Topicmaster1010

Meanwhile an update on speed skating quotas halfway through the qualification period: Men's 500m (3 quotas): Laurent Dubreuil and Cedrik Brunet sit 10th and 17th in the World Rankings and are in good position to keep their quotas. Christopher Fiola also sits in 21st in the World Rankings and is hanging on to the 2nd last World Ranking qualifying position but should he fall out, he should still easily qualify on time since he's 23rd in the time rankings. Overall, should have no problems getting 3 quotas here. Men's 1000m (2 quotas): Laurent Dubreuil sits 18th in the World Rankings and is the only Canadian currently in position to qualify through the rankings. Anders Johnson is in the 6th time qualifier position while Yankun Zhao is the 1st reserve. Unfortunately Connor Howe's struggles prevented us from getting 3 quotas here. Men's 1500m (3 quotas): David La Rue and Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu are 18th and 19th in the World Rankings and both in position to qualify through the World Rankings. No other Canadians are close to qualifying based on time. Again, it's too bad Connor Howe wasn't on form. Men's 5000m/10000m (1 quota each): Ted-Jan Bloemen is 5th in the distance rankings and should easily qualify in the 5000m and also likely the 10000m. No other Canadians are close to qualifying. Men's Team Pursuit (No quota): We've talked enough about this. Men's Mass Start (2 quotas): Antoine Gelinas Beaulieu is 5th in the World Rankings while Jake Weidemann is 10th. Looking good to qualify the max quota. Overall, Canada would be able to send a maximum of 7 male speed skaters to Milan. Women's 500m (3 quotas): Beatrice Lamarche is 9th in the World Rankings and Carolina Hiller-Donnelly with her 24th place ranking is also in position to qualify through the rankings. Brooklyn McDougall is currently the first time qualifier. Should easily qualify 3 quotas here. Women's 1000m (2 quotas): Beatrice Lamarche and Alexa Scott are 6th and 16th respectively in the World Rankings. Both should qualify. Maddison Pearman is actually in the last time qualifier position. However, since Italy didn't earn a quota by ranking or time and have an athlete on the reserve list, then the final quota goes to them by rule so Pearman is currently the first reserve instead. Women's 1500m (3 quotas): Ivanie Blondin is 10th in the World Rankings, Beatrice Lamarche is 17th and Valerie Maltais is 21st. 3 quotas shouldn't be a problem. Women's 3000m/5000m (3 and 2 quotas): Valerie Maltais, Isabelle Weidemann and Ivanie Blondin are 2nd, 4th and 9th in the Distance World Rankings. The max quota for each event should be locked in already. Women's Team Pursuit (Quota): 2nd in the World Rankings and 2nd in the time rankings. The Team Pursuit quota is locked in. Women's Mass Start (2 Quotas): Ivanie Blondin and Valerie Maltais are 2nd and 3rd in the World Rankings. You can pencil in 2 quotas here. Overall, Canada would be able to send a maximum of 8 female speed skaters to Milan.

Canadian Olympic Curling Trials: Day 3 Results Men Draw 3 Brad Gushue 5-3 John Epping Rylan Kleiter 3-7 Matt Dunstone Jordan McDonald 7-8 Kevin Koe Mike McEwen 3-6 Brad Jacobs Draw 4 Kevin Koe 7-9 Mike McEwen Brad Jacobs 6-3 Jordan McDonald Matt Dunstone 9-7 Brad Gushue John Epping 7-10 Rylan Kleiter Team W L W–L PF PA EW EL BE SE S% DSC Matt Dunstone 3 0 – 21 10 13 8 5 5 93% 28.0 Brad Jacobs 2 1 0–1 17 13 10 9 5 0 86% 29.8 Brad Gushue 3 0 – 21 11 14 9 3 2 92% 45.9 Mike McEwen 1 2 0–1 14 20 10 12 5 0 85% 60.6 Kevin Koe 2 1 1–0 17 17 11 12 2 1 86% 292.3 Rylan Kleiter 0 3 – 12 24 9 13 3 0 86% 136.9 John Epping 1 2 1–0 15 16 10 13 3 0 90% 70.9 Jordon McDonald 0 3 – 16 22 12 12 1 1 83% 74.6 Women Draw 4 Kate Cameron 6-7 Kayla Skrlik Rachel Homan 12-5 Selena Sturmay Kaitlyn Lawes 4-8 Kerri Einarson Corryn Brown 4-9 Christina Black Team W L W–L PF PA EW EL BE SE S% DSC Kerri Einarson 4 0 – 33 15 19 12 3 12 88% 99.1 Rachel Homan 3 1 – 43 20 20 13 2 7 88% 69.8 Christina Black 2 2 1–0 23 27 14 16 3 4 75% 119.8 Kaitlyn Lawes 2 2 1–1; 1–0 22 24 17 16 1 5 80% 118.3 Selena Sturmay 2 2 1–1; 0–1 32 27 19 16 0 8 84% 81.3 Kayla Skrlik 2 2 0–1 23 28 12 14 3 4 81% 87.8 Corryn Brown 1 3 – 16 31 11 22 1 2 82% 91.2 Kate Cameron 0 4 – 21 41 17 19 0 5 76% 51.7

