN'S TEAM for national men's teams or groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Team Jumbo-Visma (road cycling) #2: Men's cross-country skiing relay #3: #4: #5: #6: BEST WOMEN'S TEAM for national women's teams or groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Women's cross-country skiing relay #2: Women's shorttrack relay #3: #4: #5: #6: BEST DOUBLES/PAIR OR MIXED TEAM for doubles and pairs or mixed teams and groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: #2: #3: #4: #5: #6: BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR for the most improved athlete (aged 19 or over) or national team (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Alexandria Loutitt (ski jumping) #2: Qin Haiyang (swimming) #3: Pietro Sighel (shorttrack skating) #4: Cian Uijtdebroeks (road cycling) #5: Olav Kooij (road cycling) #6: Laurence St-Germain (alpine skiing) COMEBACK OF THE YEAR for athletes or national teams who made a comeback performance in 2023 (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) #1: Bruna Moura (cross-country skiing) #2: Simone Biles (artistic gymnastics) #3: #4: #5: #6: SPORT MOMENT OF THE YEAR for any sport moment from 2023 #1: Mathieu van der Poel's solo ride to the road cycling world title #2: Not one single moment, but the 2023 MotoGP season #3: Laurence St Germain's sensational world title on the slalom (alpine skiing) #4: #5: #6:

Or Guri Hetland, born Guri Knotten, for her 7th place in the cross-country skiing World Cup in Engelberg in 1999 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guri_Hetland

Singular If I can manage to double my average speed (I'm not training, so that'd be a challenge), I'd almost be slightly competitive in a national competition