heywoodu

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

Guri who? I mean, I watch every World Cup, most of the IBU Cups and check all the results up to Junior Cup and even Alpen Cups, but I don't think I've ever heard of Guri Knotten

I'll try to think of my votes tomorrow, although...yeah, insanely difficult

I'd rather blame both. The welfare system in general is more than excellent, especially compared to plenty of countries where even if you physically can't work (sick, injured, whatever), you're out of luck and will have to make do with nearly nothing. The problem with the welfare system is not 'everything', it's mostly the way how easily millions go to certain countries, often by simply spending a week or so working, and then just taking the money and taking a few months vacation until they need to come for the next week of work to finance the next few months In terms of helping out the people within who actually need it, it works fairly well. Not great, but...somewhat ok. But I'd mostly blame the people more who shamelessly abuse it, both people within the country as well as was the case with the Bulgarian gangs (presumably some other countries too, but since it was largely Bulgarians, it's literally mentioned as 'de Bulgarenfraude', which probably doesn't need translation That all being said, I'm still glad I'm not the one in charge of making the rules, because it is absolutely going to be impossible to find a set of rules that is actually fair for everyone and whichever set of rules one creates, people are going to say it's wrong.

Curious what happens if Wilders does indeed become prime minister, he doesn't strike me as the type who'd be easily willing to overlook the massive Bulgarian fraud by all the people who 'worked' here for a few days, then went back, claimed welfare money for a whole year or so and funneled millions and millions of euros from here to there

For some countries that's the same in non-YOG years. Brazil for example quite literally only starts for the IBU money and equipment (both in the Junior Cup and nowadays also in the IBU Cup), although of course officially it's for stuff like "improving talents" and whatnot. They don't ever train shooting outside of the few days during the season, they have broken rifles and they just use the free equipment for everything and nothing, but with YOG....nah, not much to do with that, and somehow I doubt it's different for the likes of Chile (who's girls needed WAY more than double the time of the sprint winners so far) or Macedonia

To be fair, quite a large number won't make it to the third or even second athlete For example the Brazilian girls are there, but since the guys start first, I am not sure they're even actually going to the venue today (like when Brazil started in the mixed relay in an IBU Cup some years ago, it was woman-woman-man-man, and the second of the two men wasn't even in the same country )

Well, that is...something Kinda sucks that you may be the best team in the world, but not even have a chance to play at the YOG because the other gender's team is also the best in the world and your NOC picked that one...

NOC's have to choose whether to enter the boys' or girls' tournament instead of both if they qualified in both?

Right. Well, that sucks, although I guess Canada doesn't want it's athletes competing internationally yet then, because if they did, obviously they'd have gotten the quotas

RIP Captain Holt https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/andre-braugher-dead-brooklyn-nine-nine-1235835771/

How did qualifying for this work? Because no way Canada only would have one single quota and Portugal would have four when based on quality of the athletes

What's up with these people thinking decapitation solves problems? Now my own little town has fallen victim

At least I'd be fine with that as well, I just prefer Van der Poel getting it

And then home crowd cheers for two or three sliding medals when it could easily have been triple the amount

Too bad for the Italian athletes though. Yet another country throwing away years and years of the easiest possible home advantage in the entire world of Olympic sports When getting the hosting rights for the Olympics, the very same day construction for the sliding track should get underway and within a year - and so plenty of years before the Olympics - the track should be entirely done....there are no 'easier' medals available in Olympic sports (which isn't to say it's literally easy, because obviously it isn't, but there is no sport where home advantage is easier to get).

Well that's all nice and well from the government to say, but they do realize that also means the track does actually need to be finished, right? Don't get me wrong, I definitely hope it will stay in Cortina because it'd suck to have one part of the Olympics in a different country (especially if then they'd choose Innsbruck over St Moritz), but having a finished track would be quite....important

Van der Poel, Bol, water polo women and Meuwly please. I don't know the para-athletes well enough, so no idea

Only if the speed skating is done in Heerenveen.

Right, time to mute the Totallympics for a while again to avoid heart attacks Obviously I will be breaking every single light bulb though.

I am genuinely trying to decide whether or not this is meant in a serious way

Women's doubles in the youth Continental Cup in Oberhof this weekend: Sisters don't want to go together?

To be fair, the contracts of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema are almost three times bigger in terms of actual salary, Ohtani's contract is more valuable because in football one doesn't usually get contracts that are that long Which isn't to say Ohtani's contract is insane of course, probably only Ronaldo, Benzema and Messi have a significantly higher salary in the entire sports world, but yeah, that's it

Dude, no, shut up and don't give the weather gods any ideas I'm not gonna be able to accept a season without Kitzbühel and Wengen.