Very nice! I agree with most of it. Just a few thoughts. Bobsleigh: For the men, 3 countries qualify sleds and 7 other countries qualify 2 sleds so despite the overall decline in Canadian bobsleigh, we should still comfortably be able to qualify 2 sleds. Cross-Country Skiing: You mention 4 athletes per gender but you have 11 athletes listed in the heading. Currently on the FIS site, Canada has qualified 6 women and 4 men with likely one more women and possibly one more man after the last 10 quotas are allocated. Skeleton: I'd still say only one man at most. There were two races in the North American Cup this weekend compared to just one world cup race so the world rankings are a bit flawed at the moment. Ski Jumping: If Ski Jumping Canada decides to send Tarik van Wieren to the continental cup, he could earn some points and then Canada could be prioritized for a men's super team/mixed team quota. Snowboarding: Gonna be really hard for Megan Farrell to qualify considering she's 3rd last in the qualification rankings. Everybody else seems realistic though. Speed Skating: There are Olympic Trials in January so if Connor Howe is recovered by then, then he should easily qualify. Also you have Graeme Fish listed under the 5000m.

Canadian Olympic Curling Trials: Day 2 Results Men Draw 2 Brad Jacobs 6-4 Rylan Kleiter Kevin Koe 3-5 Brad Gushue John Epping 9-5 Mike McEwen Matt Dunstone 8-4 Jordan McDonald Team W L W–L PF PA EW EL BE SE S% DSC Matt Dunstone 2 0 – 14 7 8 5 5 3 92% 10.9 Brad Gushue 2 0 – 16 8 9 6 2 0 93% 22.7 John Epping 1 1 1–0 12 11 7 8 2 0 91% 38.5 Kevin Koe 1 1 1–0 9 10 7 7 2 1 85% 98.7 Brad Jacobs 1 1 0–1 11 10 7 7 4 0 86% 15.2 Mike McEwen 1 1 0–1 11 14 8 9 2 0 86% 42.3 Jordon McDonald 0 2 – 9 14 7 8 0 1 85% 21.3 Rylan Kleiter 0 2 – 9 17 6 8 3 0 86% 56.8 Women Draw 2 Rachel Homan 8-2 Christina Black Kate Cameron 5-6 Kerri Einarson Corryn Brown 7-6 Kayla Skrlik Kaitlyn Lawes 8-7 Selena Murray Draw 3 Kerri Einarson 9-1 Corryn Brown Christina Black 7-3 Kaitlyn Lawes Selena Sturmay 12-5 Kate Cameron Kayla Skrlik 8-7 Rachel Homan Team W L W–L PF PA EW EL BE SE S% DSC Kerri Einarson 3 0 – 27 11 16 8 1 12 88% 99.1 Rachel Homan 2 1 – 31 15 15 10 2 5 88% 69.8 Kaitlyn Lawes 2 1 1–0 18 18 13 13 1 4 80% 118.3 Selena Sturmay 2 1 0–1 27 15 16 11 0 7 84% 81.3 Corryn Brown 1 2 1–0 12 22 8 16 1 1 82% 91.2 Kayla Skrlik 1 2 0–1 16 22 12 14 2 4 81% 87.8 Christina Black 1 2 – 14 23 8 13 3 1 75% 119.8 Kate Cameron 0 3 – 15 34 12 15 0 4 76% 51.7

Olympic Quotas after World Cup 2/4 Men Women 500m 1000m 1500m 5000m 10000m MS TP 500m 1000m 1500m 3000m 5000m MS TP Austria 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 Belgium 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 x Canada 3 2 2 1 1 2 3 2 3 3 2 2 x China 3 2 3 1 2 x 3 3 3 1 2 x Czechia 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 Denmark 1 1 1 1 Estonia 1 1 France 1 1 1 1 x 1 Germany 3 3 3 2 x 1 2 1 1 2 x Great Britain 1 1 Hungary 1 1 Italy 1 1 1 3 2 2 x 1 1 1 1 1 2 Japan 3 3 3 1 1 x 3 3 3 1 2 x Kazakhstan 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 x Netherlands 3 3 3 3 2 2 x 3 3 3 3 2 2 x Neutrals 2 1 Norway 3 1 3 3 1 1 x 1 1 1 1 1 Poland 3 3 1 3 2 1 South Korea 3 2 2 3 2 1 2 Spain 1 1 Switzerland 1 1 1 1 2 Taiwan 1 United States 3 3 3 1 1 2 x 2 2 2 2 x

Just to give an idea of how different skating at sea level is, the US won gold in the team pursuit last year in Hamar with a time of 3:39.24 which was a track record.

They are 12th in the time rankings and they will be stuck in the B-division at the next World Cup again. I don't think it's mathematically possible unfortunately. There are 4 other teams they need to pass.

2026 Olympic Quotas After Stage 3/4 Men Women Mixed Quotas Nation 500m 1000m 1500m Relay 500m 1000m 1500m Relay Relay Men Women Total Australia 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 Austria 1 1 1 1 Belgium 1 1 1 x 1 1 1 4 1 5 Canada 3 3 3 x 3 3 3 x x 5 5 10 China 3 3 3 x 3 2 3 x x 5 5 10 Croatia 1 1 1 1 1 Czechia 1 1 1 France 2 2 2 2 2 x 2 2 4 Great Britain 1 1 3 1 1 1 3 1 4 Hong Kong 1 1 1 Hungary 1 2 2 1 2 2 x 2 2 4 Italy 3 3 3 x 3 3 3 x x 5 5 10 Japan 2 2 3 x 2 3 3 x x 4 5 9 Kazakhstan 2 1 2 1 1 x 2 2 4 Korea 2 3 3 x 2 3 3 x x 5 5 10 Latvia 1 2 1 1 2 1 3 Netherlands 3 2 3 x 3 3 3 x x 5 5 10 Neutral Athletes 1 1 1 1 1 2 Poland 2 2 1 2 3 3 x x 2 5 7 Slovakia 1 1 1 1 Turkiye 2 2 2 Ukraine 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 United States 2 2 3 x 3 3 3 x x 4 5 9 Uzbekistan 1 1 1 Total 32 32 36 8 32 32 36 8 11 58 55 113 No new or dropped countries from this weekend. Unfortunately, Belgium lost their 2nd women's quotas so we only have 11 teams eligible to enter a team in the mixed relay now. Hong Kong also lost their only female quota while Australia and Latvia gained their first female athletes. One more competition to go. Remember the worst results get dropped so we could see a lot of changes next weekend. Changes in Quotas from the last update: Men's 500m: In: Australia 1, Hungary 1, Korea 2 Out: Poland 3, France 1, Latvia 2 Men's 1000m: In: Ukraine 1, Poland 2 Out: United States 3, Netherlands 3 Men's 1500m: In: Great Britain 3 Out: Turkiye 1 Women's 500m: In: Great Britain 1, France 2 Out: Belgium 2, Korea 3 Women's 1000m: In: Australia 1 Out: Neutral Athletes 1 Women's 1500m: In: Poland 3, Latvia 1, Great Britain 1, Ukraine 1 Out: Croatia 2, Kazakhstan 2, Hong Kong 1, France 3 Full SOQC's Below: Men's 500m Men's 1000m Men's 1500m Men's 5000m Relay Women's 500m Women's 1000m Women's 1500m Women's 3000m Relay Mixed 200m Relay *Will only be used if there are extra quotas available

Silver medal for France in the men's team pursuit

Bronze in the mixed relay

Canadian Olympic Curling Trials: Day 1 Results Men Draw 1 Mike McEwen 6-5 Jordan McDonald Matt Dunstone 6-3 John Epping Kevin Koe 6-5 Brad Jacobs Rylan Kleiter 5-11 Brad Gushue Women Draw 1 Kayla Skrlik 2-8 Selena Sturmay Kaitlyn Lawes 7-4 Corryn Brown Kate Cameron 5-16 Rachel Homan Christina Black 5-12 Kerri Einarson

Medal for Chen Ying-Chu

I completely agree and I honestly find bobsleigh to be a complete joke these days. It's more of an engineering than driving competition these days. It's not a coincidence that Germany only has one or sometimes two athletes on the women's monobob podium (which use standardized bobsleds) but always sweep the two-woman podium.

Gogolev takes the bronze medal. Sadovsky finishes 4th.

Another gold for Dandjinou in the 500m and Dubois takes the bronze

5 straight individual wins for Dandjinou! And nice to see Akar win the b final

Sarault takes silver in the 1000m

Silver medal for Strate to kick off the World Cup season!

Now wordle is a fun game and all but I don't think you can get olympic qualification points from playing it /s

Olympic Curling trials begin today!

Slovakia will be without one of their NHL players for the tournament as Samuel Honzek has undergone surgery and will be out 6 months

A completely different story in the men's 5000m today from a week ago. 3 skaters went under the track record but not the one's you would've expected. Casey Dawson takes the win with a 6:01.84 track record and recording two 27 splits. Sander Eitrem with another podium in a new PB of 6:01.86 and 39 year old Ted-Jan Bloemen finished 3rd with 6:02.26. Meanwhile, world record holder Loubineaud finished 4th and Jilek was down in 7th. Men's distance racing is crazy right now.

Wrong thread.

Looks like Graeme Fish won't be going to the Olympics. Only 17th in the B division. Edit: Forgot there's going to be one 10k race at stop #3 so his only chance is to post a great time there.

So even though it's only the 2nd of 4 World Cup Olympic Qualification stops this weekend, it's a very pivotal stop because it is likely the last chance for skaters relying on time qualifications to qualify for the games. It would be shocking if anybody improved on their times at the European stops.